Tufts University has just announced new tuition rates. $51088!!

[Paper Roses]

I just heard this on the news. I assume this is room and board too. It does not include things like books. That is probably another $1000 per year.

I'm so sorry for the parents of students who have to face this. I can imagine the anguish they have to go through to have to find somehow to afford this. What a mess things are. This expense comes from after tax dollars. Many Americans gross nowhere near this per year. Yes, there is financial aid but even with that, it will be a struggle.

Yes, Per year

[Craftsman]

1. Does that come with the complimentary KY Lube!?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. Stunning - this is per year?

When I think of what I paid to go to the University of California in the early 70s, it was practically free by comparison - you could pay your way with a part-time job, including book expenses.

[left coaster]

3. I'm guessing the outlay for textbooks is more than that..

We just finished putting both of our sons through four year schools here in Cali.. one was on the quarters system, the other on semesters.. we spent an average of $700-900 per quarter/semester on books, per child... and yes, our sons always tried to secure used books first.. they usually went pretty damned fast though..

[Brigid]

4. That's $204,352 for 4 years!

Wow! :wow:

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. Right!

:wow:

Only the richie rich deserve/can afford higher education!

USA! USA! USA!

Ain't this country 'great'? :puke:

[FiveGoodMen]

15. That seems to be the point -- price higher ed out of most people's reach

while emphasizing that no one without a degree should make any money and you've got permanent class stratification.

Which, if pushed far enough, is almost as good as getting slavery back!

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. Exactly right.

[Bobbieo]

9. Prior to WW2 only the well-to-do sent their kids to college. Another Republican

objective!!!.

GI Vet DUers should thank the late Democrat Senator and AZ Governor - Ernest MacFarland for the GI Bill Of Rights. It was his baby!!!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. +1 nt

[T Wolf]

5. VERY possible that does NOT include anything other than tuition. "Fees" can add another

$1,000 to $1,500 on top of room and board and books.

If you are poor - university is paid for.

If you are rich, you can afford it.

If you are in between, the cost will impoverish you. And the student will finish with six figures of loans to pay off.

Anyone remember the National Defense Student Loans and their 1% interest rate? Or the multitude of grants that were available.

Higher education has become the luxury of the wealthy, the doom of the poor (because of the inferior secondary education many are "graduated" with) and the death of us in between.

The Europeans do it so much better and smarter than we do.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. As in most everything...

The Europeans do it so much better and smarter than we do. :think:

[Zywiec]

33. What percentage of European youth go to the universities?

I believe in Germany it's only 23%

Do you think the other 77% of parents didn't want their children in college?

The system is totally different and can't be compared. My children have been in both.

[Jkid]

21. If you are poor - university is paid for...For four years.

Most people now take five to six years for complete college for their BA. My state grants and pell grant ends next year after spring semester. Those grants practically made college free of charge for me for four years. And after that I may have no choice but to become enslaved to debt via college loans.

[rurallib]

6. I know at least one Romney went there

Poor Mittens was whining about the cost on the campaign trail in Iowa a couple years ago.
Imagine a guy worth half a billion had to count his pennies to put his kids through school.
Imagine how many low and middle income workers he had to fire to pay for his kid's tuition.
"Phoniest son of a bitch I ever saw" said the guy next to me.

I am sure that students that are at Tufts come from families that can handle a little raise.
I worry much more about the kids at state schools and community colleges whoe tuition is now out of range of the upper middle class.

[Posteritatis]

10. Both my university degrees combined didn't come close to that. Ow. (nt)

[david_vincent]

12. Not that surprising

They're only keeping pace with Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Trinity, and others in the $50K club. This is the new normal for elite private schools.

[TomClash]

13. Only Goldman/Morgan Execs' Kids need apply - Bonus Brats . . .

. . .

[aikoaiko]

14. If 52K is a problem, the obvious solution is not to attend Tufts.

Its either worth it or its not. There are less expensive alternatives.

:shrug:

eta that last part

[DavidDvorkin]

17. Go to your local Enormous State University instead.

[canoeist52]

35. Check out the many various fees at U-Mass- trying to find the actual cost

http://www.umass.edu/bursar/fee_explanation.htm
trying to find the actual yearly cost

[Paper Roses]

40. I know about Umass fees, my daughter graduated from there.

It is horrible. You have no choice either...at least it was that way where she went. It did not matter if you were involved in many of the activities, you still had to pay the fee. I bet it is still that way now. Money making scheme.

[whoneedstickets]

18. The Public Option...

..exists for college and there are some excellent and innovative programs at those schools if you look around.

[Greyhound]

19. "They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking.

They’re not interested in that . . . that doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fuckin' years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers . . . Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it..."

Still waiting for that critical mass...

[tXr]

29. I figured that out when the backwater town where I lived spent $25 million on a new police palace

but the tiny library a block down the street was left to struggle along with the same old worn building and books.

They don't want an informed and educated citizenry but instead ignorant, frightened, and controlled consumers.

[Blue_Tires]

20. wow...they must be trying to go broke...

[BolivarianHero]

22. That sound you heard?

Every single European DUer having a fucking heart attack.

[Zywiec]

34. Why, beacuse the small percentage of Europeans

that actually go to college didn't pay very much?

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. I wish we had the kind of education system where college is "free." *sigh*

[KamaAina]

24. Years ago, Tufts was affiliated with the Unitarian Church

Say what you will about faith-based education, but I seriously doubt that today's UUs would have allowed things to reach this point.

[Libertas1776]

25. What, you can't

afford Tufts new tuition increase? Well...TOUGH!!!:sarcasm:

[TwilightGardener]

26. I don't think anyone has to "face" this. They can always attend

a regular old public or state university and pay much less.

[rug]

27. Simply not worth it.

[Brickbat]

28. Higher education is the next big bubble to collapse on itself, like real estate, IMO.

Fewer people can afford those higher rates. It's sick.

[Kat45]

30. Whoa! I went to school there in the seventies.

My first year, tuition was $3200. We were working class and had a tough time affording it but we did manage. Today, forgeddaboudit! Unfortunately, I had to commute to the school because we couldn't come up with the money for that. Back then there were also NDSL (student loans) at 3% interest. The town line was in the middle of the campus so the school was located in both Medford and Somerville. Back then, the school gave a lot of scholarships to smart kids from those towns, likely to keep good relations with the towns. They don't do that any more, don't think they have for a long time. They have hardly any commuting students anymore because they only admit those who can afford it.

[fujiyama]

31. You figure education is an investment, typically landing the graduate with a comfortable job after

but in this economy that is far from a guarantee, especially with a liberal arts major.

So, say you go to graduate school. Sounds good right? Well, maybe not...Add several hundred thousand more to the 204,352. Basically, it is possible for students to be in debt up to or over half a million dollars in student loans!

That's a house right there (and in many places a very nice sized house). You'd be spending most of your life paying this off!

My own take is that these universities are obviously not at all worth it - especially for a liberal arts major, since the jobs one gets after makes the debt level unsustainable.

As a society we really need to start pushing vocational and hands on jobs. Much of what is taught in four year colleges is a waste of time. Critical thinking skills need to be taught earlier. A person should gain thinking skills earlier in life and practical skills as well at some point. I don't know why to so many that's degrading. Technicians in HVAC, or electricians, or thousands of other skilled tradespeople, we can all agree, do more for society than I-Bankers and for that matter, many of the lawyers out there!

[Paper Roses]

32. I agree with your assessment of the vocational schools.

The 'get your hands dirty' jobs are doing quite well now, at least in my area. If I had to go back to school I'd train to be a plummer. It is hard work but with what is the common pay rate around here, I'd be taking home a pretty good paycheck. I do not begrudge them their pay. It is hard work but they seem to be always in great demand. The same with other trades like electricians, brick masons, home repair, auto repair etc.

My children went to state schools(1 in state, one out of state), both got a good education back in the '80's and '90's. Their combined tuition was nothing like it is today. We struggled by to get them through without student loans. Now it would be a whole different story. We could not do it. The thought of burdening kids with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of loans would upset me. I would advise them to find a trade that will always be in demand. To heck with the liberal arts degree, get your hands dirty. You'll be better off.

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. A parent would do better to take that money and send their kid to India

to be educated.

[Kolesar]

37. Tufts probably has a "foundation" that pays some tuition for most of the students

[carlyhippy]

38. unfortunately, the only people who can attend Tufts is the wealthy

unless an extremely smart student was lucky enough to get enough scholarship money to cover the cost. Scholarships are not like they used to be, full rides are not plentiful anymore.

[Captain Hilts]

39. Check off the 'financial' aid request box and you're put in the 'b' pile. nt