Thursday, October 30, 2008

The High Price of Mass. Education

We're an ignominious number 1!!

"Average cost at Mass. private colleges is tops in US; But many students don't pay full price" by Jeannie M. Nuss, Globe Correspondent | October 30, 2008

The average cost of an education at a four-year private college was more expensive in Massachusetts than anywhere else in the country, according to a report released yesterday.

The cost of tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year averaged $32,592 in the Bay State, edging out Connecticut, where the cost was $31,914, and far outstripping the national average of $25,143, according to the College Board's annual "Trends in College Pricing" report.

There was a silver lining: The tuition rate for four-year private schools in Massachusetts rose 5.3 percent from $30,941 last year, a smaller increase than the national average of 5.9 percent. The cost of attending public institutions rose 3.8 percent to $8,184.

Yup, in these trying times, a 5% increase is a SILVER LINING!

Tell me, Americans, did you get a 5% raise this year?

How sad it is when one comes to the realization that the indoctrination, I mean, ejerkashen system is ANOTHER LOOTING JOB of the American people!!!!

Private colleges in California, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., also topped the $30,000 mark, while the average tuition at private institutions in Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, and North Dakota came in at below $15,000.

The figures used by the College Board for its comparison did not include financial aid or tax benefits. Full-time students at private four-year institutions receive an average of $10,200 in grants and tax breaks, according to the report. The figures also do not factor in room and board.

Translation: The ACTUAL COST is MORE!!!

Richard Doherty, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, said many students end up attending private colleges in Massachusetts at lower cost with the help of financial aid.

Financial aid? Where? That just got cut.

The 59 private colleges and universities that are members of the association provided $375 million in aid last year to financially eligible Massachusetts residents, Doherty said, contending that students should not be alarmed by the sticker price.

"The private colleges are able to, despite their perceived published price . . . provide access and affordability," Doherty said. Doherty said the fact that prices increased more slowly in the Bay State than they did nationally shows that schools are "really trying to put the brakes on increases in the cost of higher education."

TRY HARDER!!!

Students at local private colleges and universities voiced concern about the rising cost of college in the midst of a nationwide financial crisis.

Oh, now we get to the KIDS!!!

You know, for whom this is ALL supposed to be FOR!!!!!

Ashley Cote, a Northeastern University student in her final year:

"It definitely raises a lot of concerns. I worry about it. Trying to work part-time, or full-time in some people's cases, becomes tough. And balancing classes."

Cote, a criminal justice major, works part time at Procter & Gamble to pay off her student loans, and receives help from her parents:

"I'm eventually looking at grad schools, which again raises some concern of how I can pay for two to four more years of higher education." --more--"

Of course, "flushing . . . millions of dollars away supporting a highly profitable industry" when it comes to $300 million in taxpayer dollars for Hollywood is o.k., even as the price of a school lunch rises; paying $13 million for a computer software system that could have cost less than $3 million is all right because the winner was a close friend of the House speaker, even as my poorer-than-dirt district "has been struggling to close a $2 million budget gap."; the lottery shelling out "millions of dollars" for sports tickets for "lottery officials, their family members, and friends" is fine, even as schools are closing; making interest payments to banks to the tune of "a staggering $22 billion" for the Big Pit, as we call it around here, is required, even as bridges are neglected across the state; and again, paying off banks like UBS, who can "demand repayment of an additional $2 million a month beginning in January" while also receiving a "$179 million payment," while the state pension fund loses $1 billion dollars -- which still didn't stop the executive director from carving himself a nice "$64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary."

Oh, and did I not mention the $1 BILLION dollar giveaway to the pharmaceutical corporations, even though "it's never been easy to turn a profit in biotech?" Flush that money away, too, taxpayer. Of course, the war looters were next in line for a handout. And should the state be appropriating money for a "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses?

Nor is it RECKLESS to BORROW the STATE INTO OBLIVION so they can PAY INTEREST to BANKS while SITTING ON $2 BILLION DOLLARS!

And did I forget about PAYING FOR the CORPORATE TV COMMERCIALS or the outlays for illegal immigrants?

Need one final insult, Mass. taxpayers?

See:
Massachusetts Gives More Money to Hollywood

Yup, but we CAN'T PAY for EDUCATION for our kids!!!

"Johnson revises plan to alter school district after protests; 3 are taken off list for closing" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | October 30, 2008

School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson - conceding to protests by students, parents, and teachers - reversed her recommendations last night to close three Boston public schools and also changed other aspects of her massive overhaul plan for the city's system.

The plan is in response to a City Hall edict to cut millions of dollars in spending as the district faces escalating costs of salaries, health insurance, transportation, and food. At the same time, state and federal aid has failed to keep pace with inflation. --more--"

I say GET the DAMN MONEY from HOLLYWOOD and CORPORATIONS, dammit!!!