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Common Core Executive Director Lynne Munson on the huge increases in costs for a college education and its impact on students and their families.
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Concern and families are being crushed under debt for college other cost of higher education sky rocketing up more than a 1000% since just 1980.
To put those startling numbers in perspective joining us as -- and months and former adjunct research fellow.
At the non profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity -- good to have you here.
Put this into context because I think this is so.
Absolutely illuminating and exact the comparison.
Of what would -- we would be paying for various other consumer products.
If they had match the growth and cost.
Colleges in this country.
-- so the College Board announced very recently that the cost situation went up about eight point 3% last year.
And for decades it's been outpacing inflation and honestly I think we've almost become numb to it.
I translate these these increases as it at a more tangible thing all right so that people can get an eager fans and real question trigger yet.
I want to go Becton 1980.
You look at the price of milk if it had increased as much as tuition has that.
In state public tuition.
It would be a 22 dollars and forty turn dollars a gallon -- the nominee again do you think would put up -- that for crying out loud the price of gasoline.
How much of that there.
They're almost thirteen dollars a gallon and how much would that change your decision making I mean how much would that change.
The way you go about conducting your life you know I think that a lot of people are really just intimidated -- intimidated the way.
From some of our best colleges universities -- these days because of these terrible price.
Intimidated by those terrible prices but apparently neither government are the institutions it used to -- started loans were intimidated.
About the morality of putting massive data on the backs.
Of students emerging from college and families who probably couldn't Begin to afford another purchase.
Of that price.
It's unconscionable.
It is and as long as we keep making it possible for families and for students.
To take out more and more and more -- lounge so what do we do -- -- tuition bills I do think they're gonna continue to go up well one thing I think we could do.
Is we can put some pressure on colleges universities.
By making their endowments a little bit more public.
I mean currently there's actually no requirement that ecology university no matter the size of their endowment spend any percentage of it.
A whatsoever nor -- they have to disclose anything about how much they spend a.
And I know -- and and and I will give full disclosure I.
My two of my children and I would all went to Harvard.
But I want to be very clear Harvard spends a huge amount of its endowment every year.
On bringing students and Harvard is the first university for example and I'm about doing this -- -- it just because I honestly believe it's great.
They commit that money to anyone -- except.
It seems to me the -- larger issue is why not take advantage.
Of all of these.
All of these families who were breaking under the burden of this -- why not take advantage of of Community Colleges what about long distance learning.
I have a daughter who moves attending Harvard on -- During her some of her course work on online.
Why could we not force education to have the same efficiencies the same productivity the same advances.
As we would any other sector of the economy.
Those institutions offer a wonderful opportunities but I do not think we should take the pressure.
Off of some of this nation's flagship private and public institutions.
To make themselves more formal.
Honestly Harvard's got 32 billion and it's endowment the idea that anybody should be paying a dying to go to Harvard.
Is ridiculous probably about 25% of that was given to Harvard specifically to address the cost of attending college so they -- so probably -- then you look at it.
As we think we keep we keep that efforts separate how fast you think Harvard or any other school would fall in line.
If the country's best students started going to Community Colleges I mean.
And said you know we're not going to take on this kind of debt.
We're not going to upon our families through this we're going to community college we're going to go to university online.
We're -- -- insist on joining the 21 century and higher education.
-- -- do something kind of positive and terrific.
You know -- my eight but I'm afraid that a lot of his real wealthy institutions and there's about 75 of them now -- this country.
With endowments larger than a billion.
Then the education as secondary or if not lower in their true mission rather they're the really -- for what's good -- the kids taken care of what sounds good thanks a lot we appreciate your being with -- -- about.
