Lost in the recent debate on student debt cancellation is why are American universities so expensive (relative to other developed countries) in the first place. I think we can get more bang for the buck if we can make universities more affordable for current and future generations, rather than retroactively forgiving debt of a past generation, which does not help prevent the issue recurring in the first place.
So why are American universities so expensive? According to this 2018 article, there are 4 main reasons I summarize:
1) US colleges spent more on non-teaching staff (armies of fund-raisers, athletic staff, lawyers, admissions and financial-aid officers, diversity-and-inclusion managers, etc.), as well as teaching staff (the star professors who focus on research to boost the school's ranking while having little to do with quality of the everyday undergraduate student). It's no wonder that the US colleges dominate the global ranking.
2) Other countries typically have a cap on how much a school can charge students, but US don't. It is more a market-driven model, and universities extract money from students because they can. It’s the inevitable outcome of an unregulated fee structure.
3) The financial difference between college grad and high school grad is VERY steep compared to EU countries. Therefore, "it’s a diabolical cycle: Colleges are very expensive to run, partly because of the high salaries earned by their skilled workers. But those higher salaries make college degrees extremely valuable, which means Americans will pay a lot to get them."
4) Raw tuition cost is "higher", but 70% of students do receive some kind of grant aid, making the net cost lower in US than Australia.
Interestingly, the article made a specific mention to Purdue,
This looks unfortunate. As a public in-state university, we have to resort to taking more out-of-state and foreign students instead of serving the locals. I understand the rationale behind, but it is still unfortunate.
So why are American universities so expensive? According to this 2018 article, there are 4 main reasons I summarize:
Why Is College in America So Expensive?
The outrageous price of a U.S. degree is unique in the world.
www.theatlantic.com
1) US colleges spent more on non-teaching staff (armies of fund-raisers, athletic staff, lawyers, admissions and financial-aid officers, diversity-and-inclusion managers, etc.), as well as teaching staff (the star professors who focus on research to boost the school's ranking while having little to do with quality of the everyday undergraduate student). It's no wonder that the US colleges dominate the global ranking.
2) Other countries typically have a cap on how much a school can charge students, but US don't. It is more a market-driven model, and universities extract money from students because they can. It’s the inevitable outcome of an unregulated fee structure.
3) The financial difference between college grad and high school grad is VERY steep compared to EU countries. Therefore, "it’s a diabolical cycle: Colleges are very expensive to run, partly because of the high salaries earned by their skilled workers. But those higher salaries make college degrees extremely valuable, which means Americans will pay a lot to get them."
4) Raw tuition cost is "higher", but 70% of students do receive some kind of grant aid, making the net cost lower in US than Australia.
Interestingly, the article made a specific mention to Purdue,
Over the past decade, for example, Purdue University has reduced its in-state student population by 4,300 while adding 5,300 out-of-state and foreign students, who pay triple the tuition.
This looks unfortunate. As a public in-state university, we have to resort to taking more out-of-state and foreign students instead of serving the locals. I understand the rationale behind, but it is still unfortunate.