Got change?
When considering your educational options, you have two choices:
Do you have enough change (nickels and dimes)?
Or: do you need a change?
For years, higher education institutions have been increasing not only their tuition rates - student fees are becoming more prevalent and more costly for the average student. According to College Board (quoted recently in the New York Times), fees have been rising faster than tuition rates in over half the nation’s four-year public colleges. In addition, fees are rising at an average rate of 8 percent to 11 percent per institution – much more steeply than the national rate of inflation.
At the University of Oregon, some of these fees are attributed to the following (per student):
- Energy surcharge, $51
- Campus Health Center, $371.25 (maintenance only, regardless of any actual health center visits)
- Incidental Fee, $624 (miscellaneous)
While tuition rates at the University of Oregon are approximately $3,984 per semester, university fees such as these (not even including the fees for specific courses/degree programs) add up to an additional $1,542 per student – adding almost an additional 40 percent to the university’s tuition rate. This ratio of tuition to fees may seem steep, but it’s actually not the most drastic difference between fees and tuition for four-year institutions. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, various fees add up to around $4,100 per semester – nearly five times the tuition rate of about $857 per semester.
Why is this important? Because the schools mentioned above are not exceptions – they are now the standards in the educational world. State schools, public institutions, private colleges, various universities are all forcing students to pay exorbitant fees in addition to rising tuition costs. Most of us are aware of the price of tuition when deciding on a school. But these “hidden” fees aren’t charged until after one has enrolled at a typical university and has begun courses. By attending school online, you will never be forced to pay for a cafeteria plan, a student recreation fee, a health center fee – or my personal favorite, a “Parking Too Far Into The Parking Space” fee (which actually cost me $50 for the fee plus one night a week for three months to defend my case in student court).
So I ask you – Got change? Or are you ready for a change? You can either shell out your nickels and dimes for all the fees associated with a brick and mortar campus, or you can find the change you’re looking for at Andrew Jackson University (AJU).
~ Ashley
Article referenced above can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/education/04fees.html
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