College cost is ridicious, especially for community colleges that are short term and small. What exactly do tuition include? because we’re technically paying for everything. we’re paying for textbooks, transportation (we get no student discount), food, our supplies. What exactly is the 5,000 paying for?
New College Students Questions
I’m not sure I understand the question but in general your tuition pays for the professors who are teaching you as well as the facilities where classes and labs are held.
The specific college website should answer questions about courseload but generally you take different courses each semester. I see no reason why second semester courses would be shorter. The same amount of material has to be covered whether you are taking it first or second semester.
You are paying salaries for professors and sometimes lab staff, salaries for the other college employees (dept secretaries, IT staff, admissions, career office, writing center, cleaning & maintenance staff, administrators), and benefits (like health care) for many of those employees. You are paying for computer servers, data storage, building maintenance, cooling and heating expenses, water bill in some locations, lab equipment and supplies, classroom and office furniture, cleaning supplies, and printers and paper for them. And I’m sure a lot more stuff I didn’t think of off hand.
Yes, your schedule changes each semester. Length of classes varies. Sometimes intro classes meet a bit more often than higher level classes, but I don’t think it is a noticeable difference.
Things tuition might pay for if it goes into the general budget of the school: professor and staff salaries and benefits, facilities, advertising and marketing, libraries and labs, scholarships, accountants, lawyers.
When you buy a can of coke, what does your $1 pay for? Much more than the actual coke in the can.
The state pays part of the cost and the student pays part of the cost.
@surfcity What? “I’m not sure I understand the question but in general your tuition pays for the professors who are teaching you as well as the facilities where classes and labs are held”
… do you understand what you just wrote? Students are literally paying 7,000 a semester to pay the teachers? plus we have to pay for textbooks and transportation. i have class from 9am to 8pm and they cant afford to give us lunch? were paying 7,000+. Your obviously NOT from NYC or NY period so clearly this doesn’t apply to you. You obviously have the funds.
@intparent were paying for all that right? but want us to spend money out of pocket for textbooks and transportation. I’ll be spending $100+ a week on the LIRR going to a 9am-8pm class back and forth from Long Island to the Bronx, Monday thur Thursday. smh
@twoinanddone “When you buy a can of coke, what does your $1 pay for? Much more than the actual coke in the can.”
I hope that was sarcasm. If not in which state or town do you live in,where a coke a $1. You must have one class each or every other day and not a 9am-8pm like mine.
You guys obviously have the funds and have 1 class each day. I don’t get any financial aid. My school is in the bronx and i live in Long Island if you know where that is. That’s a 2 hour travel, 9am-8pm Monday thru Thursday. Thats $200 a week on the train. That’s my whole work check. You guys need to be mindful of the people who have to travel and the people who don’t have it. Tuition is 7,000 but that doesn’t go towards MY textbooks or my transportation. but no im paying for the teachers to buy a new car every month and a trip to Disney. -____-
That’s like paying a babysitter to watch your kid while your at work/school or away but still have to take your kid with you.
Where is the money coming from to pay the costs that the state does not pay? Did you receive any financial aid from the state or federal government. if you are as poor as you say then much of the cost of tuition would be covered by these grants.
I’m sorry you are struggling with the college costs OP. Yes it is expensive. Your tuition is paying for salaries, equipment, facilities, support staff, utilities, etc… And yes, colleges expect you to buy or rent your books and feed yourself. It’s not high school.
Is there a community college that is closer to you where you don’t have to spend so much time and money commuting?
What kind of college are you going to? Employers don’t pay for transportation or lunch or the clothing you need to work there. That’s your responsibility. No, most schools do not have classes from 9-8 four days per week. Most full time college students are in class 15 hours per week. What they do before or after class, nights and weekends, is up to them.
If you think $7000 is too much for what you are getting in return, don’t go to that college. That’s what it costs. You asked what other things tuition pays for, and we named some. At most schools, the tuition doesn’t even cover the cost of the professors. Other funds cover the costs of the buildings, maintenance, administration. Those funds come from the state, the federal government, donors, endowment funds.
Buy a monthly LIRR pass (unless you have already). Probably cheaper. Also, if you’re spending over $200 per week to commute, maybe commuting is not the best option financially?
Did you think profs teach for free? Utilities that give power for free? Banks that give money to build facilities and don’t expect to be paid back? It sounds like you have a problem with a really long commute — maybe you picked a school too far away.
In one of your other threads you said you were living with family in Brooklyn and you expected a $5k Pell Grant and a $5k NYS TAP (tuition) Grant. Has that changed? The TAP alone would cover the tuition at Hostos. If the LIRR is $100/week, that’s $1600 for the semester. The Pell Grant could cover that and leave you ~$900/semester to put toward books and food. You can also take the ~$5500/year federal student loan ($2750/semester) if you need additional money for food or personal expenses.
If you can’t swing the cost of Hostos on that aid, look for schools closer to where your family lives. There are public colleges in Brooklyn and on Long Island. How much would it cost to attend one of those schools?
Until now the state paid for your schooling. Because educated citizens are a necessity for a living democracy and because it makes a huge difference for the state’s wellbeing, it invested $22,000 each year for you to attend school and learn, hoping you’d take advantage of this opportunity offered for free.
Now, you’re an adult, and you have to share the financial burden. If you want a better job, if you want to progress in society, you have to acquire skills and knowledge, and you have to be responsible for it. Part of that responsibility is sharing the cost and making the best of the opportunity. It’s costly because it’s precious.
As indicated by the cost of one year of secondary school it costs WAY WAY more than 7K for you to offer the conditions for you to learn what you need to.
Everything costs money: electricity in the buildings from lights to computers to materials, water in the water fountains, clean air/air vents,
building upkeep, computer labs, science labs, boards, desks, chairs, hallways, lights, windows, sidewalks, shrubbery, lounges, lounge furniture… Certainly you knew people don’t work for free.
Professors*, custodians, lab technicians,
career center advisers, transfer advisers, cafeteria workers: they all work for a living.
Thousands of people work at your CC to make sure you can study in good conditions if you apply yourself.
Now yes, the amount is enormous. The cost difference college has been discussed by politicians because it’s a huge burden on families.
That’s why NYS has implemented a program of free tuition with the Excelsior scholarship. Not all states offer that so even if the program is complicated it’s still better than nothing.
Try living in Pennsylvania for instance. The situation in NYS is idyllic compared to what most PA families go through when it comes to college.
Why not simply attend a closer school and save all that LIRR money? If you’re in Brooklyn, wouldn’t that be Kingsbbborough CC?
That commute sounds like a total hassle. I’m not even sure what you’re doing because LIRR doesn’t go to the Bronx. Are you going to Penn Station and then somehow connecting with metro north? Or are you just switching to subway? Anyway, that sounds crazy. I grew up in the Bronx. Neither of those schools (BCC or H) is worth a long commute anyway. Find a cc in Long Island it Brooklyn.
I agree - community colleges are open enrollment so you can attend whichever one you prefer, one in Brooklyn or one on Long Island.
Lol, why not ask what 200/month pays for on the LIRR? It doesn’t cost them 7.00/day just to move you. That’s equipment, maintenance, staff, facilities, utilities, security, cleaning, and more. Want them to drop all that, plus give you breakfast during the ride?
A college divvies up all its expenses (minus what it receives from state or city) by the number of paying students and gets a cost per student and/or per class credit.