The Cost of College

Tuesday a report released by College Board Advocacy & Policy Center stated that the typical student attending a four-year public college will not see a return in their education investment until they are 33 years old.

The report also outlined that people with college degrees are less likely to lose their jobs where as people with just a high school diploma have higher unemployment rates.

Also released in the report was information that college graduates are more likely to exercise, read to their children, vote and volunteer. These graduates also have lesser chance of being overweight or smoking.

College Board also states that the average tuition cost of a two year school for full-time students (12 credits a semester) is $2,544 per a semester where as Bucks charges students on average $1,605 for Bucks County residents.

“Take out a big student loan and work my ass off,” said Brooks Walker, 18, liberal arts major from Warminster said about paying for tuition to continue his education after Bucks. Walker who works at Ann’s Choice Retirement Community in Warminster says his job helps him pay for some of his Bucks enrollment fees.

Bhaumin Patel, 19, a business administration major who currently resides in Bensalem is an international student from India who pays nearly $4,300 a semester to attend Bucks.

Patel says his father helps him pay for his Bucks tuition and he’s hoping to get scholarships when he transfers to Temple University.

“I pay for school out of pocket with money from working part time.” Kristen Meade, 24 a Journalism major from Levittown, “lower the tuition for everyone by cutting back on the technology.”

When asked how he would pay for tuition to a four-year school to finish his education Jim Cornley, 19, a Liberal Arts Major from Levittown said, “I have no idea; my work helps me pay for Bucks but won’t help me pay for Temple. I don’t know if it’s going to be worth it to go to Temple after Bucks?”

The College Board report says that by age 64 a person who graduated college with a bachelor’s degree would have earned close to 220,000 more than someone who only graduated college with an associated and close to 340,000 more than someone who graduated with only a high school diploma.

Cornley said, “If college stopped wasting money on pointless things like Mac Books and 60 inch TV screens it won’t need to cost students an arm and a leg.”

Tom Sofield (tsofield@buxmontnews.com)
Online Editor