You can scan Reddit to confirm this, several GT student discussion threads over the years about fees. The athletic fee is just one in a long list, adds up to a lot of money. I saw a Clemson student thread pushing back on their new fee. Grad students in particular will largely oppose activity fees.
You got that right. I was working at the Disco Kroger while at GT...pulling the graveyard shift on Friday nights so I could go to the games on Saturday. I may be wrong, but I am under the impression that the state used to provide a lot more direct funding to state universities as an investment in the future and to keep costs down for students.
Ummm, these subsidies are a huge reason for the skyrocketing costs.
Grad students are the ones hwo should pay more for athletic fees. MANY of the grad students are having their costs covered either by companies or countries (significant % are out of country), so they can probably afford it easily enough. Maybe make it something tied to state of origin (Georgia residents get a break, but not others). Let undergrads go for less money and build their fandom that way. Grad students don’t attend anyway….
Please explain. In the 70's and early 80's, tuition was $300 or $400 per quarter with direct state support to the university and a student could work to pay his/her way through school and graduate with no debt. I paid for tuition, books, on campus housing, etc. working my way through. There is no way on earth to do that now.
Gt under CPJ got some sucess for no cost.
It helped drive up demand, which then led to increased prices. Having a massive 3rd party payer involved, with all the subsidies and easy student loans, shielded the ultimate payer from the actual true costs.
Ditto, but older so out of state for this fla boy was 400 $/quarter. Thank goodnness for ROTC, and 1.25$/hr job at robbery, great football to watch, cheap braves tickets, varsity. I only was paid 440 $/ month as combat officer in nam
I have personally funded many PhD engineering students, and they are the low paid labor force behind our top researchers, who largely account for the school rank and reputation. Yes phd students probably don’t go to so many games - good logical reason to, if anything, exempt them vs going after them for money.
The rising costs are largely due to shifting from subsidies into cheap loans. The student-facing cost would be lower if the subsidies were still direct at as high a proportion of total university spend.
The phd students and especially postdocs should one day realize the work they are doing is FAR more valuable than what they’re getting, like the athletes have.
The cost has gotten obscene because of government backed loans. Kids can get almost unlimited loans and colleges know that. The cost of tuition has increased faster than inflation for years. If athletic fees go up, kids just borrow more. There are exceptions to this and I am sure a lot of kids are just getting by. I was as poor as a church mouse when I was a student.
That and even the state scholarships like Hope. Those do have an effect, too. Anytime a retailer knows there are subsidies the price will ultimately rise.
Universities have become bureaucratic cesspools. I believe two major reasons: 1) Relatively flat organizational structures offer few advancement ops, and 2) The notion that research has to be done in universities.
There’s also the infrastructure refresh. Whole buildings are being demolished and rebuilt new because of the flood of cash into universities driven by the student loan program. That’s a major reason why so many universities are quiet re societal issues. It’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you.
My husband co-oped, and was able to pay out of state tuition, and all his other expenses for the year on his co-op salary. Now tuition is 8x, housing seems about 4x, but co-op salary only up about 1.5-2x. My son is there now, same major, also co-ops, also out of state, but we've had to help out
Anyone priced out healthcare lately. Shared risk, if not done equitably, can ultimately drive up prices.
I was a co-op on the quarter system in the 70’s. Like most freshman co-ops at the time, I was paid at or near minimum wage.