Kids in a lot of colleges today are living a life of luxury compared to what I had in the 80s. Any dorm built or renevated in the last 10-15 or so years will have semi-private bathrooms. The dining options today are way better than what we had. I trudged down to the dorm cafeteria and ate whatever slop they were serving, high school cafeteria style. My son (at a small public university) has what amounts to a mall food court at school, and he can choose from burgers, pizza, wraps, vegetarian, Italian, Mexican, etc. every day. The libraries are more functional, the sports facilities are all updated, etc.
All that costs money.
As someone who did college only several years ago, I have to chime in on this.
> Any dorm built or renevated in the last 10-15 or so years will have semi-private bathrooms.
This is true for new construction, but generally speaking older dorm buildings are kept in use and have the exact same experience as ever. Generally the new construction or alternatively designed dorms are more expensive to rent.
> The dining options today are way better than what we had. I trudged down to the dorm cafeteria and ate whatever slop they were serving, high school cafeteria style. My son (at a small public university) has what amounts to a mall food court at school, and he can choose from burgers, pizza, wraps, vegetarian, Italian, Mexican, etc. every day.
Food court style offerings are common, but like a food court you have to pay for anything offered. Typically corporate food chains try to get their place in the court and will wine and dine school administration for the chance to have a captive audience. The cafeteria style food options are still available and are cheaper (yes this food is really awful slop). Worse is that some universities require purchasing some amount of food ahead of time, whether it be a prepaid card usable anywhere or some kind of meal plan for the cafeteria style dining, milking money out of folks who prefer to live off campus and/or make their own food (esp. if they have special dietary requirements).
> The libraries are more functional, the sports facilities are all updated, etc.
This is generally true. Equipment is usually fairly modern and there is staff available most of the time.
One out of many cafeterias on my college campus was reported to have cleared 100k in profit for the year. Food is definitely not the problem, and I wouldn't be surprised if college dorms were profitable as well (more expensive than living off campus).
True. However, they are factored in to the "cost" of college. The financial aid calculations include lodging, food, transportation, books, etc. It was surprising to see that the govt. thinks I'm contributing $23K of the $26K my son needs for school this year. He lives at home, so his room and to some extent his board are not variable costs for me so I don't think of them as college expenses.
I've noticed the luxuriousness of modern higher ed, and I imagine the culture shock after graduation for virtually all grads must be interesting.
My favorite waitress used to eat at a facility like that, after graduation now she's stuck working at a similar facility. A bit too personal to ask, but I imagine its kinda a shock to the system for about 99% of the students.
I imagine the culture shock after graduation for virtually all grads must be interesting.
Unless they think that they cannot possibly go through a reduction in their standard of living and borrow to keep up with what is, in their mind, "normal."
College used to be rare and ascetic. Now it's required and expensive. I don't think either of those are a good trend.
