Cost of Education

The rising cost of education has far outpaced the increase in personal income, consumer prices, and health insurance.  And what makes it worse is that there seems to be no end in sight.  These days it is almost guaranteed that a student attending a four year college will walk away with some sort of student loan.  Even state run colleges and universities are reaching a point where they will become too expensive for many students to attend.  Compounding the matter, financial assistance either from the state or federal government has decreased in comparison to the rising tuition costs.  A one year increase in CT alone to attend a public university was found to be 6%.  How many times can colleges increase their tuition by 6% or more and still maintain that it is affordable to the masses?  It is not just the public colleges, it is all colleges, both private and public that are raising their tuition rates exponentially.   In a day and age when most jobs require some sort of degree, it is becoming harder and harder for students to afford that degree and enter into the work force.   The kicker is that there are fewer and fewer jobs for all those attending college, so a good number of those leaving college with student loans will find themselves unemployed with no way of even beginning to pay back their loans.  It seems to me that we are on a downward spiral with no end in sight. 

Taking this bleak scenario one step further, lets look at where we are in the jobs market.  Lets not even look at the fact that our economy is still fumbling along (although it has had a great impact on jobs).  Even before the recession, jobs were disappearing in this country.  Outsourcing was and is an enormous factor in this whole mess.  On top of that, the rise of technology and its ability to take over certain jobs further contributed to the decline in available jobs.  One more piece to this incredibly confusing puzzle is the overall increase in population.  We have more and more people competing for fewer and fewer jobs.  In order for people to get the jobs available, many feel the need to get addition degrees to make them stand out, further burdening their wallets.  There seems to be no end in sight as more and more high school graduates set their sights on college and that coveted four year degree.  At what point will college tuition reach a breaking point where students, regardless of financial assistance will be unable to attend?  In a way, you could claim that colleges have become or are becoming institutions for the wealthy.  With more and more lower income families unable to send their children to college and those students being overburdened with student loans, there is increasing disparity between rich and poor.  College is quickly becoming unavailable to many because of the cost of tuition yet tuition keeps going up.  I don't get it.

With my son almost 2 months old now, school is a big issue.  My wife and I have pretty much come to the conclusion that unless we somehow make a lot more money in the coming years, we will be unable to pay for our son's college tuition.  And despite what people may say, we are not going to put ourselves in the financial toilet just so our son can get a college degree.  If he wants to get one, he can figure out a way of paying for it.  I don't even want to know what college tuition will be like in 18 years.  Looking to the short term, even the private schools that I attended when I was younger will probably be unattainable.   Private grammar school may be the only option we can entertain.  My old high school that I graduated from in 2000 cost about $5000/year when I was there.  Currently, the tuition is over $11,000/year.  How can they justify doubling the price of tuition in a little over 10 years?  But regardless, education in my mind is what you make of it.  Having attended both private and public colleges, I can honestly say that I got more out my state college education.  This wasn't because it was better, but it was because I put more into it.  The only thing we can hope for at this point is to instill in our son a desire to learn about the world and what he is passionate about.  If we can do that for him, then it won't matter what school he attends or if he gets his degree or not.  If he is willing to follow his passions, learning everything he can along the way, then that is all that really matters.