A few months ago, I posted a list of America’s most expensive colleges, which ranged between $55,000 and $60,000 in total annual cost, including tuition, fees, and room and board. Yesterday, U.S. News published a list of America’s least-expensive private colleges. The difference in cost is astounding, and this “least expensive” list doesn’t even include any of the numerous low-cost/high-quality public-university options out there.
At the top of the “most expensive” list, Sarah Lawrence College charges nearly $45,000 in just tuition and fees alone. Total cost with room and board is $59,170. At the top of the “least expensive” list, Berea College charges only $900 per year for tuition and fees. Total cost with room and board is $6,644 per year.
Students at Berea are required to work at least ten hours a week in campus-approved jobs to help pay for their educations. Students there are learning the value of work and personal responsibility. Plus, U.S. News ranks Berea among the top 75 liberal-arts colleges in the nation.
The obvious question is: Are Sarah Lawrence students getting a degree that is really worth $215,000 more over four years than the one Berea students are getting?
Of course they aren’t.
Here’s another question: What would our educational system be like if more colleges operated like Berea? One thing’s for certain, our exploding national student debt crisis would be remedied in a hurry.
It really says something when only one private college can be under a thousand dollars a year, and a college that charges $8400 a year is on the list of cheapest schools. (yes, I know there are cheap public ones) There is something very wrong with this picture.
And that wrong is the federal loan system. If it didn't exist, sub $1,000 tuition would be the norm, not some rare thing.
A college education will NEVER be affordable until the federal government gets out.
And none of these prices include room and board, which are overpriced at every school in America.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI will have to do some research on Berea. I don't see how they can have an adequate diversity program and charge such low tuition. How can they prepare their graduates for life in the New Age?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHigh tuition is a problem, and a big part of the problem comes from the administrators, but Berea doesn't actually have a solution. If you look into them more closely, they only admit students who demonstrate financial need, then take the money to fund their tuition from government loan programs. They aren't actually running more efficiently; they're just giving financial aid to everyone, which is the unsustainable nightmare most conservatives fear will happen with the expensive colleges
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