Money Well Spent?

I always thought the stereotype “struggling college student” was a hyperbole used in comical conversation when I was growing up.  Well, I am not laughing anymore.  With the economy in shambles, the reality is that it is now virtually impossible for many American students to pay themselves through college.  And what has the University of Denver decided to do?  They will be raising tuition for next year.  Many of my friends have already started their goodbyes, knowing we will not see each other next year.

I know the life of a struggling college student well because I am one.  My summer will not be spent on some exotic beach or in some foreign city, but behind a desk in front of a computer in a cramped office earning money to fund my college education.  This is what I must do if I want to continue to study at the University of Denver.  I am very lucky to be studying at such a wonderful private University.

      What help are we getting from the government? None.  What help are we getting from the University? None.  The way I see it, we, college students, cannot continue on this bleak road alone anymore.  The Government and the University needs a new plan of action to help us “struggling college students.” 

      Perhaps if universities allocated their spending more responsibly, they would have the funds necessary to continue operating the university without raising tuition. I am livid that I attend a school that will allow students to drop out for financial reasons while they build a stadium that will never be filled because it has too few students.  Why couldn’t those funds be allocated towards need-based scholarships? Recently I read in the New York Times and article regarding University staff salaries.  Tamar Lewin reported that Pete Carroll, head football coach at the University of Southern California, was paid $4,415,714 in 2007.  This is four times the amount of money that is paid to the president of the school, Steven B. Sample.  NCAA hockey coaches such as Mike Eaves of University of Wisconsin and Red Berenson of University of Michigan make $225,000 and $300,000 respectively. How can university administrations stand behind paying coaches so much, while the very minds they attempt to broaden must remove themselves from the institution to remain financially stable? 

      The fact of the matter is, while universities have the means to keep their students at school, it is not the simplest matter when it comes to diverting funds from faculty to students.  Because of this, it is the responsibility of the government, and of the current Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to allocate taxes towards helping students stay in the schools at which they have worked so hard to get in.  I love being at the University of Denver.  Lets hope it stays that way.

A Modest Proposal

Amid an economic downturn unparallel to any recent crash save the Great Depression, a continuing war, and record deficit can dishearten even the most generous of spenders. Optimisim and hope championed by our politicians has vanished to be replaced with a sober and sensible understanding of the horizion. The era of spending and debt is gone, in its place is frugality. Consequently parents having recently sent their children off to colleges or planning to in the near future are appreciating the more reasonable public schools rather than the private and far more costly alternatives. So how can private institutions such as University of Denver, (the university I am currently attending) stay competitive among an era of penny-pinching? How can the University of Denver compare the “bang for the buck” of education with public schools half the price? Likewise is it truly economically feasible to decrease the cost for students while maintaining both the class sizes and academic rigor inherent in private schools infrastructure?

The answer may appear daunting but perhaps mirroring other states solutions to this conundrum can provide a pragmatic solution to the growing trend towards saving. One viable solution lies in the innovative and progressive plan of California publics shools in its integration of local community colleges credit into their larger four year institutions. By creating a rigid schedule for students to complete for their given major, including the courses they must take and the G.P.A. that must be maintained, students can walk out of a two year community college and walk into USC or UCLA or other California schools with a junior level standing. This means that although the remaining two years may be costly, tuition roughly similar to that of the University of Denver, they only pay such a large price the final two years of schooling. Meaning that “bang for your buck” offered by public universities may be in fact feasible, and yet allow for the unique advantages a larger university has to offer.

I acknowledge that perhaps there are a handful of transfers from community colleges that do attend University of Denver. According to Virginia Egan, the advisor for transferring students, transfer students from community colleges seldom occurs. Moreover there are only two business classes that can be given credit from community colleges which means that the rest of your time spent in business courses will only be transferred only into “electives” rather than credits that work towards your major. In other words, although the student may have a concrete understanding of the business model, under such guidelines would force you back into freshman level business courses. A solution both redundant and pointless in both the economical and educational sense.

Moreover, a quick discussion with Professor Verl, a professor in the Science Department of the University of Denver, revealed that although the university is so highly priced it still is on the lower level on paying professors (at universities of equal price) while the salaries of administrators is on the upper strata. I understand the need for administration to hold the university together however if I am to get the best education possible under such prices surely I would like my professors to have a salary that attracts the most qualified. With a system that better integrates two year colleges into its colleges perhaps we can switch this trend. By eliminating some excess administration in the freshman and sohpmore levels be (since some students may choose community college instead) would allow this extra money to go towards professor’s salaries.

Unfortunatley such a solution would require a reevalutation of our common assumptions of the value of community college. The fundamental thought is that those that attend such colleges go for either lack of ambition and effort in school and thus are forced to attend a lower level college. They perceive an education from such a school as unsatisfactory compared to those at four year colleges. Prehaps we can reevalutate such preconceived notions by allowing these four year colleges to collaborate and create a system that developes students that both lack ambition, lack the funds, or simply are unsure of what field to pursue to attend community colleges as a way to hone their skills and prepare for the rigors of their final two years.

If we are to look at schools within our own state that have begun to make both the price of tuition more affordable and reasonable perhaps Metropolitan State University offers a more viable solution for our own state. According to Marilyn Parry, the Assistant Budget Director of Metro, they have begun to implement a “2+2 program” which allows students to pick from a list of “recommended community colleges” that fall within the guidelines and standards of Metropolitan state to walk out of a community college with an Associate’s Degree in into Metropolitan State at a junior level standing. This not only allows far more students access to a four year degree but as Marilyn noted, “This provides another base for students to pull from, and since enrollment drives tuition, means we can lower the price for all of our students.” This not only allows Metro to have one of the lowest tuitions in the state but allows for them to recruit higher salaried administrators and professors (due to the extra money). What does this all mean for Metro? A better education at a far more competitive price, with a more expansive network of students to pull from; something all universities should strive for.

If we are able to recreate the definition of a community college, we not only improve our education but the amount of children with access to a higher schooling. Our children are undoubtedly our future and by allowing more of our future into a higher education means that such an ominous horizon may perhaps have a glimmer of hope.

The Rising Price of Education

The Rising Price of Education

The University of Denver is a very good school; this point is incontrovertible. Among all public and private “National Universities” it is ranked 85th, and currently the 48th best private university by U.S. News & World Report in 2008. Its School of International Studies is ranked 9th in the nation for graduate programs, and is ahead of such prestigious schools as Syracuse, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley and MIT. An impressive record attracts impressive students; however affording an education at DU is incredibly difficult to say the least.

Let’s face it, not everyone is endowed with almost $50,000 extra per year to see them through college. In fact, I’d think, this is rather rare. There is of course the hope of a scholarship. If a student is smart enough or talented enough, there is a small chance that the University will grant them a scholarship to cover their entire education. A more common occurrence is a scholarship that lowers tuition significantly; however even with this, the price is still high, and then there are the students who are smart, but just not enough to earn a scholarship.

With an impressive record such as DU’s, it is clear that the people who choose to come here are looking for an exceptional education. For this reason alone, the price of an education is going to be higher than that of most of the schools ranked behind DU. Also, being a private school and therefore lacking the funding from the state that public schools receive, the university needs to charge more to make ends meet. Good professors, winning sports teams and a beautiful campus do not come cheap, but $45,000? That’s almost $10,000 more than the Ivy League Yale and almost $35,000 more than a public school in New York State.

My sister is in the public SUNY system in New York and pays, on average, $10,000 to go to school per year. By the time she graduates this May, she’ll have paid less to go to school all four years than I’ll have paid for a single year. My parents almost fainted when they saw the price of my chosen school. I’m sure many other students feel the same: the price may be outrageous, but it will be worth it in the end when they have an excellent education… right?

I believe there has to be a way to lower the cost of tuition. There are plenty of other schools around the country that don’t charge as much as DU. Take, for example, the University of Portland, another private school. Their cost is still high, but it is $7,000 less than DU. Any reduction would help even if it’s as small as $7,000. Of course to save some money a student may choose to live at home or off campus where the cost may be slightly less. However this would be extremely difficult for the majority of students who live out of state and are stuck under the two years of residence on campus rule. Lowering the cost per credit hour could be a way to lower the overall cost. As a student, I’m only allowed a total of 18 credit hours without paying more than tuition. In my opinion $45,000 should cover more than an average of four classes. In the Chancellor’s annual report from 2008 he states that the University has “significant reserves and fundraising success.” I for one would like to see more of these reserves and fundraising success’ go to student tuition. There was a surplus of $33.9 million after the expenses of the university were taken care of. Why couldn’t some of this take care of tuition? DU’s current endowment is $300 million, quite impressive especially compared with the $194 million endowment from just three years ago. However another way to lower tuitions would be to seek a greater endowment, or call upon the Chancellor for more long term fundraising opportunities that would bring in a substantial amount of money for the university.

I don’t have an advanced degree, and to some people this means that I’m not qualified to talk about tuition prices; but I am a college student, and therefore I have a firsthand experience with finding money for college. I pay over $14,000 every three months, and therefore qualified to have an opinion about my education. I’m a college student who feels the weight of the cost of a good education, especially with the current state of the economy. My family pays for my education, I wish I could help, but there is no way that any college student could make enough money to even dent the cost of a $45,000 tuition bill.