by Zack Shen
People tend to think that college education is overpriced today. Does that mean the college education was more affordable back on “these good old days”? Let’s look back a century ago in the year of 1910. That era was marked as the age of “University Builder” when the modern American University system was established. Tuition by then was low. The annual tuitions for those East Coast Prestigious Institutions (such as Harvard University, John Hopkins University, etc.) were at about $120 to $150, which equivalent of around $3000 today. Going to such college today would easily cost more than $50,000 as tuition. State universities were even cheaper by then; the tuition for University of Minnesota was $66. Based on the numbers, the tuition for college a century ago was way cheaper. However, does that mean college education back then was more affordable? It was not the case. The America in 1910 was before the involvement of the two World Wars, which turned America into a dominant world power. The situation back then was quite different from today. The Industrialization were still going in this home of Braves and not a lot of people were able to afford such so-called affordable college bills. The majority of students at the universities were from wealthier families. A lot of students from the working families did not finish their education in college due to the financial problems. The student aid system was not developed at that time, which stops a lot of students from finishing college. Besides that, what university could offer was limited as well. There were barely formal academic advising services, career center, or teaching and learning centers back then in the university. All these supportive services which were important for the students’ success were omitted. Low tuition also led to the low salaries for the faculties, which also affects the teaching quality of a college education. The graduation and employment rates of universities back then were significantly lower than universities today. With such low tuition, colleges back then provided so little (Thelin).
Look back to the modern American universities today; we can somehow see the reason why the cost of a college education is increasing. Take the University of Pittsburgh as an example; Pitt provides a lot of supportive services for the fellow students. The advising services are quite formal. A lot of facilities like gyms, music rooms, libraries, computer rooms, etc. provide both physical and mental services to students. There is an Office of career development which prepare students for the job market; a writing center which helps students on their daily assignments; even a psychiatric service office for student’s mental issues. All these services need money to maintain, which is why the university nowadays ask for higher tuition. Compare to the past; more students are able to finish their college education despite their backgrounds. Apparently, it is easier to achieve a college education today than back then.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
in short, this period is so far like the present period
IT IS THE BEST OF THE PERIOD TO ACHIEVE A COLLEGE EDUCATION
Is college overpriced?
