$422,320 for a College Degree? With Tuition Skyrocketing, It is Time to Rethink Higher Education [View all]

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AlterNet / By Sarah Jaffe

$422,320 for a College Degree? With Tuition Skyrocketing, It is Time to Rethink Higher Education
Unless we act now, the current $1 trillion student debt bubble is going to look small in 18 years—and the only ones able to go to college will be the children of the 1%.

January 16, 2012 |


$422,320.

That's what The Daily, News Corp. and Apple's daily news outlet for the iPad, calculated a college education could cost members of the class of 2034—children born this year, for the most part—if they attend one of the nation's priciest schools. But even an average public university will cost $81,000 for four years if tuition hikes continue at current rates—which are increasing much faster than inflation. As tuition continues to go up, and even the president calls for solutions, some are looking at radical possibilities for keeping tuition down—or even eliminating it.

The Daily found that tuition has been increasing even faster at public schools than private—4.5 percent a year for public universities and only 3.5 percent for private. According to Jane Wellman of the Delta Project, which studies the cost of higher education, public schools have been relying on tuition rather than endowments to make up for state education budget cuts..

That last statement shouldn't be surprising—with the Age of Austerity upon us, cuts have been coming fast and hard to state university budgets. Last year, the University of California system saw a $500 million reduction in the support it gets from Sacramento, a 16.4 percent drop. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/153788/%24422%2C320_for_a_college_degree_with_tuition_skyrocketing%2C_it_is_time_to_rethink_higher_education/