There is tuition….now you’ve got fees - which could be a big chunk (like 10-15% of tuition) they can mess with (like airlines and bags or seat assignments)…..then living.
And of course state schools have governmental support vs. being tuition dependent.
Of course, if someone has a price and locks it, they’re accounted for increases.
You have Presidents paid like large company CEOs. You have CFOs or VPs of Finance.
It’s all big business. And big for their local economies.
Fees can go up, but many of the fee increases are voted on by the students themselves who must weigh the cost vs benefit. For example, this year the transportation fee increased after a university wide vote last year, but since they will now have free passes for all local transit, most students will end up saving quite a bit of money. But, yes, that increases the fees that get paid to the university.
Room and board go up, but the majority - perhaps even vast majority - of non-freshman students do not live in university housing, but in private apartments (shared with other students). So they must negotiate their own leases. (Or they live in frat houses or student co-ops, which also have a different fee structure).
Likely so, but I still appreciate the predictability. I would rather know upfront, then get caught off guard and unprepared.
We know people who had to transfer when costs got too high at their school but mostly due to major changes in their financial aid package rather than “regular” tuition increases. It seems that 3-4% increase/year is more the norm than the exception.
Generally, students get more expensive to the college as they move up in class level (large common introductory courses cost less than small specialized upper level courses), so frosh at most four year colleges overpay relative to seniors who pay the same (flat or per credit) tuition. Flat tuition over all four years slightly increases this inequity.
However, it is likely that students and parents prefer consistency and predictability of tuition rates over having them start low but increase significantly (much more than 4% per year) with class level.
Other tuition inequities can involve choice of courses and major, since some courses require more expensive faculty and/or more expensive facilities.
I think this could happen - but I think we also see this a lot, even on CC. I’ve told the story before.
I had a friend at Syracuse, the parents sold the house and moved into a trailer to send her there.
Two years in, they couldn’t pay - and she transferred to U of Montana.
Happy ending as we stay in touch - she was in the television news/sports business for as long as anyone I know before she quit and got a Masters in England.
And i’m not suggesting people regularly sell their home and move to a trailer.
But I am suggesting many, to chase a name, do a one year at a time plan or maybe blow all their savings for one or two years, hoping they figure out the rest….and they don’t. Or can’t.
In the case of my friend, it was journalism at Syracuse.
In others here, it’s top 20 or 50 or “the best school” or whatever.
And that’s a problem - but these colleges exacerbate it with their marketing materials and implied promises, etc. etc.
If they were truly in it for the student, they would tell them - if you take this loans, there’s x% chance you won’t be able to pay it off or your likely salary can’t justify that or - you can get the same outcome at West Chester as you can at Lafayette.
But colleges are in the business of attracting students, not pushing them away….unless it benefits the college not to have them.
So in a lot of ways, the entire system is faulty.
We are trying to lift people up - but in many cases, colleges actually pull them down - and do so knowingly.
For my college sophomore the COA went up $5,000 from freshman to sophomore. As we know, as the school gets more expensive, the 4-5% is a bigger amount each year.