OT Tuition is getting stupid

L4Dawg

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Oct 27, 2016
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I am mainly saying that for me, it has been a great decision. I dont think everyone needs to go to college and that is one of the reasons we are having this problem. Ingles shipyard had to hire hundreds of welders from Europe and Russia because they could not find Americans trained to do the job. Those jobs were 70 000 plus benefits starting out. Auto repair, HVAC, electricians etc are skills/trades that require training/cc trade schools that pay very good but dont require a 4 year college degree. You can make a great living without getting a degree from State.

In Japan and many foreign countries at around our 8th to 10th grade level, students take testing that either puts them on a track to go to college or go obtain a skill/trade. I'm a firm believer in this. Our high school system is set up for college prep with the ability to take trade/skills as an elective. We do our kids no favors by trying to tell them this is preparing them for college when most dont go. We should be preparing them to get a job that provides for them to be a functional member of society whether that involves college or not.

We used to do the track thing here. It ran afoul of PC bullcrap. It isn't allowed here anymore because of that. Nearly every other country in the world does it.
 

Maroon Eagle

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...or under the disguise of making you a more well rounded individual...

When I was an undergrad, the electives were grouped in different categories: fine arts, social sciences, etc. and you had to take so many from each category for the purposes of well-roundedness I suppose. I don't know how things are now though.

I know a lot of folks who when they were at State, they were really single-minded and only interested in one thing. While I can be single-minded, I tend to be more of a generalist. I liked the different classes and perspectives because I think that really helped my critical thinking skills.
 

Goat Holding Inc

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Jun 27, 2019
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Enrollment is not "sky-rocketing." It is growing slowly (<2% annually) in most years, and it actually dropped last year.
http://www.ir.msstate.edu/enroll_profile18.pdf

State funding must go up with growing enrollment, or else tuition must rise. More students require more resources.

There is not a "set amount of money." The amount has actually decreased in most of the last 15 years. The increases were greater than the rare increases, so 2018 funding was 16% ($13 million) less than it was in 2008. With inflation and enrollment, the funding was more than 40% lower than 2008!
http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/research/downloads/profile2008.pdf
http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/research/downloads/profile2018.pdf

Tuition over that same period increased by 67%.
https://www.registrar.msstate.edu/sites/www.registrar.msstate.edu/files/0809bulletin.pdf
https://www.sfa.msstate.edu/sites/w...Published Cost of Attendance for MSUEXCEL.pdf
State funding does not explain ALL of the tuition increases, but it is the biggest part. To deny that is to purposefully ignore the numbers.
Agree that it is a problem, disagree that it's the biggest problem. The biggest problems are bad loans. We never learn, in this country.
 

Goat Holding Inc

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ETA: If we wanted to do more, it should be tied to students actually staying in state after graduation, not just making it cheaper to go to school for them to go get a job in Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, etc.
We are certainly on the same page there.
 

Uncle Ruckus

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You can identify some of those kids in hs and it not be discrimination. You can identify these things for kids with iep’s and get them on this path quickly, as long as their parents are on board with it
 

archdog

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Aug 22, 2012
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THIS ! Not everybody is meant to go to college, some people are meant to go through life with their name on their shirt. It's not belittling them its just a fact. I have a friend who turned a high school education and a plumbing work truck into a plumbing, HVAC, and electrical empire. These kids should really be identified early in high school and steered toward technical degrees and trades instead of concentrating on passing standardized test. The kicker is how do you do this without being accused of discrimination?

You invest in the career tech areas of high schools. Students that want to learn how to weld, auto shop, or be a med tech can do that. Others can take the math/science/english path.
If we want to discuss how this would be implemented in actual practice this is how I would do it.

I would break HS into tiers. In the first Tier, have you basic prerequisites like math, english, literature, spanish etc..... You have two years to complete all required basic classes. After that, your Junior and senior years are focused in one of 5-10 "tracks". Robotics/Computer Programming, Engineering/Architecture, Vo-Tech trades, Science Focus, Math Focus, English Focus, etc. You would spend half your day your Junior and Senior years on those focused classes. Maybe when you graduated, you would be useful for something.

Also, maybe when you are a Junior and Senior, you would actually have to take a full day worth of classes. My Junior and Senior year both we like 40% days due to the level of classes and the amount of credits I already had.
 

Bcash2

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Sep 20, 2012
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In today's dollars...

Fall tuition with fees 1977 $380*


Thats about $1600. Meanwhile the minimum wage of 1977 was $2.30/hr, or about $9.72/hr in 2019 dollars. You used to actually be able to work and pay your way through school, that's not an option anymore. Not to mention buying an affordable house in desirable location is much harder.
 

57stratdawg

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Dec 1, 2004
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No, it’s not. Life expectancy increases because the additional income from your 4 year degree allows you access to much higher quality of healthcare. Also, you will experience far fewer prolonged gaps in access which is very important for early detection.

People with a college degree are much more likely to exercise regularly; they have access to much better nutrition. Think about what a working professional in Charlotte ate for lunch today (chicken salad) vs “Hank” from the Transmission Repair shop (Baconator). As such, obesity rates drop.

College graduates smoke at a lower rate than non-college graduates too.

You combine all of those factors and you get on average an additional 7 years. Life expectancy among non-college graduates is actually lower in America today than the global expectancy. A 4 year degree will you put just above.

Dont think it matters for divorce rates? One of the most common reason for divorce is financial struggle. Obviously, your college degree will lower the risk of such struggle.
 
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fishwater99

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Jun 4, 2007
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The only problem with Mpact is if your kid decides not to go to a state school. We opted not to do it and invested in a 529. It turned out our son went to MSU mostly on scholarships. He also co-oped 3 times. He did very well at MSU and is now headed to a very, VERY good graduate school. The only way he was able to do this was with the 529 plus what he made on the co-ops. He is looking at it like an investment that will pay off down the line, which it will. If we had done Mpact, or if he hadn't had the scholarships at MSU, it wouldn't have happened.

If you go out of state to college, you get the average cost per year of the State schools. This is still a great deal if you got in MPACT early like we did.
 

turkish

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Aug 22, 2012
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No, it’s not. Life expectancy increases because the additional income from your 4 year degree allows you access to much higher quality of healthcare. Also, you will experience far fewer prolonged gaps in access which is very important for early detection.

People with a college degree are much more likely to exercise regularly; they have access to much better nutrition. Think about what a working professional in Charlotte ate for lunch today (chicken salad) vs “Hank” from the Transmission Repair shop (Baconator). As such, obesity rates drop.

College graduates smoke at a lower rate than non-college graduates too.

You combine all of those factors and you get on average an additional 7 years. Life expectancy among non-college graduates is actually lower in America today than the global expectancy. A 4 year degree will you put just above.

Dont think it matters for divorce rates? One of the most common reason for divorce is financial struggle. Obviously, your college degree will lower the risk of such struggle.
Let’s assume Hank’s kids also turn out obese in their 40s. Is it because they didn’t go to college or because their parents were bad examples?
 

Bcash2

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In the same way that there is a correlation between HOW you vote and how highly educated you are, I don't find it odd to think that many other things are affected by increased levels of education.
 

was21

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May 29, 2007
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sure there's some brother-in-law type positions as well as sister-in-law positions that are nothing more than make work jobs
 

L4Dawg

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If you go out of state to college, you get the average cost per year of the State schools. This is still a great deal if you got in MPACT early like we did.
Your return in that case generally will not match what a well managed 529 can do. It wouldn't have with us, not close.
 

paindonthurt_

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Jun 27, 2009
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So you’re saying they make enough money to live longer.

Guess they should all be able to pay for college.

It’s real simple. If you have 800 chiefs and no Indians, you eventually don’t gave a tribe.

If you have 1000 generals and no private’s and Sargents, you don’t win a war. Probably not even a battle.

Economies thrive by producing goods. Most college graduates are indirect labor in producing those goods.

You mentioned teen pregnancy. I wonder how closely that is tied to having two parents in the household with degrees or not.
 

Maroon Eagle

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If you’re in a wealthier family, there’s a higher incidence of grade inflation and increased GPAs can mean getting into better colleges and universities. That’s from the Hechinger Report.
 

Jeffreauxdawg

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So many good ideas in this thread but it is easy to get lost in the weeds. First question is what is college for?

I will bite.

I am of the opinion that a college degree proves you have the aptitude to learn what someone with actual experience will teach you on the job. If you have a specialization (engineering, medical, etc.) it proves you will also know most of the jargon the day you start....

In the past it also meant you probably had a pretty good set of soft skills that usually means more than the technical stuff...

But I don't know if colleges are pumping out well rounded kids as often these days, they all seem to be a little to woke and not worried nearly enough about being broke.

I have two boys under 10 and I am going to have a hard time not trying to shove them straight into boot camp after high school... Of all the socialist policies being thrown around the old European compulsory year of service is one I could get behind... Cause the Pokemon generation needs it.**
 

Goat Holding Inc

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Jun 27, 2019
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No, it’s not. Life expectancy increases because the additional income from your 4 year degree allows you access to much higher quality of healthcare. Also, you will experience far fewer prolonged gaps in access which is very important for early detection.

People with a college degree are much more likely to exercise regularly; they have access to much better nutrition. Think about what a working professional in Charlotte ate for lunch today (chicken salad) vs “Hank” from the Transmission Repair shop (Baconator). As such, obesity rates drop.

College graduates smoke at a lower rate than non-college graduates too.

You combine all of those factors and you get on average an additional 7 years. Life expectancy among non-college graduates is actually lower in America today than the global expectancy. A 4 year degree will you put just above.

Dont think it matters for divorce rates? One of the most common reason for divorce is financial struggle. Obviously, your college degree will lower the risk of such struggle.
What you still don't realize is that if everyone had a desk job then no one would be a janitor. The only way your premise works is if you assume that not everybody will do what you say they should do.

And LOL if you really still buy that divorces are due to money. CLUELESS.
 

Goat Holding Inc

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Jun 27, 2019
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I will bite.

I am of the opinion that a college degree proves you have the aptitude to learn what someone with actual experience will teach you on the job. If you have a specialization (engineering, medical, etc.) it proves you will also know most of the jargon the day you start....

In the past it also meant you probably had a pretty good set of soft skills that usually means more than the technical stuff...

But I don't know if colleges are pumping out well rounded kids as often these days, they all seem to be a little to woke and not worried nearly enough about being broke.

I have two boys under 10 and I am going to have a hard time not trying to shove them straight into boot camp after high school... Of all the socialist policies being thrown around the old European compulsory year of service is one I could get behind... Cause the Pokemon generation needs it.**
Pull them out of public school, bro.
 

xxxWalkTheDawg

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Oct 21, 2005
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Absolutely! Just not my kids...

Sarcasm aside, and alluding to this attitude among parents, I have a relative in another state that had a kid that was gifted in paint and body work on cars. He loved the work and loved automobiles in general. I had seen some flame work he did on a large tool box with an airbrush he did out of boredom and could not believe a 15 year old was capable of it.

He got up in high school and the talk was from him he was going to one day have his own shop. His parents took the “no son of mine is working in a filthy automobile shop” attitude.

they talked him in to going to college to “at least try”. He had no ambition for the curriculum, dropped out middle way through the sophomore year, picked up an alcohol addiction, and had his first snort of coke. He is now still in their house after several years and a couple trips to get clean.


ironically, I personally know a guy who was the same way. He had a passion for automotive work and car restoration. He went to a community college in paint and body. He now owns 3 successful shops and makes stupid money. He followed his passion all the way through.
 
Sep 25, 2013
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I will bite.

I am of the opinion that a college degree proves you have the aptitude to learn what someone with actual experience will teach you on the job. If you have a specialization (engineering, medical, etc.) it proves you will also know most of the jargon the day you start....

In the past it also meant you probably had a pretty good set of soft skills that usually means more than the technical stuff...

But I don't know if colleges are pumping out well rounded kids as often these days, they all seem to be a little to woke and not worried nearly enough about being broke.

I have two boys under 10 and I am going to have a hard time not trying to shove them straight into boot camp after high school... Of all the socialist policies being thrown around the old European compulsory year of service is one I could get behind... Cause the Pokemon generation needs it.**

The military is not for everyone, but if I would have joined right out of high school instead of being a lazy *** teenager/early 20s semi adult my life would have went much smoother much faster. It's the best thing that ever happened to me.
 
Aug 22, 2012
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https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/electrician-shortage-six-figure-salary-job

Your post reminds me of this recent article.

Sarcasm aside, and alluding to this attitude among parents, I have a relative in another state that had a kid that was gifted in paint and body work on cars. He loved the work and loved automobiles in general. I had seen some flame work he did on a large tool box with an airbrush he did out of boredom and could not believe a 15 year old was capable of it.

He got up in high school and the talk was from him he was going to one day have his own shop. His parents took the “no son of mine is working in a filthy automobile shop” attitude.

they talked him in to going to college to “at least try”. He had no ambition for the curriculum, dropped out middle way through the sophomore year, picked up an alcohol addiction, and had his first snort of coke. He is now still in their house after several years and a couple trips to get clean.


ironically, I personally know a guy who was the same way. He had a passion for automotive work and car restoration. He went to a community college in paint and body. He now owns 3 successful shops and makes stupid money. He followed his passion all the way through.
 

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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No, it’s not. Life expectancy increases because the additional income from your 4 year degree allows you access to much higher quality of healthcare. Also, you will experience far fewer prolonged gaps in access which is very important for early detection.

People with a college degree are much more likely to exercise regularly; they have access to much better nutrition. Think about what a working professional in Charlotte ate for lunch today (chicken salad) vs “Hank” from the Transmission Repair shop (Baconator). As such, obesity rates drop.

College graduates smoke at a lower rate than non-college graduates too.

You combine all of those factors and you get on average an additional 7 years. Life expectancy among non-college graduates is actually lower in America today than the global expectancy. A 4 year degree will you put just above.

Dont think it matters for divorce rates? One of the most common reason for divorce is financial struggle. Obviously, your college degree will lower the risk of such struggle.

All of those are largely due to sorting. The type of people that are conscientious and good at delayed gratification and long term thinking are the ones that (1) do well in school, (2) are a good fit for today's economy, (3) make good long term health decisions, (4) not throw away all the benefits of marriage because of a chance to get willie wet and/or because of a temporary drop in happiness/satisfaction. All of that means that the type of people that tend to go to college are also the type of people that will be productive in jobs, take care of themselve for the long term, and stay married.

There are certainly some peer effects that are significant contributors. Smoking has become a negative signal of class/social status as has being fat, and you're more likely to care about that if your peers care about it, and your peers are more likely to care about it if you went to college. But very little, if any, of those effects are due to college per se. You'll see a lot of the same impacts if you look at say IT professionals that got certifications rather than a degree. They are mostly the same type people as far as conscientiousness.
 

Shamoan

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Jun 27, 2013
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its all a money-grab and unfortunately, we arent immune. that said, we will likely be the most affordable SEC school with maybe Ole Miss
 

MSUcoast

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Jun 3, 2019
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I asked Tate Reeves this exact question yesterday, comparing our tuition cost to Florida State, and stating that our costs have doubled over the last 12 years. His answer, "well Florida is not a good comparison, look at Troy in Alabama and LSU, they are more expensive than us. That's why you need to vote for me to build our economy" This after he just gloated how great our economy is under his leadership. So he also bragged how we now have 200 million in our rainy day fund. Why not loan the money to our in state kids to keep the federal government from subsidizing the loans and offer a big financial incentive if they stay in state after college. Makes too much sense to me but I digress.
 

BigMotherTucker

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Aug 20, 2006
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Join the military. They will train almost anyone and provided skills to earn great money in the contract maintenance field once you're out. I'll guarantee you that anyone working an hourly job for Vertex Aerospace at NAS Meridian makes more than any other hourly employee in Meridian MS, probably the whole state.
 

Bcash2

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Sep 20, 2012
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Definitely not.

And we all deserve our own home. It’s our right as a human being. *****

But it’s something that can’t be ignored as something young people are having to deal with. The average wage has decreased, while the cost of renting/owning a home has increased. All this while coming out of college in a huge financial hole due to outrageous tuition/book costs.
 

Go Budaw

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Aug 22, 2012
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You’re thinking about the impact of college far too narrowly. A 4 year degree today:

> Increases your life expectancy by 7 years
> Lowers your likelihood of divorce
> Increases your political participation rates
> Lowers teenage pregnancy rates among your children
> Increases the likelihood you’ll start a small business
> Lowers your risk of being a victim of violent crime

Thats not even getting into the huge impacts of career earnings, tax revenue generated, etc.

If all those benefits were rolled into a single pill, would you make the case that some people dont need to take it?

Except a college education is not the cause of those things....it’s merely another parallel benefit to all of the above. What allows all of it is for an individual to have a solid family and socio-economic support structure to set early life habits that allow for them to attend and succeed in college. That same structure is what leads to good mental and physical health and aptitudes, which leads to developing other soft skills needed to excel in the real world.

There are a few exceptions, but its preposterous to think that the majority of folks ever sit down one day and decide whether or not they will attend college, like they are picking whether to eat out or cook dinner that night. It’s either drilled into you at an early age that its a priority / expectation, or it isn’t. And its a lot more likely to be drilled into you if you come from a wealthy family with both parents still married, etc.
 

VegasDawg13

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Jun 11, 2007
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Agree that it is a problem, disagree that it's the biggest problem. The biggest problems are bad loans. We never learn, in this country.
So in a ten-word sentence, you told two flat-out lies, followed it up with "Duh," and when decisively proven wrong, pulled out the ol' "agree to disagree" card. Nice.
 

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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I asked Tate Reeves this exact question yesterday, comparing our tuition cost to Florida State, and stating that our costs have doubled over the last 12 years. His answer, "well Florida is not a good comparison, look at Troy in Alabama and LSU, they are more expensive than us. That's why you need to vote for me to build our economy" This after he just gloated how great our economy is under his leadership. So he also bragged how we now have 200 million in our rainy day fund. Why not loan the money to our in state kids to keep the federal government from subsidizing the loans and offer a big financial incentive if they stay in state after college. Makes too much sense to me but I digress.

Our $200M rainy day fund will cover about 1.3% of our unfunded pension liability. Yay us!!!1111!11
 

UpTheMiddlex3Punt

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May 28, 2007
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Enrollment is not "sky-rocketing." It is growing slowly (<2% annually) in most years, and it actually dropped last year.
http://www.ir.msstate.edu/enroll_profile18.pdf

State funding must go up with growing enrollment, or else tuition must rise. More students require more resources.

There is not a "set amount of money." The amount has actually decreased in most of the last 15 years. The increases were greater than the rare increases, so 2018 funding was 16% ($13 million) less than it was in 2008. With inflation and enrollment, the funding was more than 40% lower than 2008!
http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/research/downloads/profile2008.pdf
http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/research/downloads/profile2018.pdf

Tuition over that same period increased by 67%.
https://www.registrar.msstate.edu/sites/www.registrar.msstate.edu/files/0809bulletin.pdf
https://www.sfa.msstate.edu/sites/w...Published Cost of Attendance for MSUEXCEL.pdf
State funding does not explain ALL of the tuition increases, but it is the biggest part. To deny that is to purposefully ignore the numbers.
Did the decrease in state funding cause the increase in tuition, or did the increase in tuition cause a decrease in state funding?

It's a serious question to ask. Universities have to lobby for their portion of the state budget just like any other entity. If they can get more money from tuition increases easier than they can from the state budget, then they likely will be willing to not press for an increase in their state funding.
 

Jeffreauxdawg

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Dec 15, 2017
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You've made some valid points, but, calling a parking lot a "creature comfort" on the MSU campus is a total joke. I'm on campus most days working and a student can literally ride around for the duration of a class and not find a parking place some days. There is waste on campus for sure, but, building 3 new parking lots is not one of them. Could they have built something cheaper than a deck, probably yes, but at the same time they are building it in a congested area of campus surrounded by athletic facilities and new dorms and by building up instead of out they are preserving what little area is available there.

Parking lots are not a creature comfort. One of the most rural campuses in the country building a parking garage is a bit expensive. Add in the all of the other expenses and something has to give.

I am fine with the garage if it's a pay to park deal. It's a luxury item and should be broken out for those that want to pay for it... but I think they are just passing the cost along to all commuters by raising parking permits 10% across the board. Just raising the cost of attendance.

Think of it like an airport. I can park in the garage closest to the terminal for $30 per day or I can catch a shuttle from the back 40 for $5 per day. My choice based on what's important to me. It would suck balls to have to pay $17.50 a day for any spot.

You can build a concrete parking lot for about 10-15% of the cost of a parking garage without factoring in land costs.

University of Texas 51,000 students crammed into 431 acres in a major city. Parking garage necessary.

Mississippi State University 22,000 students on 4200 acres. Parking garage not necessary.
 

chem1970

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May 5, 2013
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Didn't want to piss in the parking garage thread's Cheerios, but the spending spree needs to slow down. Tuition has just about trippled at Mississippi State since 1999... $3017 vs $8910. If it we're just pegged to inflation in that time period, it would currently be at $4638.56, so it's damn near twice as expensive to attend school vs the year we beat Clemson in the Peach Bowl... Doesn't feel that long ago and I doubt the education is very much better.

Way to much money going into creature comforts on college campuses.

Tuition has increased an average of 5.56% per year while inflation has only been at 2.17%. This is snowballing. If you currently have a child under the age of ten and want to see your grandchildren attend Mississippi State in 40 years it will cost approximately $77,600 per year for instate tuition if it continues to increase as it has. Just in case you want to avoid the math that's about $42,000 in today's dollars if we stay at 2.17% inflation...

What is the end game? Obviously we are not going to see tuition roll back. More taxes? More donations.. good luck. I think it's time to put a cap on tuition increases. I hope Mississippi State does this before everyone else... Otherwise my kids are going to homeschool for college.

Surely this is not a serious complaint about the tuition at MSU. The tuition at MSU of about $4,400 per semester is less than half of what a good private costs in Memphis. MSU tuition is the best value for higher education of any university in the country.
 
Aug 26, 2012
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They can increase it however much they want because they know it’s all coming from tax dollars via student loans from the government.
 

vorticityDawg

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Feb 24, 2008
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Did the decrease in state funding cause the increase in tuition, or did the increase in tuition cause a decrease in state funding?

It's a serious question to ask. Universities have to lobby for their portion of the state budget just like any other entity. If they can get more money from tuition increases easier than they can from the state budget, then they likely will be willing to not press for an increase in their state funding.

It's never easier to increase tuition than to request state funding. Also, it would be irresponsible of the university and the IHL to allow such a move. That would purposefully make the university less competitive.