Can You Afford To Go To College?

By Jesús Manuel Mena Garza

Today, after listening to several conservative politicians complain about colleges, I learned that they want to change the way they are run. They blast that colleges need to be more cost effective (not necessarily affordable) and of course less liberal.

Here are the facts. It costs more today to go to college than just a decade ago. Students are now incurring tremendous debt to attend school. Full-time professors are being replaced by adjuncts. Colleges want to attract more foreign students because they pay higher tuitions and fees.

During the heated conservative discussion, they complained that colleges force students to take classes that are not going to them land a job (aka: Ethnic Studies, Philosophy, Art, Art History, Poetry, etc.) These politicians desperately want to micromanage colleges, eliminating courses that don’t meet their conservative agenda.

The panel felt colleges were liberal bastions that spread propaganda promoting Marx, Castro and Obama. They wanted to give the boot to liberal professors and ethnic studies. Yes, they have a very-long list of classes they would like to excise. Maybe your favorite college subject is on their list?

These right-wing politicians also advocate long-distance learning as a way to save money. They proclaim that Internet courses are the wave of the future and that this new student body would be international. Again, it would be more profitable.

Some Historical Context

Those of you under forty probably don't know this, but California back in the 1960s and 70s had what was once considered the finest public university system in the world. It was also affordable. Back in the good old' days, when I went to college, I paid less than $100 a semester to attend San Jose State University. Now, a quality education is exponentially more expensive. What used to be the best university system is now just average. Despite all the fiscal attacks several of the UC's still compete at a high level despite their shrinking budgets.

With less money, colleges have had to make drastic cuts. Today, universities are scrambling to find new sources of funding (like the aforementioned foreign students). Many Californians who want to go to college can’t because they can’t afford it. In the end, maybe only the rich from America and abroad will be able to go to school. Once these select few are accepted, they may find themselves in over-crowded classrooms or staring at a lonely computer screen from home. At least that is the plan if many conservative politicians had their way. What do you think?

Bonus article: Harvard Cheaper than Cal State!

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