Selling teeth to pay for college? Just why are American universities so expensive?

By Ellen Przepasniak

Though a father selling (or even getting in the first place) diamond-crusted dentures to pay his daughter’s college fees may seem ridiculous, it’s not much of a stretch. All parents make sacrifices when they send their children to college, especially in the States where tuition is considerably higher than in the UK. Some are just more extreme than others.

Truth is, most American students cannot complete higher education without a loan, sometimes several. If you go for a master’s or doctoral degree, you’re looking at loans piled upon loans that you’ll be paying off into your retirement. This ludicrous amount of debt affects every other part of your life, from your ability to get credit cards to mortgages (though who knows how stable that market is). In the current crunch, there is little relief in sight for recent graduates and little to look forward to for those just entering college.

The National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. estimates that two-thirds of students must take on debt to pay for college. The average debt from a four-year degree is nearly $20,000 (£13,383), which is a crippling figure for someone just entering the job market.

There’s a big difference in cost between public and private universities. State university systems are often the cheapest way to go - New York’s SUNY system charges a flat tuition of $4,350 (£2,910) a year and California’s Cal State system pay $3,048 (£2,039) a year - but they’re not always the best-known schools. When was the last time you heard of someone with a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Fredonia? Private universities charge more tuition, but tend to be more prestigious. The most expensive university in the States is George Washington University, which costs $40,437 (£27,059) a year. That’s just tuition. Other costs like housing, food and books can add up almost the same amount as the tuition itself.

As an American student studying abroad in the UK, I’m still paying the (very high) tuition to my private American university. Don’t worry, the irony isn’t lost.

President-elect Obama (it feels so good to type that) spent a lot of his campaign talking about making higher education more affordable. He has proposed an American Opportunity Tax Credit, which rewards students who do 100 hours of community services with $4,000 toward a college education.

In the end, although pawning off your valuables is a logical way to raise money, it’s maybe not the smartest. There are ways (and more are coming) to help pay for college, but it won’t help to alleviate the mountains of debt. Obama’s tax credit is a start, but Americans need lower interest rates for loans and better resources to help students manage their debt. And what would really be nice is lower tuition."

Read Ellen on Why Americans like to come and study in the UK and what American teachers want from President-elect Obama.

And read School Gate on:

The best universities in the world - and why Britain should be proud

The most popular places to study

Why private education is an incendiary issue in the US too

Comments

[T. J. Cassidy]

It helps if your Mum works at the Uni you go to.

:^)

[Gray]

I am a Brit and I graduated as a "non-traditional" (mature) student from an excellent university in Texas in May 2007 with a First.

I worked my arse off throughout college and did not slack on one exam or article. The result? Lots of grants, scholarships, and funding all the way and a debt of ~$8k which was paid off within one year of graduating by not changing my lifestyle or cost of living until it was gone. It was hard but not impossible.

2009 = Fabulous job and no debt!

[David]

This is a big problem in the US; newly qualified doctors have colossal debt and thus aim to make as much money as they can as quickly as they can, an obsession that will not leave them their entire careers.

[bruce]

I think we Americans are trapped in the "Bigger is better syndrome". "You gotta spend money to make money", everyone says.
I will be $250K (US) in the red by the time I'm done with med sch.

I will be paid $25 - 35K/yr for 4 more yrs of residency (specialisation training). Secretaries will make more than this.

Thiis is probably why graduate specialists (ie, surgeons, urologists, cardiologists, etc,...) CHARGE SO MUCH after more than 24 yrs of education.

[Sue Ryan]

My daughter owes $80,000 (approx. UK pounds 40,000) for four years' tuition at New York University. I had just been widowed and lost my husband's reasonably substantial income. We tried for scholarships and grants and begged the University to help her. Finally they gave us $5,000. It took the sale of our family home and great sacrifices to pay her books, extras and board over four years. We still owe the $80,000 tuition loan and it will take years before she can manage to get a credit card, put a down payment on a home or take a vacation.

My Colombian tax preparer immigrated to the USA about twenty years ago. His daughter also went to New York University at the same exact time, she took the exact same classes and gained the same diploma, although not cum laude, as my daughter did.

Their total cost? $0. Zip, Zero. Not a penny. Tuition and board all paid by the university.

Somehow something is wrong with our system here in the USA.

[ItalianThomas]

Whilst this is an interesting article, it makes absolutely no effort to answer the question posited in the title.

[Adam]

I am currently doing a law degree at arguably the best law faculty in London. We have been offered the opportunity to go abroad and study in NY's Columbia University for £70,000 for 2 years study....

[jenny]

No Kaz international students pay more because the British government subsidise British students!

[kaz]

Hello? International Students pay THREE TIMES what local students pay in the UK. Don't tell me about expensive. We bloody support your failing economy!!

[JR]

Student debt: Is it an investment? Maybe. Is it inevitable? Most certainly not!

I went to my local state university, commuted from home, and worked after lectures to pay for my tuition. It wasn't particularly fun at the time, but I came through with zero debt, and a perfectly good degree that got me a scholarship to do postgrad work at Oxford.

While I still haven't quite worked out what to do with my degree when I finish, I still feel that I've got a head start - at least I won't be spending the next 10 years paying off student loans!

[Luke, Washington DC]

I have a BA from The George Washington University and used to give tours to prospective students. I remember the jaws of their parents dropping at the mention of price, and often seeing them walk out of the room in disgust.

It's a great university but unfortunately high professor salaries and numerous land development projects in an expensive area keep tuition sky high and put a lot of people off.

Mind you, while the basketball team isn't at its best right now, it's nice see GW top of the league in something.

[Astrid]

I'm Norwegian and got my degree in the UK. I graduated with a loan of about £ 22 000 and I'd been working part time while studying as well. I don't think £ 13 000 is very much at all!

[Hol]

"That figure [£17,000] sounds a lot, but it's not. With a good degree (note the 'good') you can expect to earn a lot more in a graduate level job than you could in a non graduate job. "

Actually no, you can't expect to - you can hope, but friends and I learnt from bitter experience not to expect. If you'll forgive me a momentary lack of modesty, I have a very good degree - not that it's done me much good apart from enjoying the looks on people's faces when I answer the "what did you study" question. The problem is that there are now so many graduates flooding the market -plenty of whom do have "good" degrees - that graduate level jobs are increasingly hard to come by, and they can get away with paying you less because of the competition. Demand outstrips supply.

Being a graduate going for a non graduate job doesn't bring much advantage. You have to set your sights lower/take a pay cut because you're not in a job marked 'graduate,' and you often have to fight the perception that you're too overqualified or likely to shove off to something grander within six months. The better your degree the higher that obstacle gets! The lack of experience because you were spending all that time studying can also limit which jobs you'll be able to enter, so it's a much more awkward situation than everybody thinks it is.

People still assume a degree is an open door to employment, but it's not. It's one giant catch 22; you need a degree to even try for graduate jobs, but there aren't enough and if you can't get one your degree is often more hindrance than help. If I may say so it's a royal pain in the backside, particularly around credit crunch time!

So keeping all that in mind... even if you manage to grab a job, any job, in that situation £17,000 worth of loans to be paid back is a lot of money. A lot of starter jobs barely make 17k if they do at all. If you're forced to resort to temping as I was, it'll be substantially lower. To be frank, as much as I loved uni and am proud of my degree I often wonder if I should have left school with my A Levels and got 3 years' of work and earnings under my belt instead.

Still, could be worse. I could be in America having that problem with a much bigger debt to stress over!!

[Ellen P]

Karen, thanks for commenting. I only singled out SUNY Fredonia because I went there myself! Just being a bit self-deprecating. I'm glad there's another Fredonia alum reading and glad to hear you're doing well for yourself with a SUNY degree.

[Duncan Robinson]

Must admit the figure of £13,000 of debt for an entire degree doesn't sound like a lot.

Indeed the average in Britain (where a BA is only three years) is £17,000 (according to a quick google search that ended up on a story in the Independent).

That figure sounds a lot, but it's not. With a good degree (note the 'good') you can expect to earn a lot more in a graduate level job than you could in a non graduate job.

Fees are a lot higher in America for the private parts of the system, but you get a heck of a lot more. Just compare the sports facilities of US institutions to UK ones.

There's a reason the US dominates the rankings for University. They pay more, so they get more.

[oldasiahand]

I have an MPhil from the George washington University. I never thought it was expensive. My daughter goes to Nottingham University and I find that expensive!

[karen]

It just so happens that I received a BA in Theatre Arts from SUNY FREDONIA!! back in 1986 (and what a fantastic Theatre and Musical Theatre program it has and was). I continued right into the NYC theatre scene from there and eventually went to grad school (more loans) for a MS in education at another SUNY. I then taught in a school(for many years with teachers from "Bank Street"as well as other degree programs.
So don't belittle SUNY. It provides great opportunities for all types of people, many of whom go on to become great at what they do. If we had to rely only on people whose parents could pay for a good education, we'd be a pretty pathetic society. Thank goodness for diversity of opportunity