Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Is College Tuition the Next Bubble to Burst?

Naked Law speculates that college tuition is the next speculative bubble to burst and gives eight reasons.

Given the rate of tuition increases, the cost of attending college on average will double every nine years. Moreover, many students are saddled with student loan debt that can equal the cost of a house.

I graduated from a private, liberal arts college where tuition, room and board, fees, and books ran about $4,000 a year. By comparison, the flagship state university would have cost me about $2,500 a year. However, when one compared the after-financial aid cost of the two, they were about equal. I graduated with $300 in student loan debt that my Mom insisted we pay off the week after I graduated.

The cost of attending my old college is now $36,000 a year at the minimum. Costs of attendance there have risen on average 7.3% annually. Frankly, while I am proud to have graduated from there, I'm not sure I could justify sending my child - if I had one - back to my alma mater. I just don't see the economic value of it.

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