Finally got a job!

[Nikolai]

My uni charges ca 70 USD for a semester. But our universities are state owned, I presume yours aren't.

[Lonestar]

That vast majority of universities in the US are funded by the government.

[rah]

The university of Illinois is state owned.

[Jon Miller]

The cost of education has risen much faster than wages/incomes.

http://blog.american.com/2011/07/chart-of-the-day-the-higher-education-bubble/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/chart-of-the-day-college-tuition-is-out-of-control/2011/10/27/gIQABi4sMM_blog.html

Despite universities being state-owned, it hasn't helped keep down costs (like the low tuition/etc situation in other countries has).

JM

[Lonestar]

The cost of education has risen much faster than wages/incomes.

http://blog.american.com/2011/07/chart-of-the-day-the-higher-education-bubble/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/chart-of-the-day-college-tuition-is-out-of-control/2011/10/27/gIQABi4sMM_blog.html

Despite universities being state-owned, it hasn't helped keep down costs (like the low tuition/etc situation in other countries has).

JM

It didn't help that public funding for universities has remained static or shrinking in most states.

[MRT144]

After weeks of applying to positions to no avail, I finally got an interview yesterday with a summer camp that teaches classes to middle school students over the summer. I'm getting paid $15.00/hour to teach kids basic programming, web design and math.

I'm very excited

Cool! Just make sure the kids don't hit on you and vice versa.

[giblets]

I remember when that new Mustang cost about 3 Grand. We needed gas wars to see 25 cents a gallon in college. MY freshman tuition at the University of Illinois in the Engineering College was all of 345 dollars for a semester.

I don't get it. If they could give someone an education for 345 dollars a semester back then why does it take so much money now? What a waste.

[Nikolai]

The university of Illinois is state owned.

Hmmm, then your government charges a LOT more than mine I guess.

[ColdWizard]

I don't get it. If they could give someone an education for 345 dollars a semester back then why does it take so much money now? What a waste.

Computers cost more than abacuses.

[Jon Miller]

I don't get it. If they could give someone an education for 345 dollars a semester back then why does it take so much money now? What a waste.

I am not actually certain what the huge increase is going to pay for.

(I know you are attempting to be stupid and implying that the increase is due to increase wages/inflation or do to being 'modern' but I have shown that that (The first, at least) is not the case.)

JM

[Jon Miller]

It isn't easily clear to me:

http://24percent.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/fy2010-detail-budget.pdf

Too many non-core activities?

JM

[rah]

I don't get it. If they could give someone an education for 345 dollars a semester back then why does it take so much money now? What a waste.

It wasn't that far out of wack. Remember this was 40 years ago. Everything is at least 10 times more. A mustang is closer to 30000, and gas is more than 10x. My daughter just graduated from there a few years ago and her tuition was just under 4k so not much more than 10x. (granted it has gone up since) The biggest increases seem to have been in room and board.

[Jon Miller]

But your experience does not correlate with that of statistics (see the links that I gave), unless you are saying that education was massively subsidized at ~1980.

JM

[Jon Miller]

Basically, you are saying

Cost of education stayed constant between 1972 and 1978 (overall increase since 1972 being 10x, the same as the increase since 1978).

The cost of living went up by a factor of 3 between 1972 and 1978 (overall increase since 1972 being 10x, the increase since 1978 only being 3.3x).

Unless you think that the cost of gas is what has driven the cost of education so high?

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Room and board is not the issue because they separate that out from the tuition fee. You can be a commuter student and not pay that. You're still paying ~5K/semester at state schools just for pure tuition.