Foo - Some inflate faster than others

Not talking frame pumps, but money inflation.

The raise in tuition and room and board rates for next year were announced recently, but the percentage increase values listed didn't sink in until I got my financial aid package today. It will cost me around $3000 more to go to school here next year than it did last year! :mad: Annual costs have increased by $6000 since I started three years ago. I'm still trying to figure out where all this money goes.

I know, "Welcome to the real world." It's still really frustrating though. I guess I'd better stop before I end up on a really long rant. I'll be rethinking my plans for spending money this summer. Probably have to cut the plan from new bike down to my choice of new wheels or new fork.

Smiley re-enactment of me opening the aid letter

:) :( :eek: :mad: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Look at it this way, at least you can afford new wheels or a new fork. Wait till you get a mortgage and some kids. Then you can get new parts the way I do. Lookin' around the neighbourhood on garbage day for what everyone else has thrown out. So far I've gotten a frame, fork, complete rear wheel and about three or four riser bars. Pretty soon I'll be up to a whole bike.

Not talking frame pumps, but money inflation.
I'm still trying to figure out where all this money goes.
:

Welcome to academia.
University administrations are one of the (if not most) bloated bureaucies in the universe. Walk through any college or department at a large university and you will be able to see many examples of redundancy and waste. If you don't see any, start asking prof.s and asst. prof.s how many classess they actualy teach.

Not talking frame pumps, but money inflation.

The raise in tuition and room and board rates for next year were announced recently, but the percentage increase values listed didn't sink in until I got my financial aid package today. It will cost me around $3000 more to go to school here next year than it did last year! :mad: Annual costs have increased by $6000 since I started three years ago. I'm still trying to figure out where all this money goes.

I know, "Welcome to the real world." It's still really frustrating though. I guess I'd better stop before I end up on a really long rant. I'll be rethinking my plans for spending money this summer. Probably have to cut the plan from new bike down to my choice of new wheels or new fork.

Smiley re-enactment of me opening the aid letter

:) :( :eek: :mad: :cry: :cry: :cry:


My youngest son graduated from UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) in 1995. Every time his tuition came due, I just wrote a check. It was never more than about $1800 per semester. My daughter started there this year, and the cost is $4,000 per semester and I have to borrow! And the education hasn't improved. The buildings are the same, the campus is the same.

Tution has risen several orders of magnitude more than inflation. At least at UMBC, or at least in the classes my daughter is taking, the professors do the teaching.

The reason? The heads of departments, etc., who don't do a whole lot, all get paid ridiculously high salaries. In my opinion, none of them are worth even half of what they get paid.

There is a demand for education these days, the holy grail of success. At some point colleges will be priced out for the average consumer. Then there will be cries front he left for universal free education. Our local community college runs off state and federal aid, so its no big deal to raise tuition, just more money in the pocket of the Admin.

I can't authoratatively say that department heads and deans are overpaid, well maybe the deans, who don't do much. The heads here all are promoted professors, so they have a lot of education and experience. It seems fair that some (not all) should have incomes that break the 5 digit level. They could make more in industry doing research because the skills they have are pretty valuable. I'm sure the waste lies mostly in little things that are easier to include in a budget than explain to someone why they were turned down.

This isn't to say the education isn't worth the cost (well, I hope). The professors actually do teach the classes here, not TA's. And the campus life is good. It's just so frustrating to be prepared to pay a certain cost, and then have it raised by such huge amounts without being able to observe any benefits.