Why is education so freekin expensive in the USA??

I wouldn't blame just the Republicans for the education problem, but instead, the whole government including Democrats.

As for educated people committing less crimes, that's true to a certain extent but keep in mind that some educated people are criminal masterminds as well. Politicians who steal money are educated, and ARE criminals as well.

As for the price, if you're poor but resourceful you can get a good education, however it's not as easy as it sounds. Therefore a reformation in our education system is definitely a must, but right now the economy is the biggest concern. So once the job problem is resolved, I hope that the educational problem is fixed as well.

The biggest problem is the demand for it. It's strange how often these discussions overlap with others I'm having on other forums.

The big problem is that half the population in the US tries to go to college. The countries that offer free education can do it through a simple process. Only the top 10% or so get in. Only the best and the brightest who are going to be top scientists, educators, economists, etc. go to a real university. The rest go to trade schools.

It's expensive because there is a huge demand and they know that they can get away with charging for it.

As for the poor not being able to get money for it...that's not really true. I got a nice chunk of change in scholarships just through my academic abilities and light extracurriculars (no sports). If you don't have much money, you should be able to scrap together enough in scholarships, Pell grants, and student loans to make it.

High school and middle school education does need a major revamp in general though. It's failing pretty bad. There aren't enough good teachers around and there just isn't a will to learn. Not sure what we can do about that though. It would take a major revamp of the course material to correct that problem.

I would have to agree that the demand for secondary education is huge, and I feel that corporate America is partially responsible. Most of the big companies where you might have a shot at a six figure yearly income place emphasis on education. Now, the book smarts you have won't really amount to anything, especially if your profession doesn't require any specialized knowledge.

Most occupations require some type of vocational training not a college degree. People need to realize the difference, and clearly map out their goals, and then do what is necessary to meet them. If you're going to be a teacher, then yes, you'll probably need a bachelor's degree in the field you want to enter. But, if you want to be a plumber, you don't need a degree, you'll need vocational training and certification.

Education in Australia is far more expensive. We pay 1.5x what UK and US pay, and that is after the currency exchange. If all currency in th world were even Australians are paying 1.5x more for their education.
I know that many Americans strugge to even point to Australia on a world map, maybe there really is a difference in the quality of what we're taught!?

I like the German model of teaching especially where they make sure they get the required trained manpower for their industry by implementing secondary school apprentice schools. It is efficient and functional.

I'm all for more people getting education, but I don't think that we should dumb down our school systems so any idiot can get into college. I mean the point of college is to make make people with potential actually get somewhere, right? So if we're just letting everyone in on the principle that "We're giving everyone a chance" in reality I don't think we are. Now people are graduating with degrees who don't deserve them, and people who actually might amount to something have a worthless degrees that counts for crap because everyone has them. You're either stupid or your not. I agree with some scholarship programs (that's how I got my degree) but all my scholarships came with a price. I had to earn my grades to keep getting sponsored. I don't like people getting free rides because of this or that, as education goes. Everyone should have an opportunity, but if they blow it then that's it. No extra boosting. Some people are not cut out for college. Not everyone should go.

Glee said:

I'm all for more people getting education, but I don't think that we should dumb down our school systems so any idiot can get into college. I mean the point of college is to make make people with potential actually get somewhere, right? So if we're just letting everyone in on the principle that "We're giving everyone a chance" in reality I don't think we are. Now people are graduating with degrees who don't deserve them, and people who actually might amount to something have a worthless degrees that counts for crap because everyone has them. You're either stupid or your not. I agree with some scholarship programs (that's how I got my degree) but all my scholarships came with a price. I had to earn my grades to keep getting sponsored. I don't like people getting free rides because of this or that, as education goes. Everyone should have an opportunity, but if they blow it then that's it. No extra boosting. Some people are not cut out for college. Not everyone should go.

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I agree totally with this, and I also like the idea that you get rewarded for good grades. The bail-out system never works well as it creates a kind of psychology that would expect bail-outs instead of making people self-reliant from get go. Bail-outs are also very wasteful of scarce and expensive educational resources :shy:

Cost of school so expensive

I do not know why the cost of school is so expensive, but I do know one thing for sure, we are not attacking the problem correctly in any way. Teachers deserve to be paid more, the quality of food we feed our young people's developing minds has to be of the most superior quality, and the way children are being taught (with textbooks rather than inter social dreaming, and the lax regulations on what children are allowed to do, and what is important. The whole ball of wax is flawed. The beautiful people get the most attention, while the people who are not well liked have a REASON they are not well liked that doesn't get discussed as in issue to tackle!

For example, say a child has a weight problem in school. He is not helped out by his fellow students, rather shunned and left to deal with it on his own. The weight problem would have been aptly appropriated (taken over) by a plan of action. Sign a dismissal of indemnification to your teachers. If you get hurt and the easiest method of fixing the problem entails some risk, then the teachers who allow you to try and fix your problem during school are not liable for any mishaps incurred along the way. The child needs to be walking with a ergonomically correct weighted vest or body suit of some sort, be given special food at school that correlates to his problematic bodily situation, and all means to fix the problem at his or her young age should be taken by the school administration. All students should be required to give him or her a helping hand in fixing a problem. Give him or her a chance to actually feel like going to school, and having a very healthy body is worth going about ways to make it happen.

I am not saying this method of thought is going to be 100% successfull 100% of the time, but it sure beats the pants off of what we are doing now, which is nothing. I think the current standpoint is more of a privacy issue.

Body structure and correlation to other student bodies is extremely important to a developing person. Say your child was smaller than everyone else, would you want him or her to suffer in a school where nobody has the same body structure, and flush his or her passions (cash making aptitude) along with everything else down the proverbial toilet? I wouldn't.

Schools nowadays should be networked to the point of priorities. Cash should not be the main concern, as a greedy fooled eye is a wasteful proposition.

"I have a child here who does not get along with everyone else, he needs a new social interaction setting in which to further his life and give him a chance."

So move the child to a new school, or, allow him to pick from a book of students with similar body structures and interests, to allow his or her life not to be thrown away. It bring up my point about all schools needing to be networked to a main control source encompassing EVERY school, which will allow the correct decision based on the current situation.

If he feels uncomfortable and afraid, allow him a Doberman Pincher (similar to what a seeing eye dog does for a blind person, a friendly police trained watchdog can help the child to feel safe), I am talking everything that is needed should be negotiated. I am sure I am not saying everything I say can hold its water in a reality equation (like the guard dog thing) but means can be taken to eliminate bumps in the road.

There are a multitude of problems in schools. We are not treating our children who go to school as the most precious thing on earth, and our society as a whole is paying the price. To fix the problems of our tomorrow we have to give the special attention to the people who will inhabit it.

samkenwick said:

For example, say a child has a weight problem in school. He is not helped out by his fellow students, rather shunned and left to deal with it on his own.

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I would have imagined that this kind of problem, symbollically, is one of society and the world, for which coping strategies should come from the parents and family first? We all have to face stresses like these all the time. When you apply for a position at a company, they will favour someone who fits the template of beauty and intelligence etc. etc. So parents need to teach self-esteem at home, as I think it is weak self-esteem, more than what the children look like and how others should look at children with weight problems that is the real problem here.:shy:

You get what you pay for:

My parents were educators and they loved the public school system. But that was many years ago. Depending on where you are in the country, your children may get a pretty good education or they may be almost illiterate when they graduate.

While social programs to correct some challenges children face are worthwhile in general, most schools systems are very challenged to pay a reasonable wage to teachers, provide a safe and viable environment, and then look at adding any of the "extras" many parents prize, such as arts, music, and sports for the students.

Few teachers make what we would call large salaries, particularly considering the extensive educational requirements that do not stop simply because one graduates. You have to keep your qualifications up by attending more classes on an almost perpetual basis. Someone has to pay for this and ultimately it is the taxpayer.

But they are theoretically getting their money's worth. While good schools are preferred, even bad schools are better than no schools, it is the student that makes the difference. I have a great experience with this watching someone with a degree from a very small college in the province (of the Philippines) attend a review course for a professional exam. Her classmates in the review course were from much more prestigious schools in Manila and other highly rated schools. She did fine, gaining a great amount of self-confidence when she realized that she was as good at the review course as they were. It wasn't the school that determined ability, it was the student.

While the USA and other countries are challenged to provide reasonably priced educations, more focus should be on the student, since they are the ones that will determine the outcome more than the system they are in.

I think we have turned schools into places that are directed at solving social problems rather than preparing children for the world they will work in. We had the whole 'self-esteem' movement, where to make up for kids who were not getting support from their families, we started telling kids they were all brilliant and all talented and all could do anything they wanted. Not anything they had the skills for and worked hard at, but anything. So, if you play high school football and don't even make the all-city team, no one would ever tell you that maybe you shouldn't plan on a career in the NFL.

We also haven't adjusted our curriculums to present needs. Only half of the states require geometry and algebra to get a high school degree, when the norm in other countries is to require calculus. Many of the subjects we still think of as college level courses, like organic chemistry, are high school courses in places like Australia.

Modern American parents think their children shouldn't have homework until they are in upper grades. I had homework the first day of first grade. Modern American parents complain if their kids have to study too hard. And modern American parents blame the teachers if their kids don't do well. They used to blame the kids.

We don't expect enough of our kids, to the point of almost being disrespectful of their abilities.

curious said:

I think we have turned schools into places that are directed at solving social problems rather than preparing children for the world they will work in. We had the whole 'self-esteem' movement, where to make up for kids who were not getting support from their families, we started telling kids they were all brilliant and all talented and all could do anything they wanted. Not anything they had the skills for and worked hard at, but anything. So, if you play high school football and don't even make the all-city team, no one would ever tell you that maybe you shouldn't plan on a career in the NFL.

We also haven't adjusted our curriculums to present needs. Only half of the states require geometry and algebra to get a high school degree, when the norm in other countries is to require calculus. Many of the subjects we still think of as college level courses, like organic chemistry, are high school courses in places like Australia.

Modern American parents think their children shouldn't have homework until they are in upper grades. I had homework the first day of first grade. Modern American parents complain if their kids have to study too hard. And modern American parents blame the teachers if their kids don't do well. They used to blame the kids.

We don't expect enough of our kids, to the point of almost being disrespectful of their abilities.

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Very well said. This may also be a good reason why they would tend to get bored at home and get involved in all kinds of mischief like gangs, drugs, etc. There should be more pressure on them to produce, provided of course that it is done from a place of motivation and inspiration. This goes hand in hand with teaching them critical thinking skills, and of doing projects on their own without being spoonfed.

I am a firm believer that all education should be free. It really is a cost that all of us society should bear as it has so many benefits from society as a whole, and not just taxes and lower crime. I am talking about the value of people who cannot afford education but have inherent abilities that could be turned into useful contributors to society than locked into gangs.

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