“You dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you could’ve got for a dollar-fifty in late charges at the public library.”
That’s a quote from Matt Damon’s character in “Good Will Hunting,” one that always makes me cringe when I think about my own college career. Elon University’s tuition is now more than $40,000 per year, meaning my four-year degree will cost right around Matt Damon’s estimate.
It’s no secret college tuition is increasing and it’s nearly impossible to get a decent-paying job without a college degree, but knowledge shouldn’t be worth several hundred thousand dollars when information is so freely available these days.
The California State Assembly agrees. Last week, Assemblyman Scott Wilk carried a motion to found a new division of state education with the New University of California. The school would have no teachers and no classrooms, just tests. Students would manage their own education and online tests would monitor their progress.
It’s a controversial decision and its future is uncertain at best. But the principle is the same as that in “Good Will Hunting.” Why pay so much for something so easily available?
I don’t know how many Elon students are paying their own way through college, but I would assume it’s not many. Most of us are here at least in some part on our parents’ dimes. But many other college students around the country attend state universities restricted by their given states’ crippling debts.
Right now, 69 percent of Americans are in debt, on average about $70,000. For students at Elon paying full tuition, that’s somewhere around a year and a half of class, and that’s not even worth anything unless you finish all four years. For many, graduation simply marks the first steps out of a financial pit.
But it’s not just about the money. There’s more to it than that. What are we really paying for at a traditional college? The construction of a new religious center that I might walk through once? New dorms for students I’ll never meet? Granted, this is all part of the agreement we understood and signed up for when coming to college. But is it all necessary?
Most of my tuition goes toward a whole bunch of things I don’t care about, things that will probably never affect me. And that’s fine. I came here for atmosphere, friends, fun and memories. I think most people do. But it’s a system that focuses a great deal on things that have nothing to do with learning, which not everyone can afford.
The New University of California might work out or it might not, but that’s not really the point. Innovation requires mistakes and failures to move forward and maybe that’s what this will be — a mistake. But a brand of education not associated with drinking and sports might not be such a bad thing. Maybe these students will graduate with the same knowledge I will — with only $1.50 in late fees.