Fuck NPR so much. Not a single word about California. 1921: Though tuition is still free, California residents are now required to pay an “incidental fee” of $25 per year to cover services not related to instruction. Tuition for nonresidents is $75 per year. 1956: Incidental fee is $84 per year. Tuition for nonresidents is $300 per year. Tuition is still “free” for California residents. Clark Kerr Dale Winling/Creative Commons 1960: The California Master Plan, largely developed by Clark Kerr, supports keeping the UC system tuition-free for California residents but maintains that fees should be charged to cover costs coming from areas such as laboratories, health and athletics. “The two governing boards reaffirm the long established principle that state colleges and the University of California shall be tuition free to all residents of the state.” 1968: Registration fee for all students is $300 per year. Nonresident tuition is $1,200 per year. Tuition is still free for all California residents. 1970: In a symbolic move away from free tuition for residents, students must now pay an additional “educational fee.” The fee is $150 per year for undergraduate students and $180 per year for graduate students. Then, of course, Prop 13 happened and not only did tuition skyrocket but California schools went from 1st to 47th in the nation. No, Virginia. Free college isn't free. It's paid for by taxes so that you increase the earning potential of your future taxpayers so that you increase your tax base. That's the way the rest of the fucking world does it but we've got a Republican coming into office so it's time to lick a little cock. Fuck you, NPR.1897: Financial aid is established for “needy and deserving students.”
glad they at least mentioned this, it's somewhat convincing -- not least because we know the current way of doing it is a failureIn his books, articles and public appearances, Vedder argues that federal student aid is creating a bubble that allows colleges to raise prices indefinitely, and the only way to stop the cycle is to cut off public funding.
Vedder's a jackass, though, with a shamefully disingenuous understanding of the problem. The issue is that public funding has long since been effectively cut off. There are four states that have increased tuition spending since 2008, and they've all done it with fracking money: North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Wisconsin.
I'm sure I've calculated tuition costs before, possibly on hubski. I believe I paid $1850 my first semester, fall 1999. Current tuition for spring 2017 is $5244.24. That works out to a 6% annual increase. That's crazy. I don't know how people keep up with it.