15 years ago when I was still in college in the US, the new president of the school came to give a speech to some incoming freshman. In that speech he talked a lot about how colleges were businesses and that the goal was to make them appealing to new students (new gyms, updated dorms, better stadiums, etc...). I knew in that moment that higher education had been overtaken by the MBAs. I guarantee that a school that focuses on education solely will not only be cheaper, but get the type of students that actually want to learn.
My daughter will be starting in the fall at a private STEM focused university. They pride themselves on being a difficult school which throws you right into the deep end. They have no fancy gyms, the dorms are basic cinder block buildings without any fancy conveniences including no AC. The dining hall is very basic with limited food stations. It is very much inline with the amenities or lack of at my college when I was a freshmen in 1987. It has 1 D1 sport with the rest being D3. It is located in a mostly rural area.
The other finalist school she didn’t choose is also private but has every amenity under the sun. The newer dorms which she would have been in because of her major have state of the art gyms inside them and parking garages under them which she would have been assigned a spot in. Multiple dining facilities whith a wide range of high quality food. The school has a full array of D1 sports programs and new atheletic facilities built within the last 5-15 years. It is located in a large metropolitan area. It doesn’t have near the same quality of academics as her choice.
The estimated cost of attendance for 25-26 is with $500 of each other. Both being around $89k before any aid. She doesn’t qualify for federal financial aid. Luckily both offered very substantial merit aid. She did also consider one of our state schools. Although not as nice as the private she didn’t choose it is much closer to that than the school she did choose. They, along with all our state schools, are known for giving almost no aid beyond federal financial aid. The cost to attend would have been more than the two private schools after their merit aid awards.
I guess my point is they get you whether they give you amenities or not and whether they are private or public.
Precisely, if the tuition increases had generally gone into improving students lives at least it would serve as a sort of crappy consolation price. But the reality is that a high tide floats all boats, big or small, crappy or great. They are all charging outrageous tuition and making a fortune at the expense of the future of these students.
When discussing results of a housing interest poll by prospective students at a cabinet meeting of a local university, members were dismayed that "high speed wifi" and "access to printing services" topped the list, and that none from their favored category of "luxury amenities" like discounts on cable television packages and smart appliances ranked at all.
The initial correspondence was also addressed to "the parents of $student".
Someone certainly felt confident in their clever little scheme to milk their endless supply of cash cows.