In-state tuition at the UC schools is now moderately above the median tuition rates at comparable flagship state universities. However, it's worth pointing out that the California State University system has done an amazing job keeping tuition and fees low[1]. You can get a nationally ranked education from San Diego State, Fresno State, Cal Poly Pomona, etc. for less than $7,600/year in tuition and fees.<p>This is obviously still a lot of money, but it's far cheaper than comparable options in most other states. Florida, North Carolina, New Mexico, Montana, and Wyoming are the only other states that have similar options at that price.<p>[1] <a href="https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/paying-for-college/Documents/19-20-coa.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/paying-for-college/Document...</a>
The increasing tuition of most college is the result of intentional fraud. When the US Government computes your 'financial need', the two primary inputs are your parents' income and the cost of tuition. If your parents' income is low enough, then the government will give you a grant based on the cost of tuition. Schools that have low tuition get a smaller check from the government for the same student than schools that have high tuition. As a result, schools push tuition higher and higher, then give grants to students to cover the high costs that remain after the government grant.<p>For example, say school A charges $5000 per year. A low-income student is accepted and maxes out their government grants, the school can get a check for up to $5000.<p>School B charges $50,000 per year. For that same student, they can get $23k per year (or something like that), plus the student now qualifies for subsidized loans to pay for room and board. The school can then give that student a scholarship for the remaining $27k.<p>For this student, the higher tuition school is much cheaper.<p>This isn't a theoretical exercise, this is exactly what Universities have been doing for over 20 years.
There has to be some upper bound to the cost of education, right? Or will I have to put aside a few million to send my kids to college twenty years from now?
I think University prices are like some weird mirror of airline ticket prices. Time was that airlines sold tickets at a premium but the service was great. Now you can get tickets at incredibly low prices but the service is at cattle car level. People complain but at a fundemental level - that's what they want.<p>The airlines say "If you want 60's service then fly first class and pay 60's level prices" And the response of virtually everyone is - No, thank you, I just want to get to wherever I'm going as cheaply as humanly possible.<p>It seems like the same thing in reverse happened with University. Have you seen or read about dorms in the 50's? Or all the ancillary things that went with going to a university? It was all crap. And it's like everyone went "I would like a very nice University experience. I want a nice dorm. I want a beautiful campus. I want a sports team that wins and gym to go to. I want administrators that will hold my hand." And the Universties resonse was "You go it. If you want the cheap version go to community college"<p>Now by bent I'm classically liberal. If you asked me why prices have gone up I'd tell you a tale of government action. Make student loans widly available. Making student debt non-dischargable in bankruptcy. You may not but I find the argument plausible.<p>What if that's not a root cause though? Because truelly none of that stuff happens by chance. It's everyone who votes putting people in government. It's everyone who votes saying- "These are my priorities" and then the people in government saying "this is how we're going to meet those priorities" and both walking away happy to some greater or lesser degree.<p>All of which indicates to me that free University for all isn't going to cut it. If it's publically financed it won't in the long run be able to afford what people seem to want to get out of University. If that's true then they'll all run to a non-free private system and get the politicians to help them to pay for it.
Another great cost saving idea of Ronald Reagan was the closing of all the mental hospitals, supposedly to be replaced by community clinics (which never happened). The unrolling disaster of homeless with severe mental illness continues, on and on and on. Thank you, Ronald Reagan. What a legacy.