Pardon My Ignorance…..The Costs of Education, part 4

While doing a little research for the previous posts in this category, I came across this really interesting thing that has me completely baffled.

At almost every school, when I looked for information about tuition and fees, there was always a note that the tuition and fees were different if the student was majoring in Business.

Business?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

It’s not like there are any special things involved with being a business major. No special equipment. No special classes.

So why are Business majors paying more in tuition and fees than English or History majors?

Pardon my ignorance, but this seems very odd.

More later.

A Tour Through Tuition and Fees…..or The Costs of Education part 3

Hello from snowy Boston.

My last couple of post have been off-topic, so I’m just getting back to this now. And I’m glad I waited because I saw in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Washington University is going to raise tuition by 4.4% for the 2009-2010 academic year. That will make tuition and fees alone $37,800. Tuition and fees only. No room and board. No money to wash clothes. No money for books. $37,800.

I can hear it now, “But Kim, Wash. U. is private. You expect that at a private school.” You’re right, I do. But let’s take a little tour through tuition and fees at some public universities. I have picked these schools completely at random.

At the Univ. of Massachusetts, a Mass. resident will pay $5,116. per semester this academic year.

At UVa, a 1st year resident will pay $9,490 for the academic year.

At the Univ. of Maryland, a resident will pay $8,005 for the academic year.

At the Univ. of Pennsylvania, a resident will pay $37,526 for the academic year.

At the Univ. of North Carolina, a resident will pay $2,698.38 per semester this academic year.

At Ohio State, a resident will pay $8,679 for the academic year.

At Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, a resident will pay $3,782.24 per semester for this academic year.

At UCLA, a resident will pay $7,554 for the academic year.

 These prices are only for this academic year. All of them will probably be raising tuition and fees for the 2009-2010 academic year.

So we have a range of public university tuitions of $5,300 per year to $37,600 per year. How are families supposed to work out sending their child(ren) to college when there are such varying prices of attendance, and the costs go up every year?

More later.

The Pill Is Polluting The Environment?????

I know I said that my next post was going to be part 3 on the costs of education, but the AP wire has a story that there is a new Vatican report that the Pill is causing pollution to the environment through female urine and, at the same time, is the cause of some male infertility.

Now I understand that the Roman Catholic Church is against artificial birth control, but how do they explain that the world population continues to grow at significant rates?

What Are You Doing New Year’s…New Year’s Eve

I should have written this last night but didn’t get around to it.

With everybody talking about New Year’s resolutions, I’ve always thought that it would be a good idea to talk about those things that we actually want to take with us into the new year instead of what we resolve to change or not to take with us.

So I ask the question to all of you…..what do you plan to carry with you into this new year? Or what were you doing New Year’s Eve that you plan to continue doing now that it’s New Year’s Day?

Next post I’ll get back to the costs of education.