Progressives, please don't circulate junk journalism. You know the article I'm talking about, the one everyone is tweeting/Facebooking with shock and dismay that says "CA higher ed now costs more than the Ivy League."
IT DOES NOT.
I'm an advocate for lowering tuition costs in all the UCs/CSUs/CCs, but this article (http://www.news10.net/news/article/182335/2/Ivy-League-now-more-affordable-than-Cal-State) is simply deceptive. It presupposed that the Harvard student who "only" pays $17,000 in tuition gets financial aid while the CSU student who gets "typical" aid must pay $24,000.
First of all, what is the size of Harvard's endowment versus an equivalent source of wealth for the CA higher ed system? There really isn't a comparison. It's apples and oranges.
Second, does every Harvard student get financial aid? I somehow think Natalie Portman was able to pay full freight.
Third, are we counting tuition plus room & board? Because I don't see how they arrived at $24,000 otherwise at a CSU, which is about $5,500 for tuition alone. http://www.calstate.edu/sas/costofattendance/
Whereas tuition plus room & board at Harvard is $52,650. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/2/24/financial-aid-college-increase/
Please don't circulate junk journalism. CA higher ed absolutely should be kept within reach of the average middle class family, but not at the expense of distorted comparisons. There's no need to exaggerate the fact that when you add in room and board for a student who attends a CSU full-time, $24,000 is still a hefty sum for the average American family.
Ivy League now more affordable than Cal State | news10.net
www.news10.net
SACRAMENTO – As thousands of students march toward the Capitol on Monday to protest the continuous rising cost of higher education in California, a report in the Bay Area News corroborates their claims that tuition costs have gotten out of hand.
