Taking into account the consequences of the general economic crisis, visible everywhere and in all lines, nobody could think that university studies in the US were going to be somewhat cheaper this year.  I don’t think that either parents or students thought they were.
The academic year has just begun and they feel as if they were pricked by needles.
Registration at public universities costs an average of 7,020 dollars this fall and this is how it’s going to be until next summer. From one year to the next, the cost increased by 429 dollars. At private and exclusive higher education centers, registration costs 26,273 dollars, that is, 1,096 dollars more.
Added to this panorama there are some more bad news for universities: according to AP, there are also significant reductions in a wide gamut of lines, like personnel, cafeteria services, trips for sports teams, and cultural activities, among others.
Also, in what they call community universities in the United States, attended by
approximately 40 per cent of those studying at these higher education centers, prices have been raised as well, but registration continues to be essentially free of charge for a certain amount of students, when you take into account the financial aid and scholarships that low income families and youngsters receive.
An official report points out that the federal government’s financial aid (loans) is
increasing and that the use of these loans has significantly decreased.
There are also increases in the cost of school materials, transportation and everything students need, some bad news for approximately one third of the students, who don’t receive any financial assistance.
At Washington’s State University, in Vancouver, where students have faced consecutive registration increases of up to 14 %, Peter Sterr, now in fourth year and who wants to specialize in Political Sciences, says, according to AP, that he wants to work in the public sector, but that with 35,000 of debts in loans he doesn’t think he could afford to accept such a job.
University rectors and administrators are going crazy to find out how they can weather this crisis and balance small budgets, but their only choice is to reduce expenses and increase prices: financial allocations from the Senate to these centers were cut by almost four billion dollars in 2008-2009.