They see through it. They just know they have no other option. Educators raise rates because they can, students pay the rates because they have to. It's the same problem we have in healthcare.
Until employers start scrutinizing education in terms other than "No degree? No thanks.", then we will continue to have this problem, in my opinion.
> They see through it. They just know they have no other option.
To add to this, administrators know if they don't hire extensively they are likely to be replaced by someone who will. There is no control mechanism. Giving students a small periodic vote in respect of their top administration would go a long way towards ameliorating such corruption.
Many students pay way more than they have to. I graduated from a top-10 public school (in-state) after transferring from community college and my total bill was about $35k. That's not nothing, but also not a ball-and-chain six-figure mark that some people accrue.
There are better options than a lot of people have taken. To me the solution has to involve better financial and career counseling for high school graduates.
Precisely! Visarga is bold enough to speak the obvious truth!
Problem is many, if not most, incoming students are unable to understand the financial ramifications of student loans. This does not bode well for their futures, especially in technical fields.
David Letterman once joked that "The lotto is a tax you pay for not paying attention in math class." One might say the same about college student loans.
As an aside, your lotto comment made me think of expected value (EV) and poker. At some point the pot of a lotto can become large enough where the EV demands you buy a ticket. Taxes I think make this number almost impossible to reach though.
Until employers start scrutinizing education in terms other than "No degree? No thanks.", then we will continue to have this problem, in my opinion.