I know everyone is very agitated over the viral photo of a receipt from the University of Houston in 1975. It cost $152.50 to attend school for a semester. The actual tuition is only $50!
So, what would that $152.50 be in today’s money. Because it’s true, we’ve had a bit of inflation over the last 43 years.
According to a standard Consumer Price Index calculator, you would have to spend $714.33 today to compare to $152.50 in 1975. If the cost of attending the U of H had kept pace with inflation, it would cost $714.33 to take the 9 hours, park on campus, use the academic buildings, and pay the student service fee for Fall 2018.
Guess what?! It doesn’t cost $714.33 to attend the U of H for a semester. Nope. It costs $12,473 for an in-state resident to go to U of H. That cost will be reduced if the student lives at home, but tuition alone will cost someone $4,362. You know, that looks like the U of H’s tuition prices have gone up 80 times more than the consumer price index as a whole.
Why?
Well, one reason is demand for degrees. Most entry level jobs now require a college degree to get your foot in the door. More students require more instructor requires more facilities, etc.
Another reason is the cost structures in the university themselves. Academia has always had a bureaucracy, but seriously, do you need roles like Senior Assistant Dean for Service Animals? Or some such nonsense.
A third reason is because there is no price competition in the student loan market anymore. One the federal government socialized student loans, the universities just started charging more, because they knew they could get paid by the government.
I could go on, but I think you get the point.
And that, my friends, is socialism in a nutshell. The government owns the education system by providing the university the cash needed to run. The university, in turn, brainwashes the students by teaching them that socialism is the only system that’s “fair”, regardless of actual outcome. Students come out of the university, burdened by debt and some fairly useless degrees, and claim that socialism is the only way to save the day.
If your kid wants to get a degree in the intersectionality of transgenderism, feminism, and climate change, go ahead and let them. Just make sure they get certified as an electrician or welder first. They need to have a skill that will help them pay back all of the other people’s money.