This thread is the opposite of the standard BBB Fun and Profit Series.

I discovered a ~$500 tuition surcharge on my graduate school bill. I didn't really look that closely at it before, because I knew the general cost of tuition, and have already quit my life, moved, and shifted everything around going to graduate school so I am pretty much locked in at this point. Also the actual bill is never shown directly to me, because my student loans pay it first, and then I get whatever borrowed money is left over. When I do look at the actual bill there's 15 line items for student activity fees and gym fees and such so I never paid too much attention to it.

I just found out that I am paying about $500 per semester for a special tuition surcharge that started last year, to pay for Needs-Based Scholarships. It's a state school, and I guess the state is broke and is now relying on "rich" students with good credit who can borrow more to help subsidize the "poor" students with bad credit. Also interesting to note that the university gets about 50 to 100 basis points of every dollar I borrow in student loans as a processing fee.

I'm thrilled that I am allowed to go $100k in debt at 8% interest for my graduate degree, and then have to borrow another $2k over 2 years to fund an "underprivileged" student going to the same university.

Fortunately for the school, the cost for me to drop out at this point is way more than $2k so I get to suck it up and hope they don't raise the tuition surcharge fee for next year.

I guess I shouldn't complain. This is no different than someone working 2 jobs to pay taxes and fund their neighbor's unemployment or disability check.

Pay your tuition bills deadbeat!

tripleB said:
I just found out that I am paying about $500 per semester for a special tuition surcharge that started last year, to pay for Needs-Based Scholarships. It's a state school, and I guess the state is broke and is now relying on "rich" students with good credit who can borrow more to help subsidize the "poor" students with bad credit. Also interesting to note that the university gets about 50 to 100 basis points of every dollar I borrow in student loans as a processing fee.

I'm thrilled that I am allowed to go $100k in debt at 8% interest for my graduate degree, and then have to borrow another $2k over 2 years to fund an "underprivileged" student going to the same university..

How is this any different than the blind-beating I'm taking here in TX in regard to school property tax? Since I'm in a rich district, the state has decided (in it's wisdom) that my money should go to poor districts. It's simple redistribution of wealth.

100k debt, public school, 8% interest? Sounds like your middle class (or above) parents still claim you on their taxes - and as such you have no "need" for tuition assistance and are not able to get "need based" scholarships.

Seriously though - 100k is a crapload of public school debt unless you're in medschool. 8% interest sounds crappy too.. Isn't there a way to roll that to a federal loan at 3-4% and pay it back based on current salary?

Just tell me that you're not getting a liberal arts degree...

tripleB said:When I do look at the actual bill there's 15 line items for student activity fees and gym fees and such so I never paid too much attention to it.

I could make some sort of snarky comment about how this lack of attention to accounting detail is yet another sign you aren't a good match for an MBA program, but the back-door college fee increases are a pet peeve of mine.

The recession's pressures on state and local governments have yet to peak. So I fear you probably are looking at higher fees for next year. Surprised they haven't been announced already.

maybe one of those subsidized kids will be smarter and better looking than you --- but still stupid enough to be your future GF

then she can help you pay off your career in public service "minimized" student loans

Crazytree said:fascinating.

are you going to address this on your blog?I think he just did.

That's nothing - here in CA, there is a UC policy that requires a full third (33%) of tuition increases go to financial aid offsets. So don't complain about 2% ($2k/$100k)!

My cousin goes to Arizona State University and has the same charge for her each semester. The situation is that when a college increases tuition, it has a lot of hoops to jump in order to get it approved, plus it always receives bad press. However, a "fee" is something that can easily be approved and its an easy way for the school to get paid extra in the backend.

Sorry buddy, but a lot of universities are pimping their students for extra cash. What is worst is that they probably receive gifts from the lenders for them being a "preferred lender" when you do your financial aid.

DTASFAB said:RedCelicaGT said:I'm prepared for the red...Financial aid is far too available to far too many students. What happened to paying for school as you take your classes? I work 40-50 hours a week and go to school. I get better grades than the majority of younger students with no job who live with their parents. A large portion of students live off student loans, and waste their days away playing video games or surfing the net. They feel picked on if they have to work 10 hours a week at their do-nothing work study job. The current generation of college students is pathetic.I think your points are valid for the most part, but you also have to consider the rate at which tuition at most decent colleges has been rising. There are a lot of students who wouldn't be able to afford the outrageous increases in tuition if not for subsidies. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you. I'm just pointing out an additional fact.
There is a very valid argument that a large portion of the tuition increases over the past decade (ignoring recent tuition increases due to budget shortfalls) has been due to readily available student loans.

Since TripleB has been responsible for so many threadjackings, I pray he forgives the following:

Similar issues of quality and scale that effect health care in America also apply to Academia. The market forces have simply been so skewed by subsidy and oversupply, that the businesses have every incentive to churn as many corpses as the rooms can hold. By picking your pocket to pay for Paul's seat, they get two customers for the price of one.

It's a good thing they're teaching their business sense. A shame that the people doing so will never enter the classroom.
But if you're feeling bad, you can always look on the supply side.