S tatesman L i n c o l n
H i g h
S i o u x Fa l l s , S D
December 12, 2014
S c h o o l
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” -Abraham Lincoln
Vol. 49, No. 3
The crippling reality of college tuition
As students face a new year ahead, they also prepare for the final decisions of their post-high school future BY SARA JANE TEAL Imagine a blank check staring seniors in the face, and the cold, ballpoint pen burning in their palm. After 13 years of the public school system, some seniors will soon sign their life away to a college that they may not even attend for the preferred four years. Majors change, living accommodations switch and tuition inevitably increases. South Dakota has the second highest percentage of indebted high school graduates among the 50 states, according to projectonstudentdebt.org. The average college student graduates with about $25,000 of debt in South Dakota. Matt Daly, a history teacher at LHS, attended both private and public college, and is currently earning his masters degree in history at the University of South Dakota. “I graduated in 2006; tuition at Augustana was around $26,000 per year when I attended school there,” said Daly. “At USD, graduate credits are more expensive. A three credit class for a graduate school costs about $1,000 to $1,200 compared to an undergraduate, three credit class, which would cost about $500.” Overall, Daly’s graduate program will cost him $12,000 for a 32 credit program. Ironically, adults and most graduate students normally take the graduate school route to earn a higher pay wage at their current job, such as Daly, to help pay off their many loans.
“Even though I had many athletic scholarships, I still graduated as an undergrad with about $30,000 in debt and after teaching for nine years and paying the bare minimum, I have brought it down to $18,000,” said Daly. “It is kind of a conundrum, paying off an undergraduate degree while attending graduate school.” Loans and scholarships are highly valued when it comes to paying for post-secondary education. Even students who plan to attend school outside of South Dakota can end up paying $100,000 per undergraduate degree with no type of financial aid, as stated in “Services Emerge to
Help Out-of-State Students Pay In-State Tuition” by Ron Lieber. “It is a
travesty that kids have to pay this much to get a college education, especially when you see what the money is spent for at most colleges and universities,” said Daly. “The state and federal government are trying to alleviate the student loan debt, and I think the government is realizing that it isn’t fair. At the same time, colleges and universities are private enterprises for the most part.” Among the 50 states, all but North Dakota and Wyoming have cut funding for public colleges. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the nation has cut per student spending by 28 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The cuts made in this budget are due to the housing market crash and rising unemployment that have punctured state funding. Colleges who do not see funding take it upon themselves to cut their spending or raise the cost of tuition, as stated in cbsnews.com. Although some of the problems may come from state funding, colleges are not always fi-
PHOTO BY SARA JANE TEAL
nancially productive with student education. “The main thing we get hit with now is interest rates, which is a part of the problem, in addition to how expensive everything is, such as the meal plans and expensive food in the cafeterias. I also think there is a lot of money being hemorrhaged in places that don’t use it or don’t need as much as they are getting,” said LHS English teacher Rebecca Mager. “I think the main thing is, colleges need to focus on the education and actually have students go to school for two or three years and not have to take so many general classes. Not having to pay $300 a credit for a class that a student may never use again could save them hundreds of dollars, such as my freshman algebra class that I’ll never use again because I am an English major.” With the rising prices of college tuition and the fear of mounting debt, it discourages students from pursuing a post-secondary education. According to the recent reports by the State Higher Education Executive Officers, state and local support of public colleges decreased by seven percent in 2012. “I think it is wrong to charge students more to go to school, because I truly believe that it is a good investment attribution. But I also think that college admissions should be more rigorous if it is going to be cheaper,” said Mager, “Some kids just go to college to go and waste their time for a year and that’s not the purpose.”