It seems that today there is less focus on the academics we are going to study at university but how we are going to pay for those academics. Students are being forced to carefully select where they are going to attend college by it’s affordability and not whether the university will set the stage for a healthy career. Through my observations of my personal experiences and those I attend school with, I have noticed a few contributing factors to this ongoing problem.
First, tuition in of itself is over the top considering two years of one’s university education is devoted to re-practicing the basic skills learned in K-12. By the time I got to George Mason, I had already completed four years of math, four years of English, four years of History, and four years of science—so why, when I have slaved for 12 years to get myself into an institution of higher learning, would I want to repeat that work at a more accelerated level and be fooled into believing that “Western Civilization” was any different to what I learned in seventh grade European History? It’s simply ludicrous to think that my degree is essentially compressed into two years of 300 level courses.
Second, I think that the price of textbooks is almost comical when you take into account that students are typically considered the poorest rich people. Just because our degrees are worth thousands doesn’t mean we are. But unfortunately, it doesn’t bother the bookstores. Last week I went to pick up my semester texts and almost fainted when one of my gen-ed courses (of which will remain nameless) demanded a 235 dollar textbook! I nervously chatted with the checkout girl as she stripped my BB&T debit card from my spider-monkey grip and watched as 235 dollars’ worth of pedicures, night’s on the town, and chipotle chicken bowls dissolved into her register.
Thirdly, all the extras are insane. Between bedspreads, desk lights, snack foods, rugs, printers, printer paper, ink, laptops, pillow, backpacks, school supplies, etc. it’s enough to send a family into financial ruin. For example, two weeks ago I walked into my apartment to the sight of floods of tears streaming down my roommates face as she proceeded to tell me she had a new financial aid counselor who was claiming she owed $1,300 for which she had not been previously warned or informed. Sending her into a tailspin to try and work-out where this money was going to come from. To say the least it was upsetting to watch, the panicked and distressed look across her face was enough to make me equally as angry that those who are there to help could harm so much and potentially change the course of her academic career.
It’s ironic that we’re here to receive an education that could potentially put each one of us on the map if achieved successfully but by the time we’re graduating we won’t have enough gas money to get to our job interview.