STAFF- ED: An overpriced virtual disaster

The price tag for tuition remains the same for several colleges and universities despite virtual learning

Imagine having a front row seat to a Drake concert. Bass is booming, lights are flashing. Now imagine viewing that same performance on a 13-inch laptop screen. That in-person experience cannot be reenacted through a recording, let alone should it cost the same. Similarly, remote learning strips away those face-to-face interactions between students and teachers as well as those hands-on engaging experiences, yet several universities have not taken this into account as demonstrated by their reluctance to reduce the cost of tuition.

From Yale and Tufts to the University of Texas and the University of California Irvine, these schools are just a few of the many that have announced that they will keep tuition prices the same. With little validity to their reasoning behind this, tuition is being kept at the same level, although the online delivery lessens the quality of education. Room and board, for the most part, are being refunded to some extent, but amenities such as gyms stay on some students’ tabs as they study from home.

“There is no longer any use of the campus or “college experience” and in my opinion it is not right to continue charging so much in tuition to keep the students home,” senior Gabriella Freyre said.

Online classes are less interactive and limit students from countless opportunities. Libraries, computer labs and other research facilities will not be accessible to students for the most part. Some universities’ alternatives to this are online databases, such as virtual libraries, however they do not compare to in-person libraries making this resource insufficient for a standard education.

According to the Delta Cost Project, the amount of tuition that goes towards the maintenance of classrooms as well as other facilities average around $5,000 for public schools and $10,000 for private, per student. Moreover, $10,000 goes towards instruction for full time students at a public school and approximately double for private ones. These significant costs could drastically change tuition prices if they were deducted, yet they are not. There is no excuse as to why colleges are charging the same or in some cases even higher tuition prices.

DID YOU KNOW?

69% of parents and 55% of students say Coronavirus has impacted their ability to pay college.

Source: Nitro College

Yale has made headlines for buying large portions of Zoom stock, in addition to leaving tuition costs unchanged. With the increased need for students to use Zoom, the value of Zoom shares will certainly rise and Yale’s investment will substantially increase. Therefore, they are indirectly profiting from providing online courses while keeping tuition the same.

Some claim lowering the cost of tuition may not be feasible for public schools that primarily rely on government funding and typically have artificially lower tuition rates for in-state students.

Big state schools already have virtual classes because of space, but the smaller schools like liberal arts schools may not have that capacity… but they may have the financial means to accommodate.

CAP Advisor Khushnuma Driver said.

While funding is a significant factor, school tuition also stays high due to the costly nature of paying staff members along with providing financial need packages. Fortunately, Congress recently passed into law the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will help aid colleges across the nation amid the pandemic. This act has specifically given Florida institutions, both private and public, $12.6 billion. This sum will certainly help in funding for technological transition from the traditional classroom setting as well as the implementation of new COVID-19 friendly regulations for the future.

Approximately $6.3 billion will go towards students in several ways, one being emergency aid grants, which could help lower technological costs for students, especially those in lower-income households. While this is undeniably a step in the right direction, more effort is warranted to ensure that students are guaranteed the same level of learning prepandemic.

States that cannot or are unwilling to pass legislation to financially assist colleges and students, most definitely should decrease the tuition taking into account how much they actually save by providing only online education. This way schools can then redistribute the money they do not spend from the tuition back to students towards internet and hotspots, virtual meet-ups and virtual internships as well as safety measures for COVID-19.

Colleges spend significantly less money when students are not there. It would only make sense that they pass these savings on to the students or invest in necessary modifications that will raise the caliber of education students pay for and deserve.