Viewpoints: Slamming college costs is easy, but it’s unfair
Special to The Bee
A new documentary, “The Ivory Tower,” hit theaters recently and is fueling debate about the rising cost and value of higher education.
The film uses examples that highlight the increasing cost and asks how this is compatible with the goal of providing access to as many students as possible. That’s a good question, but the film fails to tackle the more difficult question: How do we create a financially sustainable framework that enables us to achieve this goal?
The debate must fundamentally change and be anchored in reality. This is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. The enormous differences among colleges and universities matter financially. Medical schools, research institutions, undergraduate colleges, for-profit schools all operate under very different funding models.
For-profit colleges account for nearly half of all student loan defaults, even though only one in 10 students attends them. Contrast that with UC Berkeley, where most students graduate with debt lower than the national average and where debt hasn’t increased in real terms over the past decade. Furthermore, in-state tuition at Berkeley is $12,834 a year compared to $40,000-plus at similarly ranked private institutions. Families who earn less than $80,000 annually receive financial aid, which exceeds tuition, and those who earn less than $150,000 are protected from tuition increases.