“Tuition set-asides” in the open!

Last updated on: January 10, 2014 at 12:38 pm by Jane the Actuary

“Tuition set-asides” in the open! 2014-01-10T12:38:00-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here’s a link which is probably not going to get anyone (except WSJ subscribers) anywhere: “More Students Subsidize Classmates’ Tuition.” But if you copy the lines quoted below into your browser, you should be able to get to the non-paywalled version.

Well-off students at private schools have long subsidized poorer classmates. But as states grapple with the rising cost of higher education, middle-income students at public colleges in a dozen states now pay a growing share of their tuition to aid those lower on the economic ladder.

The student subsidies, which are distributed based on need, don’t show up on most tuition bills. But in eight years they have climbed 174% in real dollars at a dozen flagship state universities surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

During the 2012-13 academic year, students at these schools transferred $512,401,435 to less well-off classmates, up from $186,960,962, in inflation-adjusted figures, in the 2005-06 school year.

At private schools without large endowments, more than half of the tuition may be set aside for financial-aid scholarships. At public schools, set-asides range between 5% and 40% according to the Journal’s survey.

The article continues to provide specifics of the situation at various universities, as well as to quote parents and administrators opinion on the subject. This is something that’s always been very hidden — but encouragingly, some universities are now being open about it, due to political pressure, and in at least one instance cited by the WSJ, the University of Iowa, have ended the practice.

The money used in this manner goes under various names, the most prevalent being “tuition set-asides.” So I googled “University of Illinois” “tuition set-asides” and came across a link to a survey on the topic (which I can’t link to because it automatically opens up the document) with a few answers: in Florida, for instance, 30% of all tuition increases (since when?) are set aside as financial aid, and in Texas, 20% of tuition greater than $46/credit hour is set aside — but I came up empty on the University of Illinois. I tried their website, too, but couldn’t find anything about tuition policies or financials in general, really.

So this just leaves me even more irritated than when I initially wrote on the topic a while back, but more determined that, when my oldest (entering high school in the fall) starts looking at colleges, I’ll be a bit helicopter-parent (but it’s my money!) and make the necessary calls to at least try my best to force the schools under consideration to disclose how much of the tuition we pay is mandatory scholarships. Hey — at least it should be tax-deductible. . .

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 9, 2014

Crowdsourcing "101 Fast and Easy Recipes"

Next Post

January 10, 2014 Buzzfeed on Detroit

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is the coauthor of some of Paul's epistles and delivered them to churches?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Andrew Silas Timothy Barnabas