Top-tier schools have been singing their fight songs in a deeper tenor these days. Engaging in an act-and-answer dance of "anything you can do I can do better," Yale announced a plan to slash tuition, following its Ivy competition to the North. Just a few weeks ago, Harvard rolled out its new tuition criteria that promises not to charge more than 10 percent of the income of families earning up to $180,000 a year. Both schools are also eliminating the need for student loans by giving financial aid in grants.
J by Jasper Conran
College tuition is ridiculous. My alma mater now costs $46,000 a year! I can't believe it.
1That's great! But unfortunately that's just happening in the top-tier schools that have huge endowments. I wish those price cuts would be extended to all four-year institutions...
2That's great. I wish it'd've happened when I was ready to apply to college.
3harvard just announced that it had more applicants than ever for the 2008-2009 school year; "27,278 applications by Jan. 1, a 19 percent increase over last year". so i guess their stragedy worked. they almost have no choice (ivy) since students are forgoing their first choice school for more affordable tuition rates. if they lose the top students they wouldn't stay at the top.
also hard to believe that 180k qualifies as a middle income family.
4I hate to sound cynical, but I wonder what the real motivation for this is.
5I agree, Veekore. As a student at a $45,000/year school, I have come to really understand that universities are just businesses. While I'm sure that there must be some interest for students' financial needs, I am also sure that much of this tactic has to do with competition. That said, I would still appreciate it if my school would adopt something similar -- my financial aid package doesn't even come close to closing the gap between what I can afford and what I have to pay!
6sadly, education isn't valued for education's sake anymore. it's seen purely as a consumer good. those who can afford it don't always reap the benefits and those who can't afford it are left behind. i'm fortunate to be in school, but i'm not looking forward to all my loans i have to repay a year from now.
7I think this is just a tactic to eventually make more money. I know that more people are going to be able to pay and therefore go to these schools and they'll have more money.
8My tuition was only $5,000 per year. Guess I'm a lucky one!
9Tuition is SO crazy expensive...I graduated from a small but ritzy Catholic college back in 1999 and even then, my tuition was close $25,000 a year. I don't even want to know what it is now!!
10I can't get over the tuition fees in the US. I mean, even here in Ontario school is pretty expensive, but I can't imagine spending $25,000+ every year for school. Ridiculous.
11actually, harvard's increase in applicant pool is largely due to the 'baby boomer bubble' phenomenon as well as an overall increase in applicants applying to high-caliber colleges. it has little to do with the new financial aid package.
12I've wanted to go back to school but then I think about all this money I'd have to repay and I just can't fathom it...
13I go to I think one of the cheapest Cal States and it is still way expensive. Even with my grants and scholarships, I still have to take out student loans. I can't even fathom going to Harvard or Yale even WITH the incentives.
14I'm from Denmark and everything is FREE here, seriously, I'm in business school which is free just like the university of Copenhagen is. Every student even gets like 800$ a month from the state to pay for rent and food and such... I guess those are the perks of having only public education
15XSofieX, I know what you're talking about - I did my undergrad in France where (unless you decide to go to a private engineer school, for instance) education is free. Registering in my 4th year cost me as much as my beloved iPod, and that included health insurance and all.
But now I've also been to school in the UK, I can say that French higher education is even more disastrous than I thought when I was still there..
161. nice to see cost going down
172. sofie: sounds like Denmark rocks!
Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.