college
Imagine you're the third sibling in your family to enter college in your home state of Minnesota, and that each of your family members entered college four years apart. Believe it or not, you may spend twice as much on college as your eldest sibling. While consumer prices usually rise between one and four percent each year, many colleges have hiked tuition and fees at double or triple that rate.
True Sources of Hidden College Costs
While some critics have charged college administrators with overpaying faculty and with pursuing vanity real estate projects, the real reasons for spikes in college costs mirror changes in the broader economy. For instance:
o Technology Upgrades. Although universities helped originate the Internet as we know it, college and university IT professionals have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade campus networks and to implement stronger data security measures.
o Staff Compensation. Many colleges and universities offer extensive benefits packages to both faculty and staff. To absorb sudden spikes in the cost of health care, some schools have resorted to raising tuition.
o State Budgets. Like government agencies, state colleges and universities must respond to lawmaker demands to freeze or reduce budgets. Administrators in hard-hit states like California and Minnesota have hiked tuition rates to replace state funding.
o Energy Prices. Just as volatile energy costs caused grocery prices to rise, transportation expenses have forced campus dining facilities to buy more expensive ingredients.
o Stock Declines. Stock market shortfalls have even hurt college sports programs. Stanford, Ohio State, and Florida State all announced athletic cutbacks due to dwindling alumni donations and stalled ticket sales.
Tag: college
