I call BS on this article.
Top private schools, with their generous aid, have been among the most affordable options for poor students for a few years, but rising tuition has only recently sent California State University and University of California prices shooting past the Harvards and Yales for middle-class students.
Poor students. Hmm. Later they talk about middle class. Ie a family making 130K a year. If that family has any equity in their home, the school will expect them to cough some of it up.
$24,000 for a Cal State freshman's tuition, on-campus room and board, supplies and other expenses. At Harvard? Just $17,000, even though its stated annual tuition is $36,305.
The same family would pay about $33,000 for a freshman year at UC Santa Cruz.
I am highly skeptical of this article because it mixes apples and oranges. Harvard tuition is 36K a year and then on top of that is living expenses. SO the real cost is 50K a year or more.
As someone who turned down an Ivy and Caltech to go to a state school, I did the math back then with tuition 1/3 the cost today and even with some hefty support, I still could not swing it. I do not see how a kid could to it today, either, without going into serious debt.
The real scandal is why the UC system charges so much. IIRC the number of admin positions is greater than the faculty positions and many of the faculty do not teach. Limit admins to 15% of the faculty and require every faculty member to teach three courses a semester. Require every course to have at least 10 students. That would cut the tuition by 60-70%.
