This has to be the worst state (TX) for going to college. They are increasing tuition and fees again.....
http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2007/06june/061907tuitionnfee_increases.html .
What schools fail to mention when you get full paid tuition is the other word.....fees! Based on this article linked above, I am paying close to 33% of the total semesterly costs stated....in fees!!! This seems like state schools are becoming more and more like businesses and less like state educational services. If that is the case, maybe the BBB or other fine agencies of the sort could have a field day with this kind of stuff. It's like misleading pricing scams that you hear about in retail stores. They tell you things like, "You are a great student. If you come here, we will pay all of your tuition." Then when you get there (after turning down other schools that may have less costs), they slip you a bill that resembles 33% (possibly over $1200/2 semesters) of the total cost to go to that school. Who wants to be associated with an organization that has to use shady tactics like this to get you there? I can also say from experience, that schools will not even mention the cost of fees unless you specifically know to do your homework and ask. Something needs to change! Either the services that help you find colleges (Barron's, Princeton Review, etc.) have to step up and scream that tuition is not the whole story for a college cost (and publish going fee rates), or the colleges need to be kicked in the wallet for misleading cost information (bad business). I think that this could be one reason that the US does not get enough students going to graduate school. Who wants to deal with getting nickel and dimed for 5-7 more years??? And don't even get me started on the itemized breakdown of these said fees....could be a whole other post!!
8 comments:
I'm curious, what are some of your fees for? At RPI everything really was covered for me. I didn't even have to pay fees. Is this a new thing? Did you pay fees at KU or SUNY?
I'm confused. Are you a grad student? I didn't pay fees at Johns Hopkins, and our students at SIO don't either. Are you paying tuition?
Paid tax/fees at both KU($395/semester) and SUNY ($275/semester) as well. UH is approx. $600-$900/semester depending on course load. Tuition is completely covered. It's just a way for the school to make its own prices for the things (library use, computer use, rec center use, utility use, security use, oxygen use, etc.) that the state assumes are included in the tuition portion....but really aren't. Sometimes, you might get a rich advisor that will eat the fees for you, but it is generally perceived to be eaten by you.
Hmmmm, now you have me second guessing myself. I may have actually had to pay a computer lab fee and library fee or something. And then of course, there are books. Education is pricey, no wonder people hate science.
Weird. I've never heard of that. But I've always worked for people who had that sweet, sweet NIH money. So, maybe they were rich. Or maybe there's just a different culture in your field. (My wife, who's in education, doesn't pay fees either.)
I think when departments get lots of private funding, they get greedy and think their whole existence is to make money, not teach. We'll call it Scrooge McDuck syndrome.
Well, I think teaching goes out the window in any good research institute. That's what TA's are for! What I've seen, at least in the Materials Sciences is that the guys who are best at getting funding are usually the biggest dicks. But hey, they are very driven dicks, and that's what's required to be successful in a competitive field.
Depends on which level of teaching you're talking about. I agree that undergrad teaching usually suffers at a big research-driven school/institution. However, as a current teacher of a grad student class, I know I rock!
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