why I am so hostile to academia... I would not be were they to truly serve the words on their walls... the keeping of truth and ideas... but in truth what they are increasingly is the keeper of a select set of truth and one or two ideas out of a sea of ideas....

many many times they have been proven wrong - on so many concepts... and ideas... that it is freightening...

but here is a conundrum... with many universities with endowments in the billions.... why the charge for tuition?  When if you read the world is flat - you will start to realize that for the US to remain competitive in the world at large, we MUST have a technologically savvy popultation - indeed for our way of life to continue - that is a condition... so why the charge for big tuition....??  their endowments... are what should fuel their funding -

I have - because of the recent revelations about the endowments etc.  quit giving to my alma maters.... they just do not need my money and the money they milk from the feds, parents and grants.

It is so incredibly frustrating to me that it is so expensive to get an education here.  I know I could get myself through college on my wits - but I simply cannot afford the debt I would accrue, regardless of what others say.  

I can't help but fear that this is why other nations are eventually going to own our asses... university education is MUCH more accessible, in some countries free.

I like the truth and ideas line. I may steal it one day.  

This is a little slanted I realize

BTW how come nobody is putting up MACdaddys (stuff).


No Child Left Behind Act
Obama
Barack Obama puts children first. He will fight to make sure our classrooms are adequately funded and led by high-quality teachers, and reforming No Child Left Behind to work for the students.
McCain
John McCain voted for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans rather than much-needed funding for our students, teachers, and failing local classrooms.
Attracting and Retaining Teachers
Obama
Obama creates new scholarships to recruit and retain the best teachers for American classrooms. His plan also creates a new Career Ladder initiative that will reward teachers for success in the classroom.
McCain
John McCain repeatedly voted against putting 100,000 new teachers in our classrooms to reduce class size.
Department of Education
Obama
Barack Obama supports the Department of Education and the work it has done to ensure a quality education for all Americans.
McCain
John McCain sided with the far Right, supporting the idea of abolishing the Department of Education altogether.
Helping Disadvantaged Students
Obama
Barack Obama has passed measures to provide safe, quality afterschool and summer learning programs for students and will work to expand these as president.
McCain
John McCain voted against additional funding for programs that help disadvantaged students in low-income communities.
Early Childhood Education
Obama
Obama will expand Head Start and early childhood education programs to give children the foundation they need to succeed in school.
McCain
John McCain opposes expanding the Head Start program and doesn't have a plan for early childhood education.
Higher Education
Obama
Barack Obama will make college affordable to all Americans, increasing Pell Grants and offering a $4000 annual credit to use towards college tuition in exchange for community service.
McCain
John McCain repeatedly voted against efforts to make college more affordable, including reducing student loan costs and providing college tuition tax credits.
Vouchers
Obama
Barack Obama believes free, quality public education is the heart of the American promise. He supports public charter schools, but not vouchers.
McCain
John McCain will take much-needed money away from our schools to fund private schools instead.
Barack Obama's Stance on Education John McCain's Stance on Education

The universities BSD listed are private, and yes tuition, room & board costs average in the $30K to $40K range. Considering I have 2 in college now, and I personally don't think private universities offer a better education than public universities. The one thing they do well is ensure your kid gets their degree in 4 years, where in a more populated public university it may take 4 1/2 or 5 years.

For California public universities the primary expense is not necessarily tuition, but room and board. Example, one of my kids goes to UCSB. The instate tuition is $8500, but rent, food and entertainment expenses averages around $12K. I stayed at home when I went to college years ago, but today there is an emphasis on the total college experience. That's fine, but when you are dealing with the expense of college there are alternatives such as commuting to school, going to a community college for the first 2 years, and then transferring to a instate university.

One issue we don't talk about it is space. There are over 4,000 colleges, including 2 and 4 year. There are close to 16M students enrolled at anyone time, of which 4% are foreign students. The universities, or the ones I am exposed to are running @ 100% occupancy. We all remember our first 2 years taking general ed classes and sitting in a classroom with 100 other students, and the class taught primarily by a TA.

I too want more kids to go to college, but at the end of the day we need to expand capacity and/or add new campuses.

I am against affirmative action, but I would be for economic affirmative action, which to me means tuition (not room and board) could be provided with a realistic pay back period based on the selected major. In other words, if you opt to use your degree to teach, then I would be OK with waiving any payback of tuition. This is somewhat similar to someone pursuing a PhD and eventually entering academia. The universities know you won't be making a lot of money vs someone who pursues an MBA. If you happen to go to law school, well at some point in time you can afford to pay back the loans.

Universities are making a killing every which way.

improved education call for a fundamental change in the entire university system... and by the way, the U of Ca System, IMHO charges way too much in the way of tuition... way too much - and I say that based upon the overall tax base - and the fact that the U's pay NO taxes - state or federal.  Get real, you are paying twice for services that IMHO are marginal (average for the US public u's is around $11K).

When I say a fundamental change in Academia, I mean that literally.  The entire buildings and campuses are constructed wrongly - they prepare one only for continual education, rather than continual learning... there is a difference.

Also, the "total college experience" does little to prepare one for the work world.  seriously, why go to college?  education?  if one wants to be a "student of the world" all one needs is a wad of cash, and the ability to travel and talk to folk... and read.

But if you go to college to learn to think, prepare for a job, gather a wide base of ideas and concepts to choose from, Universities increasingly offer little in that vein.

To be blunt, we can (and should) educate through the BS level - and charge the student nothing.  Why?  Because to remain competitive in the world - that is what we need to do as a nation.  This is not socialism... it is self-defense - in an economic sense.  It also has a side benefit... in that if you really believe in decreasing the separation of classes, and increasing the middle class - then they only real way to do that is through education.

Nuff said.