As college cost passes $90K, 'the middle class is losing ground'

The price of college just surpassed $90,000 per year at several prestigious universities. CNN's Michael Smerconish speaks to Princeton Professor Frederick Wherry about the effects steep tuitions have on the middle class. #CNN #News

[@zippydoo9533]

The middle class is disappearing period!!!! With or without college debt the middle class is being crushed.

[@timg1246]

So ?

[@KevinStDenis1]

Thanks to Democrats …. That’s their plan, creat a two class system, the elite and poor

[@brandon3525]

bidenomics 💙

[@ianmangham4570]

By design, the elite want worker bees living in slums while they globe trot on private jets telling us all to be happy and don't burn logs 😅

[@GotoHere]

Joe Biden’s inflation has destroyed our nation.

[@sehrschee]

90K per YEAR? ..lel. HAve a look at the european education system at university level. But the real question is who gets this money? Its not a college cost. Its a college industry that benefits from the high costs.

[@bencas9288]

Subsidize loans are to blame everyone gets a yes , so everyone gets accept they raise the price

[@ytzpilot]

I live in New Zealand and our nation is packed with young European backpackers, mostly from Germany but other nations too, and very few Americans, the primary reason for that is Europeans don’t pay for university education, and most European youth are raised on generational wealth so don’t have any debts, and are encouraged to travel before settling down

[@sehrschee]

@@ytzpilot Jep thats true. Most parents can support their kids during universtiy. And since university doesnt cost anything they can use that money for other things.

[@Kurushimi1729]

I think that's total cost, not per year

[@KarenMarks-d6r]

​@@Kurushimi1729nope! We're doing it NOW. It's per year!

[@adorabledeplorable5740]

Colleges need to stop getting Government taxpayers breaks and subsudies! Plus start paying their fair share in Taxes......

[@seanmccartney5177]

AGREED!

[@rachellandry3116]

but then where can you find promising Bros to tap in the shoulder, oh Free and Accepted?? Tax Harvard?!? Don't let Duke of Kent know! you'll be out on yer mason butt, bruh!

[@E_Crypto]

Speak english, please

[@jaobidan2358]

College has been a racket for the last 40 years. No one attending college should have to be forced to pay for filler courses, and electives that have to do with their major, to fill a credit requirement for graduation. If someone wants to study a particular field of interest? Then their course curriculum should be revolved around nothing but courses that pertain to their desired area of study.

[@elmosweed4985]

100%. Trade schools are a great alternative for those that chose a field they offer. Unfortetnely Trade schools do not cover all positions so some degrees will still require taking 2 years of underwater basket weaving and 2 years of ballet to pass.

[@jaobidan2358]

@@elmosweed4985 And 4 more years of western civilization. An aspiring doctor isn't well equipped for medical school w/o that.

[@ScantsRants]

In my experience the curriculum isn’t 100% focused on the area of study until you get to the Masters Degree.

[@ScantsRants]

Only 15 out of 120 credits was focused on my area of study during undergrad. 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@grobble8954]

You really don't know how degree programs work.

[@davemitchell6281]

Many will never even make 90,000 a year.

[@t.r.campbell6585]

A plumber will very likely make that amount of money.

[@sirfartyfartsalot9896]

They can, but the problem is.... student loan debt would probably be higher than $90K if they have a graduate degree.

[@profoundclarity8497]

​@@t.r.campbell6585okay....so let's say 25 million decide to be plumbers....what happens...jackass...know nothing about how shit works

[@sirfartyfartsalot9896]

@@t.r.campbell6585 Nope. On average, plumbers are paid about $60K.

[@nsr60ster85]

If they're starting a 40-year career, they might reach $90,000 with inflation.

[@mikirules12]

this is why I went to University in Germany 😂 paying 200-800€ per semester.

[@echochamber1234]

same here

[@justoneman3916]

Such an insane education solution. Another part of this story is the percentage of college graduates actually landing a career associated with their major to justify the cost.

[@TheGrun13]

Imagine paying $90,000 to attend Boston University or Tufts....what an absolute racket.

[@movdqa]

I have degrees from Boston College (just under $90k) and Boston University. Total cost: $2,500. $1k loan, $1k from my mother, $500 from a part-time job. Everything else was paid for by employers via tuition reimbursement. Our kids went to State U with no debt. These expensive schools make the headlines but the heavy lifting is from State U and community colleges.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

McD use to do that back in the day. but you found out that you didnt make enough to send you kids.

[@movdqa]

@@diegojines-us9pc Companies still do today. Starbucks and Chipotle offer it. School districts typically offer it to teachers. Our son got his masters paid for by his employer (a hospital). So it is still around.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

seems the no ebt still have some details you left out. like how long he has to work before the job pays off his masters. not as simple as you said now was it. and you didnt say if McD didnt pay for yours. @@movdqa

[@ToGoMania19]

I was very concerned I could not send my son to college here in California. Fortunately, as a Veteran with service-connected disabilities, he gets an undergrad education at UC or CSU universities paid-for. If you are a similar veteran here in California, please research to see how this works.

[@MrLaureus]

Try Europe, like Portugal, Spain or Estonia.

[@MohamedIlias-iy5hk]

And in Israel and Ukraine. Higher education is free

[@traumflug]

... and Germany, The Netherlands, well most of Europe.

[@E_Crypto]

It's not free. It's funded by the taxpayers.

[@davidkamen]

My thought is - don't send your children to any New England college, there are plenty of quality colleges for less than half $90 thousand.

[@grobble8954]

The entire story is classic Smerkonish faux rightwing populism BS. Schools he mentioned are that expensive partially b/c the portion of the student body that can pay the tuition are partially subsidizing the ones that can't.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

say the man who hasn't gone to one. but will be shocked when he sends his kids.

[@davidkamen]

@@diegojines-us9pc not quit, my children both graduated Stanford. I graduated University of Zurich. Nobody had any student loan debt after graduation.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

@@davidkamen seems you didn't say how or why you left. did someone have a bank charge against them and they ran with the money?

[@grobble8954]

@@diegojines-us9pc Try writing a coherent sentence with punctuation. Your GED is failing you.

[@profoundclarity8497]

there isnt a middle class anymore...its the rich and people who have whatever they need vs the rest of us...this country sucks so bad...

[@GotoHere]

I was doing fine until Biden got elected.

[@billycloudy9078]

@@GotoHeredude stop blaming someone else for your own problems!!

[@davemathews7890]

I attended UC Berkeley for four years in the early 90's. Cost per year: approx $9,000, paid mostly with work/study funds. That was back in the day when anyone with good grades and the inclination could attend Cal.

[@zoecarter7592]

As someone who grew up middle class, financial aide gave offered me $1500 that’s it. He is right we get screwed. No college for me.

[@KarenMarks-d6r]

Absolutely Shameful!!! NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD DOES THIS!!! MOST OF THE DECENT COUNTRIES HAVE FREE COLLEGE EDUCATIONS!!! MAKE THE RICH PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES!!! EASY SOLUTION!!!

[@echochamber1234]

UK and Canada and Singapore do it

[@liberty484]

Stop The Student Loans Scam!

[@diegojines-us9pc]

stop sending kids to college. when they are better fitted to be garbage men.

[@Christian-di8zu]

STOP going to the ridiculously expensive colleges. Nobody is forcing anyone to go to these.

[@Anne_one]

The normal colleges are expensive too, and let’s be honest these colleges have the best opportunities for certain fields. They purposely making it expensive so only rich nepos will be able to afford to go.

[@chrisg9840]

No, you’re right. Everyone should just be happy with their fast food job so the people who already own everything don’t feel crowded.

[@marvin6016]

@@chrisg9840 you can get a trade, a two year degree, get experience work you're way up, start own business. So, many other ways to make money.

[@Christian-di8zu]

@@Anne_one It’s a choice. Nobody is forcing anyone to go to them. But if they can keep finding enough dumb people to pay their price then it’s going to remain high. And there are many colleges that are affordable.

[@Christian-di8zu]

@@chrisg9840 If you were a real man you could join the military like I did and have them pay for it. But I guess some are just light in the loafers.

[@prabhdeepdhahan1147]

Learn a trade or work in sales.

[@jasonvegan5761]

F overpriced college degrees, start your own business instead

[@PedoPeter66646]

FJB MAGA 🇺🇲

[@NHLblkgurl]

Yep... and I’m paying and helping my last two kids in college, CHEAT their way through the DEI, CRT drunk curriculum...And only doing so because the worthless degree(as per individual education) is still the playing field for many career/industry hires).

[@PedoPeter66646]

Woke institutions create educated idiots

[@KleWdSide]

It's not that easy. Starting a business can be more expensive than an undergraduate degree.

[@January.]

You obviously don't live in reality.

[@TheJosephoenix]

Elite colleges don't matter. Work ethic does, and it gets notice. However, here's the asterisk " it's who you and/or your parents know that truly makes the difference, unless you're truly : that amazing".

[@heyaisdabomb]

In certain fields, yes, it does. In tech, networking is just as important as knowledge. And the network that you get by being at these colleges is a big help. Everyone wants to say "go to a cheaper school", but it's NOT the same education standard. I've been to cheap schools, and expensive private schools, and the expectation, largely due to the fact everyone around you is extremely bright, leads to a richer education. Most of the people in my junior college were not very smart, as anyone gets in, so when they grade on a curve, it''s very easy to pass and get an A. They have to dumb the class down also, instead o pushing you to your limits. There's a reason many people say they don't someone who went to college and they are still dumb. A lot depends on which college they went to.

[@mariaoropallo2386]

Not worth the education

[@scottd-fw9yw]

Get rid of Biden!!!!!!

[@admirewear]

Most college teachers don't even make above 40k a year. So this money is not due to teaching wages

[@KarenMarks-d6r]

I don't think that's correct. The HS teachers in our school district made $60k/yr when my kids were in school. They are in their 50's now!

[@admirewear]

@user-te8px5dq9v I went to a 4 year very popular university that costs 80k per year. Where each class cost $5-7k. My teacher who had been there for 25 years salary was $41k. These schools are not paying their teachers, or upgrading equipment. They are raising just for profits

[@DylanMurphyy]

Colleges and universities are no longer the gatekeepers of knowledge; knowledge has become free and readily available now that we're living in the information age but employers don't seem to recognize this. The demand for a formal university education is mostly being fueled by employers who demand a degree even for jobs that should not and have not historically required one. The knowledge and experience you acquire while obtaining your degree can also be obtained independently or on-the-job. It's the greed of employers, university administrators, and elected officials that has enabled this crisis to reach such a breaking point.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

funny how a 12 year with a app can out perform a college degree worker. anyone catching on to the waste of time and money?

[@ChrisoulaLakkas]

Value those who prioritize you, but treasure those who are consistently there for you through thick and thin.

[@RayosMcQueen]

The wheels will continue to come off the wagon of American democracy as education continues to become more and more unattainable. .

[@snakey973]

Attending a State school at WI is $20k/yr. I have 2 college students, we make less than 100k /yr. My kids receuved NO AID this next academic year. Now my daughter has to drop out and transfer to the tech school...its heart crushing. We cant come up with the money.

[@Copper1963]

What middle class?????

[@christopherfield8663]

No sympathy for students going to these schools. Other than Yale, no one is going to care about the name of these other universities. If students start doing a cost benefit analysis on their school before attending, they’d stop going to these ridiculously overpriced ones. Ultimately it is a check in the box you are paying for. Practical job related knowledge is almost universally attained while actually working.

[@NoQuarterfordems]

Woke institutions create educated idiots

[@PedoPeterandcrackboy]

Yale 😂😂😂😂 super woke

[@Anne_one]

That’s literally bs.

[@misterfunnybones]

Keep in mind that not long ago only the aristocracy had the time to become literate; the peasants did all the labour remaining illiterate & relatively poor. The wealth pyramid is supported by a foundation of hard work & poverty.

[@bluemoyie8618]

The "wealth pyramid" is still alive and well today unfortunately. The wealthiest 85 people own the same proportion as the planet's poorest 3.5 billion people. The top 1% control 90-95% of the world's wealth.

[@KleWdSide]

It's seriously madness. Maybe I'm just an elitist, but if someone worked hard though 4-8 years of schooling & managed to keep their GPA above a 3.0... they earned their keep & shouldn't have a ridiculous amount of debt.

[@jaobidan2358]

Good grades don't pay the universities' revenue...Which is why a credit requirement was designed to force the student to take courses that have no pertinence to their major. They know very well an aspiring medical or legal student has little need of their umpteenth year of western civilization, but it means more money for the school forcing them to take it.

[@timg1246]

Grades do not "earn" anything.

[@sirfartyfartsalot9896]

@@timg1246 They earn you a better job & opportunities than being a sandwich artist @ Subway like you do.

[@jaobidan2358]

@@sirfartyfartsalot9896 Not entirely so...Look at Joe Biden. You can be an abject moron, academically, finish at the bottom of your class, fail the bar 5 times and still become President.

[@timg1246]

​@sirfartyfartsalot9896 Actually, I do have a degree. But GPA scores earn nothing. Work does that. He expects GPA scores to qualify you for getting something for free. That is not how it works.

[@Lawlzinator]

College costs blew up as soon as government got involved. Colleges knew they could increase tuition all they wanted

[@lqr824]

nah, govt was always involved, ever hear of the GI Bill?

[@Jeanne90275]

True, and they went on a hiring spree for non-teaching administrators plus personnel to handle all those grants and loans.

[@harryfarber6435]

BACPA 2005, Joe caused this

[@jaobidan2358]

True but college has been a racket for the last 40 years. A credit requirement for graduation needing filler, and elective, courses that have nothing to do with one's desired area of study is nothing more than a shake down of the student.

[@lqr824]

​@@Jeanne90275 False. Mom was in administration of several colleges, at the dean, provost, VP, acting president, interim president levels. We talked often about it. Schools don't really have much to do with loans. The costs are really in areas like: 1) land for growth was often donated free at the university's start, outside the city center, but the city grows around the school and makes it very expensive to expand. 2) there used to be a glut of students in the 1947-1980 period. You simply opened your doors and they came. Now schools recruitment efforts have significant costs. 3) tied to recruitment is rising expectations. Kansas universities didn't have air conditioning in the 1980s. Now they do. Dorm rooms now need semi-private baths instead of a big communal one per floor. The campus has to be wired for technology. You have to have a fancy expensive gym now that you didn't need in the 1970s. You need a school ski trip and so on. This is the one thing where the availability of more money via loans may have allowed costs to balloon a bit. Then again, do middle class parents in say Kansas City who've had air conditioning all their lives not want air conditioning for their kids in university? 4) Compliance with the law is far more expensive. This includes everything from removing asbestos, to adding wheelchair accessibility, to tracking all complaints and problems very methodically and taking legal advice quite often. There's about one lawsuit per 1000 students per year and they're expensive even if the school never pays out. Data must be tracked as far as races and genders in a way it wasn't before. 5) a HUGE one for state schools at least is that most of the cost was passed on to taxpayers, be they truck drivers, farmers, plumbers, and so on. The student got much of the benefit of the degree but never was billed for it. Now they're being billed for it which is much fairer.

[@shawyonsharifi3394]

I mean that really isn’t that bad. If you can’t afford to pay it then don’t go. Don’t be getting loans you can’t afford, frankly I think it’s very worth it to pay this for graduating from a top college in the country.

[@sandyago4735]

My college at Cal State was $300 a quarter in the early 80s. That's $900 a year. Grad school at National Univercity was $650 a class. It was expensive but doable. Also, every expensive new building or swimming pool/spa or stadium adds overhead to the fixed costs the school has to endure to make note. My point here is that fancy, over designed, beautiful architecture and its upkeep drives up the price to run the school. That cost is passed to the poor saps that study there

[@1mezion]

i just love how he has the book money talks behind him

[@jlangenberg]

Remove all federal funding for all nonSTEM courses. Limit administration to 1970 percentage of enrollment

[@Souel12385]

If only there were some public service or entity that could identify why we've had cuts in social spending in the United States, these cuts that have damaged the vast majority of the population. Maybe if there was some entity that could do some form of investigation, then we could find the root cause of it and then not continue to perpetuate the economic violence against poor and middle-class people...

[@boblester8641]

Why none of these reporters explain why it costs

[@RicardoGonzales-t9g]

There should be a limit for going to college, it's getting ridiculous to go to college.

[@DavidMorales-cz9wt]

The lender's are losing the ground, crooks in the money skim!

[@KevinStDenis1]

College loans in the US are managed be the government

[@johnmaloney1784]

College is a pump not a filter.

[@staunchlyspeaking]

Don’t waste your time in college kids. Degrees just don’t mean what they used to. We stopped requiring them for hiring four years ago. We now base it on skill and merit.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

office job starting at 30 a year while you pay interest. and might top out at 50 in 20 years. 5 years program in Constuction. free, and after 5 years full pay, 35 ahour with full paid for benefits. but must be about to work with a chair. but middle class American would chance a Mexican handy man to do the Contruction job for $15. even if falls down or burns up. because they are cutting corners to pay the monthly loan payment

[@Krispy1011]

I get reminded who I'm voting for every time I go shopping and see the super high prices of everything, the super high prices of gas, the super high crime rates and when I see the stores locking everything up behind locked glass cases - I'm voting for Donald Trump, so he can end this insane lib dem failure of America!

[@annecelestin8534]

Remember Trump University was stealing money from students. He is part of the problem, go to state universities and community colleges.😂😂😂

[@CrispinCourtenay]

Interesting. So if someone was to persue a Masters Degree today, We are looking just shy of $600,000? That is insanity. You can hire an army of consultants, tutors and AI agents and in about in a years time have the same knowledge as the person in school for five more years.

[@jannibal9273]

Where are you going to college, dude? Current full time annual tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is (rounded up) $8,460.00. Screw those "elite" colleges. Get an education - you don't get a better one at the "elite" colleges, they teach exactly the same classes and hold the same kind of mix of students as any other large metro state college campus does. Don't get suckered into thinking you can't possibly obtain a college degree - and then go on to obtain a Masters Degree, or perhaps apply to a state Law School, etc. YOU CAN AFFORD IT, but you may have to hold a part-time job to pay for it, or draw out of savings or accounts established by relatives and parents to save money (tax deductible, subject to an annual maximum contribution) for college - in Wisconsin it's called EDVEST. I can write off $300 a year contributions per account I have established for a niece and a nephew. Yeah, it won't amount to enough to cover all tuition for 4 years, but every $100 per birthday or Christmas helps for 18 years, and the EDVEST people invest the money and you get a return on it. FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS, BUT WORK HARD FOR THEM TOO.

[@timg1246]

To the people who run CNN only elite colleges count.

[@User-hr9oo]

I like the anchor’s style - he never interrupts the person being interviewed, he’s calm and pleasant to watch

[@samudra_dasgupta]

Best schools need to be public schools by deliberate federal intervention

[@ericlarsen4050]

Another option that is very affordable is competency based learning programs like Western Governors University which costs less than $5,000 for 6 months. For instance, you could if you have the discipline and good time management to make short-term sacrifices could finish WGU's MBA program in 6 months.

[@tbd-5160]

The hilarious part is that it has nothing to do with education; the loan interest is why corporate interests fund these institutions. You don't even need college anymore, when I was a kid you did, now just Google a subject, boom, answer.

[@jonathanevenboer]

This is such a depressing take. Speaking from a STEM perspective, you don't go to college/university to learn answers. You go to develop tools to help you do original research. In mathematics (my field of study), you learn subjects like algebraic geometry and linear algebra and so on because those things are necessary to learn how to synthesize materials that will help you ask questions that haven't been asked yet, and to come up with results that can't be googled (because those answers don't exist yet). Aside from a very small group of people who have, and can take, the time to teach themselves, college/university is absolutely necessary. If you're going to college just to get answers that already exist, then you're doing it wrong.

[@tbd-5160]

@@jonathanevenboer No, you go for the piece of paper. The richest people to ever exist never graduated.

[@jonathanevenboer]

@@tbd-5160 The fact that you place money over knowledge and pushing the boundaries of human though, capability, and innovation is an equally depressing take. This is a big reason why America is in a death spiral.

[@traumflug]

One alternative are universities run by the government and paid by tax money, just like the lower education system. For example, Germany does this, attending universities is essentially free. Students with not-so wealthy parents even get their livelihood paid. Makes totally sense. Education shouldn't be a matter of wealth, but of talent. The more well educated people an economy has, the higher quality it is. The whole country benefits from such educations.

[@josecgh391]

Blue collar learn a trade and start a business

[@browntigerus]

Oh our two kids wants to attend college one this, one next year. Me and my wife are in deep trouble. Sad. People who cheat appears to get their kids college paid for by USA government... We are in deep... After 30 year max borrow ammount are $5600/per year per student. SUCKS. May be should rename our daughters to Ukraine and Kyiv.

[@roachtoasties]

I went to a Cal State school when things were cheaper. I paid for fees out of my own funds (savings, work, etc.). I graduated with zero debt. Granted it wasn't one of those prestigious university, it worked for me. $90,000 would be out of the question, if I was attending now. if I funded that by student loans, after four years I would graduate with something as large as home mortgage, but without the home. :/

[@mariaoropallo2386]

Why do they allow this racket To go on?NOT RIGHT

[@micro-jx8xb]

Many homeless students as well. The federal gov is responsible to provide Pell Grants to keep up with demand. These private million dollar endowments should pay for free tuitions. Also a college professor should not be paid millions. School teachers are struggling.

[@stephane1623]

It's absolutely insane…

[@ellaella5537]

My Goodness, I’m from Montreal and the tuitions for our best Universities are about 3500-6000$ a year. We also can get technical degrees in Cégep (it’s a college we have to attend for 2 years after high school where we can have a general degree in Human Sciences let’s say or we can take a 3 year program for something like nursing or another trade and that costs pretty much nothing. Honestly, unless you are certain that you will make tons of money after getting your BA, I don’t get why ppl would pay that much, it’s ridiculous

[@misterfunnybones]

DMD fees for UBC - 1st year $62,525.35 2nd year $61,706.97 3rd year $61,561.97 4th year $61,561.97. Costs depend on faculty & courses of study.

[@PedoPeterandcrackboy]

Woke institutions create educated idiots

[@theWZZA]

Signs are all around that the best days of the USA are behind us. All we do is fight among ourselves and the vast majority of us are getting poorer.

[@郭书遥-v3e]

best wishes from WHU

[@user-onpointe]

Harvard is definitely a waste of money

[@keepingit8797]

HUGE WASTE OF MONEY!

[@harryukraine]

I think you can get all courses for free online so why would you pay for it.

[@NMalteC]

There's absolutely no reason that under privileged students get a top notch education in the US, is there? Because the US system is supposed to be the world's best.

[@user-qt1eo7dq8v]

Self-obsessed America. Not long ago it promised Ukraine to stand by it “as long as it takes…”We now know what that means: “as long as it takes for us to get bored.” Which is pretty quick…

[@franklin9400]

You aren't owed our money. Your only use was to weaken the Russian military. No one actually cares. 😂

[@lqr824]

It's not all America. Actually, it's basically just Trump and Marjorie Tailor Greene telling Johnson not to put the aid to a vote. The rest of the Republicans and Democrats are raring to go.

[@timg1246]

Poor diddums. How much did you get paid to post that ? A whole rouble.

[@zmax683]

Don't go to college.

[@lgsprings5623]

I'm a conservative. I saved for my kids college education. My kids decided to go to trade schools. At 23 and 25 they have great jobs and are happy. Best thing is they have no college debt and I have a windfall retirement fund. Conservatism brings peace, happiness, and prosperity.

[@franklin9400]

Don't worry, they are going to need that wealth to pay off the $35 trillion in national debt you are going to pass off to them and their children. So don't go spending it just yet.

[@franklin9400]

You're $35 trillion and rapidly growing in debt . You are passing off to them from your irresponsibility. Interest is building at $1 trillion a year. Don't go spending it just yet. They are still going to need it. If they don't want to pass it to their children. 😂

[@lgsprings5623]

@@franklin9400 ???????????

[@Kris-Lana-e7n]

I have three degrees. What colleges is he talking about?

[@PAULSCHENCK-x5g]

We're middle class, with 8 college graduates: nobody went to an Ivy League & we didn't vacation in Monaco or eat 5 star. Everybody is doing fine.

[@varunkalhan3312]

i did this. college costs exploded because everyone is buying. because i am holding everyone is selling. i set the trends so others dont have to. when they set trends i can hold the line and let things unfold because i have faith in what i and my fellow human being can achieve.

[@lqr824]

> college costs exploded because everyone is buying College costs haven't really exploded. It's just that students are finally paying more of the cost and we're plumbers and waitresses are paying less via taxes. Other things include things that students have always wanted like AC and private bathrooms in the dorms and broadband internet and so on.

[@jermelpurse3018]

Lots of talk about class I would’ve preferred to hear more about government. Notice how the first gentleman interviewed mentioned public funding, pro colleges and universities. Many of these institutions are considered public not private but public. That means the public funds them. Go back to the beginning of colleges and universities. They were almost exclusively funded by public tax dollars. If you were a student at these schools, all you had to do was buy your books and show up. That continued for centuries. Notice I didn’t say decades I said centuries. That’s right public universities have been around for a long time, but more recently in American history we began to cut funding to public colleges and universities. States said well we want to reduce tax rates. Well, let’s cut some funding where can we cut that most people won’t feel the pain most people didn’t go to college let’s cut funding there. Now it’s become a problem because everybody’s kid wants to go to college in the middle class because you can’t earn a middle-class income now unless you really go to college there are options, but there are a few and far between. I also want to point out another thing another problem most of our students graduate high school and are not ready for college. We don’t talk about how students sit down and take their ACT or the SAT the college admits them into the school but when they get there, they have to take Remedial coursework. Most students who graduate high school in America are not ready for college level math. They have to take remedial algebra courses. Look across the globe, but any other post industrialized nation when they graduate high school and go off to college you don’t see the same rates of students having to take remedial coursework. We have a problem here. I’ll give you one example look at North Korea. They have a problem too. Many students are graduating high school with associates degrees along with 4.0 GPA. They literally have a problem where they don’t have enough university space for the students and you find people young people tragically killing themselves committing suicide because they have the grades to get into a college or university but the university just doesn’t have room for them. Now think back to why are we talking about American students harming themselves in high school. Do you see the difference? American students harming themselves because they feel psychological pressure to look good to be popular. Meanwhile, we see other students globally feeling pressure to academically be successful. Not here in America. Ask yourself why.

[@GotoHere]

But there is never a call for salary caps on professors and administrators. None of these groups work more than 20 hour work weeks.

[@grobble8954]

You really have no idea what professors make, nor that their job actually entails.

[@timmy-wj2hc]

Abolish capitalism.

[@jermelpurse3018]

Why not go to community college for two years spend far less money, and then transfer. It’s almost as if students and adults don’t know what they’re doing. If your first two years of college are not paid for fully go to your local community college, take all your coursework that you can there and then transfer all of those classes over half of your degree can be covered for less than $10,000. Wait a minute you mean we could cover half of that $90,000 degree for just $10,000 Ask Mexican-American student to do the math and tell you what the percentage of savings is there if they give you the right answer.

[@michaeltoma9329]

Universities were funded more by the State but every year it’s less and less.

[@Mr.White10-65]

More college students need to stop getting into the college scam and start learning trades.

[@KleWdSide]

What is w/ you right-wingers constantly purveying trades? They don't pay more than jobs that require undergraduate & graduate degrees.

[@sirfartyfartsalot9896]

Bartenders & plumbers don't get paid more than nurses, educators, lawyers, mental health counselors/psychologists, etc.

[@lqr824]

There's no scam, really. There's just some degrees on offer that are basically luxuries that you should only buy yourself in the manner you'd buy yourself a Ferrari. or a 5 ct. diamond. Ferrari's aren't scams either, great car. But most people shouldn't be buying them.

[@Mr.White10-65]

@@KleWdSide What is with you people assuming people are "right wingers" when you don't agree with them?

[@Mr.White10-65]

@@sirfartyfartsalot9896 A plumber that then starts a plumbing business will definitely make more than a nurse or a teacher. College is good for some fields, but obviously not every field if there are so many people with college debt.

[@WalkiTalki]

I never would have gone to college without the grants I received BEFORE attending. The extra responsibility of qualifying for them made me the responsible person I am today. I would never expect the rest of the country to pay for my private loans that I took out in the name of education, that may or may not have been spent for that purpose. If the college is charging too much it is up to the federal government to pass bills to regulate it, not pay off the inflated cost for those that fell behind.

[@NHLblkgurl]

How come DEMOCRATS who run academia NEVER care about the incoherent costs to attend a state school or university ? (And blame the lenders? )

[@harryfarber6435]

@NHLblkgurl, BACPA 2005, thanks Joe

[@ellaella5537]

lol what? Biden is literally trying to lower costs.

[@NHLblkgurl]

@@harryfarber6435Yep... all Democrat and pro democrat-media propaganda and spin, can only survive in its own vacuous Petrie dish. Thx for reminding me of that.. He basically created the issue he’s championing.. (like Ted Kennedy used to do, and present himself as the savior, for things HE broke, like his HMO bill, to 30 years later, demonizing it). Thx again!

[@NHLblkgurl]

@@harryfarber6435I responded to your much appreciated reply, but looks like my response to my own comments (if anything in context) got yanked by the Lord’s of free speech.. If interested, I think they can be seen if you scroll down the “newest” prompt.. thx!

[@harryfarber6435]

@NHLblkgurl, I’ll try that, in the meantime if you look up what I posted, it’ll give you insight into how ironic Joe’s loan forgiveness is

[@LindaDil]

My degree cost me 4 years of my life

[@soul2soul399]

University can suck it! If you don’t have a network of highly connected people to help you establish a high paying career when you graduate… then it’s a waste because you will end up working in some low pay unsatisfying career.

[@CesarAnton]

1- Greed on the private 2- Lack of a public (free, tax paid) offer

[@johnanderson3700]

We’re making education more & more socially exclusive. If you look at the results; especially of graduates in politics, what their product is no guarantee of great education.

[@shoelessb4515]

Stop telling everyone they have to go to college. Most majors are completely worthless as career starters. Go to tech schools or join a trade union. You will actually earn a living and not have life threatening debts.

[@opensprings]

What a scam. In Sweden University is free.

[@harryukraine]

What a scam. In Sweden University is free.

[@eddyr1041]

Arent there basic collage like in the past.. where university didnt lavish on sport amenities, big vuilding, woke charming grounds... luxurious... ?

[@t.r.campbell6585]

The middle class is beginning to understand that perhaps a college education is not all that necessary. Many businesses are beginning to abandon the requirement that employees have a college education. Businesses are looking for a record of accomplishment, rather than relying strictly on a college education. Many young people are also understanding that the ‘Trades’ provide greater opportunity for financial well-being.

[@tbagger5211]

Don’t go to college do a trade be useful , these places are just grooming institutes .

[@misterfunnybones]

Sure, med school is just a "grooming institute."

[@tbagger5211]

@@misterfunnybones considering that half these doctors don’t know what a woman is I would say yes . Doctors are useful but these kids majoring in gender studies are not . Everyone needs a trade bro , most these majors are useless in college

[@tbagger5211]

@@misterfunnybones also you must just watch cnn and not see what these doctors are doing to children

[@misterfunnybones]

@@tbagger5211 In the United States in 2022, 32.1% of live births were Cesarean deliveries. You think they were done by MAGA gun-rights advocates?

[@davidschultz6028]

LEARN A REAL TRADE!!! It won't let you down, it won't cancel you out of employment..and it costs a fraction ... A paper certificate doesn't guarantee ANYTHING Most college grads end up at 7-11 Plumbers, Electricians, Machinist, health care, HVAC and (All service orientated trades). You will always have a skill,,and always be in demand.. college can wait... TRADE SCHOOLS will deliver..!! Screw harvard and the rest who bury the ignorant in lifetime debt..

[@ReRiderChi]

only poor people worry about this

[@lqr824]

The costs are higher for pretty straightforward reasons: 1) land for growth was often donated free at the university's start, outside the city center, but the city grows around the school and makes it very expensive to expand. 2) there used to be a glut of students in the 1947-1980 period. You simply opened your doors and they came. Now schools recruitment efforts have significant costs. 3) tied to recruitment is rising expectations. Kansas universities didn't have air conditioning in the 1980s. Now they do. Dorm rooms now need semi-private baths instead of a big communal one per floor. The campus has to be wired for technology. You have to have a fancy expensive gym now that you didn't need in the 1970s. You need a school ski trip and so on. This is the one thing where the availability of more money via loans may have allowed costs to balloon a bit. Then again, do middle class parents in say Kansas City who've had air conditioning all their lives not want air conditioning for their kids in university? Services such as on-line registration and course selection, on-line course materials, and so on aren't free. You now need 1 parking space for every 1.2 students instead of every 2 or 3. 4) Compliance with the law is far more expensive. This includes everything from removing asbestos, to adding wheelchair accessibility, to tracking all complaints and problems very methodically and taking legal advice quite often. There's about one lawsuit per 1000 students per year and they're expensive even if the school never pays out. Data must be tracked as far as races and genders in a way it wasn't before. 5) a HUGE one for state schools at least is that most of the cost was passed on to taxpayers, be they truck drivers, farmers, plumbers, and so on. The student got much of the benefit of the degree but never was billed for it. Now they're being billed for it which is much fairer. 6) As the institution has gotten more complicated, it matters more what talent you have at the top running it. People laugh that a college president might get $250k, but a good college president is absolutely worth that over a bad one. Anyone who thinks administrators are overpaid should simply contact the recruiters and tell them you'll run a college for a bit less, and see how far you get in the job application process.

[@franklin9400]

The cost of everything is higher. Because for the last 30 years. You haven't balanced a single budget or repayed what you owe, and you just keep printing money you didn't have. To get the things you have today. It's a fake propped up system. There is no value in anything you have. You would have to sell all your homes and business. To break even with your debt. Even if you have no personal debt. That is how bad of a hole you dug.

[@franklin9400]

Printing $35 trillion in money you didn't have. Is a pretty straightforward reason why costs have risen. So get to repaying.

[@franklin9400]

You owe $35 trillion dollars in money you don't have.

[@josephsonora3787]

You can become a surgeon in Mexico for $199.95.

[@christenawalker2944]

It's not just elite colleges! Stupid colleges that do not even give you a 4 year degree are over 100,000 for a CERTIFICATE!

[@davidschultz6028]

Seriously,,let a kid lose for 4 years in a party environment and pay for it.. For the rest of their lives..

[@davemitchell6281]

College is free for some?

[@grobble8954]

If your family income is 75K and you apply and are accepted at expensive schools you're paying very little. A bunch of people talking about stuff they don't really understand. The estimated family contribution will be very small and even less if the family has more than 1 child. The schools that have high tuition are soaking the wealthy that can afford to pay to subsidize partially the majority of their student body, that can't.

[@ThatsJustMyBabyDaddy]

These students are paying for the network that comes along with these institutions, not the education these institutions are allegedly providing.

[@diegojines-us9pc]

yes you say yale. and some say community. whos getting the job and raise, just face it the ones crying. should have never wasted their time with college and loans in the first place. some people shouldn't be doctors.

[@radwulfeboraci7504]

Try they have LOST ...

[@Yukongold9776]

Whats the alternative? Trade schools arent for everyone either. In some cases just a certificate will do or work experience will do. Many require university education levels as well. Whether or not the content is actually useful is up for debate.

[@franklin9400]

The idea that you need a college degree for a middle class life. Is what is new and why the middle class has been shrinking. That along with the fact our elders have driven us $35 trillion in debt they didn't repay and plan to leave to their children and grandchildren. 😂

[@lqr824]

The middle class hasn't been shrinking at all. Where did you get that?!!?

[@franklin9400]

​​@@lqr824Americans have a $35 trillion national debt burden, $17 trillion in personal debts, $1.5 trillion in student loans. You're never getting out of debt, and it's all going to come crashing down soon. Americans aren't very educated. Even the "Most educated" who caused the issues.

[@franklin9400]

​@@lqr824Our whole country is only a decade from the collapse. Live it up while you can. Americans aren't very educated. Most can't even see it coming

[@franklin9400]

​@@lqr824The fact you're all in massive amounts of debt. Would be the main indicator. So... 😂

[@franklin9400]

@@lqr824 Also it could be the fact. We are no longer a manufacturing economy that produces wealth and have been reduced to a service based economy. Would be another indicator. The house of cards doesn't have much longer until it all comes crashing down.

[@shaunmc013]

Stop going to elite colleges and stop taking out all of these loans 😅