Currently in 2016, what a college decides to charge versus what they actually charge is under scrutiny by many sources. What is it really all about? Let's be Honest: It is a Battle for Status.
Colleges and Universities advertise one price but charge most customers another. They are notorious for bundling different types of services that a student will more than likely pay for even if they do not use that service. They also, unlike other agents of commodities, require customers to disclose their wealth and income before telling them the ultimate tab that they will have to pay. Furthermore, higher paying income students subsidize lower-income classmates by paying that outrageous tuition that the colleges and universities need to underwrite financial aid.
The cost of rising tuition is far from being caused by funding cuts, but it correlates closely with a huge increase in public subsidies for higher education. Do you realize that if the price of cars had risen by inflation as fast as college education, the average new car today would cost more than $80,000? During the 1990's with a very booming stock market, college endowments grew at an enormous rate. Why then would tuition have to have increased?
Alumni are very valuable to selective institutions in many ways, but realize that they also tend to discourage the institution from cutting almost anything. What they do is threaten to with hold contributions should that occur. So here is something else: When the rankings of an institution improve, the number of applicants increases, and then the percentage of accepted applicants decreases, all at the same time freshmen test scores increase, and the amount of financial aid that must be offered to enroll the class decreases. What this means, is it is a race for institutions to increase their rankings.
Knowing their customer's ability to pay, they set prices in large by prestige, even though this might not relate to what the actual costs really are.
In the game of public vs. private schools, name recognition is everything. Schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. have instant recognition by EVERYBODY, even people who have never attended college. This type of recognition coupled with the fact that these schools can attract and keep world-class instructors with their massive endowments will ALWAYS put all other schools at a disadvantage."
A lot of lawmakers are concerned that in some cases the rising cost of tuition is due to excessive bonus plans for high paid college administrators, while at the same time many college Presidents defend the rising tuition costs and are against colleges spending funds from their endowments.
Let's take a look at a Great Public University called America's Public Ivy League School:
Miami University in Oxford Ohio:
Average Tuition Cost for Ohio Residents is roughly $6700.00 per year including fees. The same tuition for an Out of State Resident is $ 14, 226 annually. This institution has an endowment currently sitting at larger than $460 Million Dollars. So if you wanted to attend this University, whose side of this argument would you take?
A college education is a critical especially in careers such as in technology, engineering, business and many other fields today. Graduate School is another Story for another day. This article is only being written to say that when looking into attending a college or university, please make a smart choice. Do your research, and be aware that you can talk about paying less. It never hurts to negotiate for something you really want. You are the buyer. What you do with your degree ultimately will help you during your path in life. Choose wisely, and best of luck.
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