Higher Learning
I just registered for school today. I am taking three classes, in the evening, in an attempt to get "qualified" to do my job. See my post of March 3rd for my opinions of the difference between qualified and capable.
In this particular case, I am keenly motivated to at least get my Associate's Degree so that I can take it and my experience else where if I chose. Regardless, it seems to me that the idea of higher learning is a farce.
Ok, I paid $911 dollars for 9 credit hours, let's say that is $100 for each credit hour, for easy math. Teachers are salary, and on average teach 12 credit hours a semester, two semesters a year equally 24 hours a year. A semester is, on average, 18 weeks long... so 24 hours times 36 weeks of class equals 864 in class hours. (Note: I said IN class) If they make $36,000 a year that means they make $41.67 an in-class hour.
Hears where it come full circle... 25 students in a class that is 3 credit hours... $7500 in tuition... $2250 in teacher salary.... So, that being said, $70 of every $100 paid in tuition goes to someone other than the person that is teaching them. 70% of tuition doesn't go to the educator. Quite a racket. Not to mention the government funding; "$3,751.00 per FTE student"... took that right off my receipt.
So if the school is already clearing a tidy little profit of tuition, why are they using my tax dollars?
Did I mention $238.50 for 3 class texts? When was the last time you were in a good book store and found a book that cost $80? The school picks the books and chooses the sales price. I doubt very seriously that they would sell them without making a profit. Oh, these were used books too, about 60% cheap the cost of new. And they still make a profit because they buy them back for next to nothing. What the hell am I going to do with an Algebra book after I finally pass the class? Exactly...
All of this leads me to say that the "higher" in higher learning is in reference to the price of getting that learning, not the plane at which your intelligence will be afterwards.
posted by jake at 9:52 AM
5 Comments:
While I'd argue that college, like anything else, is a business with overhead (lights, heating/cooling, equipment, etc.), I'd agree that the math seems a little bit exorbitant. After all, our corner McDonald's pays the electric bill and keeps the ovens running every month selling $2 hamburgers. Lots of them. I think a few hundred students paying a few thousand dollars can more than pay the electric bill and keep a few Bunsen burners running.
12:52 PM
Also keep in mind that McDonald's is a free market enterprise. They pay taxes on purchases and sales and interest on borrowed money.
Educational institutes do not.
4:28 AM
Both of you seem to be clueless as to what it takes to build, maintain and supply a college. Using Motlow as an example: there are four teaching sites, which translates to nine buildings that must be heated, cooled, cleaned, repaired and kept secure. At all four sites there are multiple computer labs containing at least 24 state of the art computers which must be maintained, repaired and replaced on a regular basis. There are 4 chemistry labs and 6 biology labs that must be fully equipped and must meet OSHA standards. One microscope costs $1,200- Motlow has purchased and must service roughly 156 microscopes. One anatomy and physiology model averages in excess of $400 (some cost as much as 2.5k) and each lab has roughly 100 models, which suffer heavy usage and must be replaced every 4-5 years. Prepared slides cost about $2 a piece (some as much as $10.50 each). My lab had three slide cabinets with 25 trays that held 24 slides each- and students break slides all the time. Think of the equipment a lab requires. And that's just in the sciences. Think of the paper a college uses. There are administrators, teachers, staff, maintenance crews, grounds crews, security crews, mailroom employees... and they don't just get salaries, they get benefits packages that are worth more than their wages, and they deserve them. Teachers work 40+ hours just like everyone else. Most teachers carry a 15 hour a semester load- many carry heavier loads, but no one who is full time in higher ed only carries a 12 hour load as Jake suggests. Teachers are required to keep office hours comparable to their teaching load, to serve as advisors, to sit on collegiate committees, to work registrations, to sponsor student activities, to attend faculty meetings, division meetings, and department meetings, as well as participating in professional development. To teach at a community college, one must have at least a master's degree. If you think undergraduate tuition is steep, look at a graduate catalog sometime. I personally have a master's in biology and an EdS. For all this expensive education, I never in my entire career earned as much as my son does with a high school education and some college. The pay off for higher education is much greater in the business world than it is in education itself- college graduates will earn almost a million dollars more over the course of their working lives than their counterparts without degrees, so higher education continues to be a good investment in oneself. Quit carping and do your homework.
9:52 AM
Um... excuse me, no-one ever got more inteligent by going to college.
And who was carping?
11:01 AM
Maybe people don't get more intelligent by going to college, but they do learn new ways to think and new things to think about. The carping comment was a joke.
12:02 AM
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