It was only a matter of time before universities priced tuition at nearly $100,000 a year. This spring we will see it for the first time.
One letter sent to a new engineering student at Vanderbilt University showed a total cost of $98,426, including room and board, personal expenses and a high-octane laptop. For students who travel from the Nashville campus to Los Angeles or London three times a year, that number could reach six figures.
This eye-popping amount is extraordinary. Only a small percentage of college-bound students pay anything close to this amount right away, and about 35 percent of Vanderbilt students (those receiving neither need-based nor merit-based aid) Pay the full list price.
But dozens of other universities that reject large numbers of applicants will probably reach this standard within a few years. Their willingness to overcome that barrier raises two questions for those considering attending college. Here’s why this happened and is it really worth it?
who pays what
According to the College Board, the average list price for tuition, fees, housing and board for the 2023-24 school year at private nonprofit four-year schools was $56,190. At four-year public universities, the average sticker price for in-state students was $24,030.
But that’s not what most people pay, and it’s not even close to that amount. As of the 2019-20 academic year, according to federal data used by the College Board, 2023 report, 39 percent of in-state students attending a two-year college full-time received enough grant aid to cover all tuition and fees (but not living expenses, which means they can’t afford to leave school). (can be very difficult to graduate). At four-year public schools, 31 percent paid no tuition and fees at all, while her 18 percent of students at private colleges qualified for similar conditions.
These private universities continue to offer deep discounts to people of all types of incomes.National Association of University Administrators study The private, nonprofit university said it will reduce tuition fees by 56 percent from the standard rate during the 2022-23 academic year.
Vanderbilt offers discounts and financial aid is very generous.This year, it announced Families with incomes below $150,000 do not pay tuition. in most cases.
Still, more than 2,000 students without need-based or merit-based aid will soon be paying more than $100,000. Why does Vanderbilt need that kind of funding?
where the money goes
Schools say even $100,000 doesn’t cover the average cost of a student’s education at some small liberal arts colleges with large endowments.Williams College says: spend For example, it costs about $50,000 more per student than list price.
This means that anyone can receive a subsidy. Presumably, its list price should also exceed $100,000 so that the endowment does not provide unnecessary aid to wealthy families. Or, perhaps, such a high price might scare off low-income applicants who don’t realize they could potentially get a free ride.
According to Vanderbilt University, each undergraduate student spends $119,000. “The difference between entry fees and prices is covered by our endowment and the generous philanthropy of our donors and alumni,” Vice Chancellor for Finance Brett Sweet said in an emailed statement. Ta.
No one at school met me to explain this number or talked about it on the phone.But Vanderbilt’s financial statements Provide tips on how to use your money. In fiscal year 2023, 52% of operating expenses were earmarked for faculty, staff, student salaries and wages, and other benefits.
Two scholars, Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman, write:Why are university tuition fees so high?” explains in the book why these agencies have such difficult labor costs.
“The key factors are that higher education is a personal service, that productivity growth due to labor savings is modest, and that wages for highly educated workers, which are so important in universities, are rising.” ” they said. “These are economy-wide factors. They have little to do with any pathology in higher education.”
Industry critics still believe that a kind of administrative bloat has begun, driving up tuition costs with exorbitant salaries. But what actually is swelling?
Administrators oversee compliance with laws that allow people with disabilities to attend college and prevent schools from discriminating against women. If you don’t like the regulations, you can vote for another member.
Similarly, if families in the free market want fewer mental health professionals and their bosses, computer network administrators, academic advisors, and career counselors, they have other options. Still, Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeyer’s first (pre-vetted) question was: answered This fall’s family weekend focused on whether Vanderbilt University should invest more in career guidance after it dropped five spots in its annual rankings. US news ranking.
Is it worth it?
Even if many families aren’t looking to get a low-cost boarding school undergraduate education, they’re asking a lot of good questions about value. So is a $400,000 college education worth it?
It depends, and you knew that answer was coming, right?
Most college shoppers have questions about income outcomes, and the federal government’s information site allows you to search by undergraduate major. University Scorecard Website. This program-level data covers graduates four years after graduation, but only graduates who received federal financial aid.
The median income for biomedical/medical engineering majors at Vanderbilt after four years is $94,340. Students majoring in English and Literature earn $53,767.
These are great results, but are they unique to Vanderbilt? “The chance of earning an engineering degree from a state flagship university is just as valuable as one earned at Vanderbilt,” he says. I did. Julian Trevesfinancial advisors and university professionals. Newsletter It told me what was going on there.
I spent several days trying to get a hold of Vanderbilt University’s vice president for admissions. Douglas L. Christiansen, tried to talk to me and answer these questions head on and more broadly, but I was not successful. A university spokesperson sent me some generalizations in his name. “We are committed to pursuing excellence at every level, from the quality of our faculty, programs, facilities, and laboratories to the services we provide to support the academic, emotional, and social well-being of our students. We are committed to doing so,” the statement reads.
Anticipating that there would be no substantive answers, I also attended a group information session for about 125 prospective students and asked questions there as well. A senior admissions officer declined to answer questions. I had never seen anything like that before, and I have attended sessions like this in dozens of schools over the years.
But the truth is, why should competitive market actors need to answer that question when they absolutely don’t have to? Happiness scores, customer satisfaction, learning measures, friendship benefits, careers Because industry-wide quantitative data on quality, such as network strength, are not publicly available, list price alone serves as a signal of excellence, at least for some shoppers.
And even though schools reject the vast majority of applicants, thousands of applicants respond to this signal each year by volunteering to pay the list price. Or maybe they’re volunteering because Vanderbilt and schools like it are rejecting the vast majority of applicants.
Therefore, the $100,000 list price is not our top outrage. The spectacle of wealthy people freely purchasing luxury services is nothing new, even if it’s a subject entirely worthy of scrutiny (and a phenomenon that’s not well-studied by academics themselves, well). there is no.
what teeth So what’s the problem? brent joseph evansAn associate professor of public policy and higher education in the Vanderbilt College of Education and Human Development, he began his career as an admissions officer at the University of Virginia. So he sold the facilities to New England boarding school students and teenagers in the Appalachian foothills.
The former group may pay $100,000 a year, but many of them will never make it to the Vanderbilts of the world in the first place. I’m sure they’ll find a way somewhere.
But what about the latter group? Professor Evans is worried about whether they will be able to attend school.
“We should consider whether they can attend a state university at a lower cost and find a well-paying career that will keep them in the middle class,” he said. “I think the tension around what elite universities do sometimes takes us away from what we should be concerned about as a society.”
audio producer Palin Bellows.
