laxwyo
Well-known member
My daughter is going to an artsy fartsy college in downtown chicago for almost the same cost. Sure, they upcharged her BFA degree and then gave her a scholarship but that's right in there
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- Thread starter McPeachy
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Thank you.
I just did an extremely nonrigorous, unscientific, and quick Google search for "mean" cost of attendance at state universities.
I'm told the average cost of attendance is $38K -- which has doubled this century -- and the average specifically for out-of-state students is $45K.
Damn. Correcting that for inflation, I don't think I could have gone to college back in the day.
Out of curiosity, does anyone actually pay that all out pocket? Rice University in Houston has a tuition of $71k per year but the average scholarship package is around $60k. Ivy League schools also have a typical setup with sky high tuitions but the vast majority of that ends up being covered by scholarships.
cowpokeguy
Well-known member
Having recently gone through this with a senior in high school who applied to something like 15 different places around the country, it really depends. First, financial need plays a role as some places have policies about covering need above a certain level. From there though, these places are like a lot of businesses in that they're trying to incentivize a strong incoming class (customer) while I'm sure trying to hit their internal revenue targets (remember, they have a rough idea how much each person is able to pay, and from there seem to apply confidence factors on how likely a candidate would accept a certain offer). There were some places that made early offers that covered a good chunk of the total cost where I think they viewed my student as likely to accept (though I never saw any above 50%), and then some that were clearly offers right at the end of the acceptance period where they were trying to pad their revenue by taking a flyer and offering virtually no aid on a "dream" type school.
UW's enrollment is heavily propped up by in-state scholarship programs like the Hathaway and the Cowboy Commitment. They essentially guarantee both admission and solid financial aid to anyone who meets the benchmarks, and frankly, those benchmarks aren't terribly hard to hit.
As for the out-of-state or 'full-freight' crowd, I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but a massive chunk of them are just floating on student loans anyway.
As for the out-of-state or 'full-freight' crowd, I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but a massive chunk of them are just floating on student loans anyway.
ZapPoke
Well-known member
Calculating reverse inflation $36,000 now was $6,000 back in 1976 when I was a freshman. I honestly don’t remember the cost back then but I doubt it was more than $2-3,000 so even taking inflation into account the cost has doubled, that is, it should only be $18,000 now, not $36,000.
laxwyo
Well-known member
my other daughter received a Rice mailer and It basically said her scholarships would be 25%-50%. I
WestWYOPoke
Well-known member
Just to show the staggering rise in cost of education over the past 50 years:
1975-76:
1 year at UW - Non-resident
Tuition: $1377
Room & Board: $1221
Total: $2598
Minimum wage: $2.30/hour
Hours worked to cover cost: 1130
2025-26:
1 year at UW - Non-resident
Tuition: $24865
R&B: $13680
Total: $38545 (1384% increase)
Minimum wage: $7.25/hour (215% increase)
Hours worked to cover cost: 5316 (370% increase)
1975-76:
1 year at UW - Non-resident
Tuition: $1377
Room & Board: $1221
Total: $2598
Minimum wage: $2.30/hour
Hours worked to cover cost: 1130
2025-26:
1 year at UW - Non-resident
Tuition: $24865
R&B: $13680
Total: $38545 (1384% increase)
Minimum wage: $7.25/hour (215% increase)
Hours worked to cover cost: 5316 (370% increase)
For the "older" folk on the board, I've always wondered if all of the perks that students get when attending a university these days were also present back in the 70's and 80's.
For example, students these days often get access to free basic healthcare (and sometimes dental care and vision care too), massive athletic centers/gyms, free rental bikes/outdoor gear, multiple year round intramural athletic leagues, free tutoring/writing centers/career centers.
Were these all a thing back in the 70's and 80's too or is this a more modern phenomenon. From my experience, only a very limited number of students actually take advantage of all of these free services. Of course, these services aren't actually "free" as they are being covered by tuition dollars.
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Do you also have the numbers on public money going to the university for education inflation adjusted?
Note - it’s not good. The funding gap is now coming from tuition unfortunately. This isn’t unique to Wyoming.
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Just curious - what’s the relevancy of minimum wage?
I would say in the 1970s, minimum age was actually a wage that folks might get by on. In today’s world, the number is pretty meaningless. I’m not sure any employers pay minimum wage here in Wyoming anymore; rather we let the market dictate that workers largely aren’t willing to accept any job at that wage.
Note - it seems to me average or median local salary would be a better measure on relative cost (it has absolutely risen there too but I don’t believe as drastic).
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Just curious - when is the last time you were in half acre and at what time?
My relatively recent experience is that the gym facilities do not meet the demand of the student population.
The last time I would have been in Half Acre would be 2008, so quite some time ago. That being said, I'm pretty sure the student enrollment was higher in 2008 than it is now.
As a person with a regular gym routine, I noticed it seemed to be mostly the same people there everyday. If Half Acre has 1000 students come through in a day, and it's mostly the "regulars", that is only about 10% of the student population that utilizes that resource. I had lots of friends/acquaintances that never stepped a foot in Half Acre their entire time at UW. And that's talking about Half Acre, which has to be one of the most utilized "perks" on the UW campus. I suspect the other resources offered are utilized by an even smaller percentage of the student population.
Brew_Poke
Well-known member
LOL, "free".
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Gym habits have changed quite a bit since 2008. Half Acre was completely re-done in 2016 I believe. It is basically always full during the academic year other than like 9 at night before closing. The summer hours are very limited.
I don't understand the apparent suggestion that it is not a good use of money. I personally believe more money should be invested in fitness for students and all students should perhaps be required to take some type of fitness class (I don't believe there are any requirements anymore with a maximum of 4 credits counting toward a degree).
Never suggested it wasn't a good use of money.
Just pointing out that there may be things available to university student's now that were not offered in the 70's and 80's that help explain at least some of the reason the cost of a college education has increased faster than inflation.
As universities add more/expanded services, they also must add administrators to handle providing and maintaining those services. As Brew Poke mentioned, those services and the salaries/benefits of those that provide them are covered in part by an increase in tuition cost.
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OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
That makes sense.
Based on my prior research on the issue, if I were to rate the reasons for tuition/cost increases for college students over the last several decades:
1) State/Federal Funding - This has fallen off a cliff. In the 1960's, state/federal dollars pretty much covered 100% of the costs. The trend to replacing state/federal dollars with tuition dollars began to accelerate in the late 1980s early 1990s. This trend continues. (i.e. shift the cost from taxpayers to individuals utilizing the service). Wyoming is unique because we have a Constitutional provision providing:
"The university shall be equally open to students of both sexes, irrespective of race or color; and, in order that the instruction furnished may be as nearly free as possible, any amount in addition to the income from its grants of lands and other sources above mentioned, necessary to its support and maintenance in a condition of full efficiency shall be raised by taxation or otherwise, under provisions of the legislature."
I don't believe we are following the plain language of this provision.
2) Increase in Services - As you point out, in the 1960s college was basically a classroom and a library. The biggest increase in cost of the increase in services actually appears to come from RESEARCH costs. A massive amount of dollars flow to research now.
3) Regulatory Costs - We have absolutely overregulated colleges, etc...shifting a bunch of money to regulatory compliance and causing a need to hire so many more people for positions that weren't necessary in the past (Title IX compliance, Research compliance, Financial aid administration, Cybersecurity, Data reporting, Accreditation requirements, , Clery Act and campus safety obligations, etc...). This really needs to be addressed IMO. It is absurd how much of the pie goes to regulatory compliance now.
Bryoming
Well-known member
Minimum wage is included because the calculation of hours worked to pay for schools needs a wage included to make the calculation work. Minimum wage is a standard that makes the calculation possible. Obviously if someone is being paid more it changes the equation, but minimum wage is a good baseline to start with.
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Ok. There are many 'standards' to use but I try to focus on comparable outputs. Minimum wage as a 'standard' does not provide comparable outputs because federal minimum wage laws have not tracked inflation and aren't really even wages people are paid anymore. Accordingly, the comparison produces relatively meaningless numbers.
If you want to produce comparable outputs, I would suggest you use $13.00 per hour today. This is because when $2.10 in 1975 (minimum wage in 1975) is adjusted for inflation and computer price indexes, that number is $13.00 today.
