Different Slants

Seeing the World from a New Angle

Letters from Europe – College Tuition

Filed under: Politics,Travel,Uncategorized — Rick at 9:25 am on Wednesday, October 28, 2020

When I started college at Southern Illinois University, in 1968, tuition, fees and book rentals came to $89 per quarter or $267 per year for a full-time student. Today, the same state university charges $331.25 per semester hour or $10,600 per year 40 times more expensive. Why?

Here in Portugal, tuition at a state school costs about $1200 per year. There is talk of reducing or possibly eliminating tuition. Several European countries, such as Germany, have zero tuition, even for foreign students. A few even provide stipends to students to help cover living expenses.

The difference appears to be that European countries consider developing an educated citizenry part of the infrastructure like roads and bridges. Of course, they pay higher taxes but I hear few complaints about that. The US does not want to fund education or infrastructure presumably because Americans are rugged individualists (at lest the poor ones) who do not want the government to be meddling in their lives.

My travel photos are at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rick-pic/

2 Comments »

Comment by kumari de silva

October 28, 2020 @ 9:43 am

Oh ! I wish i could live in Portugal! I agree with your assessments and anyway, from the photos it looks beautiful

Comment by Bob

October 28, 2020 @ 7:37 pm

Good article, straight to the point and very clear. I agree with your thinking.
Bob

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