Studying Fees

Hello everyone,
This question went through my mind as I was reading a newspaper article about studying fees at universities.
Being one of the students that have to pay 500€ / semester to the university, I would like to hear your opinions on studying fees, if they are "acceptable" by the term that education should be available for everyone - and if you think they are legit, how much an institute is allowed to ask of it's students.

In Germany we have an ongoing discussion for quite some time already, as in most of the areas you have to pay studying fees (with 2 exceptions out of 16 I think), and every university in a "Bundesland" (the 16 parts of Germany) that is allowing studying fees, has the right to ask up to 500€. Students (me included) are asking themselves how far asking for studying fees is justified. So whats your opinion on the matter at hand :)?

Like college tuitions? Honestly, it seems completely arbitrary to me as the more expensive colleges to me always talk back on cutting costs and budgets but end up never decreasing the tuition fare. And I think most tuition fees are way too damn expensive for the quality and quantity of material and knowledge on is receiving, not including room&board and other miscallaneous fees. And tuition never covers the cost of textbooks, which can go as astronomically high as $200+ for a textbook. Even community colleges give you more bang for buck for their cheap rates, which is the reason why community colleges exist besides for students who aren't smart enough to get into a better college.

The school is charging for it's service, if you don't believe this is a fair price, research the competitors and take your business elsewhere. When universities realize that they are losing students (customers) they will be forced to charge competitive rates.

If you spread the idea that higher education is a service rather than a requirement, then students will take action. Talk to the officials at institutions, band together and refuse to pay more than is reasonable. You have the power to make them listen, do so.

It's bullshit, plain and simple.

College is something you need, desperately, but the costs keep going up, and not because of inflation. And while community college is very affordable, it's community college. I don't know about all areas, but you can't get a bachelor's degree from a community college around here. The only choice is to get student loans and go into debt. And because it costs so much money, once you're out of school, you have an enormous amount to pay off, and that's before any interest.



What if that's not an option? What if every college in your state costs a fortune, and you don't have the money to move to another state? And what if all the colleges, all across the country, are too expensive, and there's nowhere else to go?

I'm narrowing my opinion to only the studying fees of the school and university I went to due to some reasons such as Government schools (Which is giving free education up to middle school level).

Country-wise, it's starting to sound like education is just another money well (A.K.A. Capital business) from my perspective. The college I'm entering is so expensive all around (But not like I have a better choice) that I am hoping by all things holy that I will get a good job after I graduate from it because if I don't I'll have hard time trying to cover up for all those studying fees. Let's just say that even if I got a job that gives me $4,260 a month, I'll still need 2 years and a month to cover up for that expense (College only, haven't put elementary-high school fees) before I really makes any profit. And that calculation haven't been reduced by my daily expenses.

Saying it simply, it's not a fair amount of fees.

I pay 701 Swiss Franks per semester, which is pretty much the european norm and is an amount everyone (in Switzerland) should be able to afford.
That being said, I would prefer a system where education is free for everyone so long as they pass the entry exams.

Worst thing is that quite a few universities here have decided to drop the NC (Numerus Clausus) so that they can cash in the extra bucks from the applying students and have them fail with ridiculous tests, blocking the places in rooms etc (forcing those who are serious to leave) for 1 or more semester. Quite a nice way to make money, quite a bad way for us students to get through our studies without major delay and extra fees.

Eranikum, it is the same here in austria, the universitys still takes much money form its students. I think they should really reduce the studying fees atleast by 50% if not even more. When you start to work, you didnt even earn that much to pay for this >_>

Here in the Philippines, a semester ranges from Php 20~40 thousand. (Php 45 = $1)

Its not that big of an amount, but they education system here so strict that the failure rate is fairly high. The problem is that we go through all that shit, then not all of us get jobs because there are too many college graduates here. If college is optional for other countries, your parents will disown you if you don't finish it.

I'm failing 2 subjects now and I think my dad will go ape-shit soon.

Hmm, that brings up a very good point. Half the reason of getting a college degree is because if nothing else it shows you CAN learn new things and stick through it. But if everyone went to college, it would water down the idea.

Huh, cool. I've now got something to think about.


But overall in the US I do really think it costs far too much. Paying $200 for A BOOK that you most likely will barely even use for ONE class, on top of the ~$700 for the one class is ridiculous IMO.
Chances are it's not even a class that will benefit your degree...

To be fair, you can often sell your books back. Of course, if you paid $200 for a book, the most you'll get by selling it is $50. And sometimes, they don't even buy back books, because they're going to use a different book the next semester.

To throw something new into this conversation - some colleges require you to live on campus for your first year. The reason I've seen stated most often is that it will force students to live as an actual college student, which is a huge load of bullshit. Really, it's so you'll have to pay for a dorm room (and often, food the campus offers, laundry services, that sort of thing, which can be quite a substantial sum).

You could live right down the road from the university, perhaps with your parents so you can save more money so you don't have to go $50,000 in debt before graduating, and they can keep you from going to their school, just because you won't live in campus. It seems that the only way to get around this is to not be a first-time college student. You could go to a community college, take a few classes, and then transfer to the university, and you won't have to live on campus. But the fact that one would have to go through such an ordeal, unable to simply start going to a university without living there, is horrible.