Yes, it is that time of the year that a parent of a college-going kid will think of drawing down from the funds budgeted for the college expenses to pay either for their first semester fees stressing out on the future expenses or thanking their stars if it happens to be paying for their last semester fees.
But why does this need to be like this? I really am not sure whether my parents fretted so much about college expenses. If I go that far back in my time as a college going kid, my expenses were not in thousands, but perhaps in hundreds. But then – what lead to this explosion?
I was thinking of all the new toys that the modern-day college going kid would use. I did not have any such devices to haul around. I make six-figure income from that education that the kids from today will envy to their bones. Why? They will be still paying off their debt! Do I derive any satisfaction from showing off that I am better off than them with my humble education? No! I rather get frustrated at the waste that is happening now-a-days in the current education system.
Let me attack the books first. These text books go up in price even when the economy is going down. Moreover, they are more or less a newer edition of the last year book that professor’s don’t let their students use. Moreover, the books differ from college to a college. I understand if they are some specialized studies, but, if a chemical engineering student needs to do a basic calculus, why that can’t be used from the previous year edition or standard across colleges in the same state – at least? So first the re-use of the book is gone. Please note: while the so-called tech industry thrives on re-use to grow from that, educational institutions don’t have a selective re-use in place to help the costs to come down.
The next thing is about the gadgets they use in their classrooms. From clickers to ebooks to all kinds of audio-visual equipment that thrives on just cramming more in an hour lecture than making students understand what is being taught. We then have TA’s to fill in the blanks to best of their ability. So the costs do mount as communication from professors, TAs and students and these devices are now a multi-way communication than a two-way communication I often enjoyed.
Then comes all the other gadgets that are considered personal. From laptops to iPhones to ear buds to ..the list is never-ending. These technologies change and live like butterflies with no end in sight to stabilize. The amount of junk that is collected and that needs to be cleared in a secure way leads to all kinds of headaches that I did not have before.
The college expenses can come down if all the education institutions move outside their big castles they have built for themselves to see what others see from outside. They need to take stock of things once in a while to see where they are heading by using technology for the technology-sake and by using revised editions of books and other devices just to keep up with the vendors who appear and disappear by day and night. With just little tweak to the product and services and hugely hyped up marketing and often misleading claims, vendors subject students crushed under the debt that vendors have created.
I learnt a lot by moving from place to place because of the nature of my work to throw lot of junk on each move. My house is compact with only the necessary things occupying my place as compared to a friend I visited recently who has got mountain load of junk spilling out his basement and his garage. He looks hundred times more stressed than me. I only hope these universities keep moving from place to place like me to realize how much junk they have accumulated over the periods that they cannot get rid off and unfortunately they are passing the cost of that to generations coming after!
I think the education is ripe for disruption. I only hope it happens in a systematic way rather than chaotic way.