Well, it's begun. My eldest is looking at colleges. We visited our second campus today, and have several other visits loosely penciled in this summer. Her shortlist of semi-requirements is urban, northeast, liberal arts with a fine arts program. Mine is simpler: needs blind with a huge endowment.
Okay, that's a demijest. In truth, my one wish is something of a cliche - the right match for my kid, a place that challenges her academically, yes, but also challenges her longest-held ideas and settled rules (some of which, are mine and her mother's).
So far, it's been mostly a facilities tour, of course. It's what colleges sell. The physical plant, the quad, the collegiate vibe. And the facilities are amazing - virtual high-tech playgrounds of learning with upscale lounges, dorms and dining halls, all for a cool quarter mill per diploma. Did I mention the landscaping has improved since my days on campus in Reagan's first term? Wi-fi everywhere - you can practically feel the high-speed wireless pulsing through your skin. And then there's the preponderance of cafes and coffee shops, tucked into super-modern student centers. Bookstores bigger than the local Barnes & Noble - in fact, run by Barnes & Noble.
We're famously in the midst of a "college bubble" in this country, with more students seeking degrees than ever before. The demographic boom in college-aged kids, and our own societal expectations of a four-year-degree as the base-level credential to success, have flooded applicant pools. The competition is brutal, a withering attack on the academic self-esteem of even high-achieving 17-year-olds. Schools that had been a step above open enrollment are now highly competitive - while competitive schools are now close to impossible. Not surprisingly, this grueling process favors the wealthy; from pricey admissions coaches and individual test prep, to the notification that an applicants can pay the full ride in cash - and consider a major charitable gift besides.
Then there's the cost. The average tuition at a private four-year college is $25,143, with many topping $35,000. Toss in another $10-15,000 on average for room and board, plus books, travel and other fees - and the pricetag easily tops $50,000, or the take-home pay from a very good job. Yet, this isn't just inflation at work - it's ambition, land values and easy credit. There's been a massive building boom at colleges and universities, as well as a general fattening of payrolls. It's all about better campuses, better student "experiences" - and the competition with the quad down the block.
“A lot of it is definitely trying to keep up with the Joneses,” Daniel Bennett, a labor economist and the author of a report critical of collegiate spending, told The Times this spring. “Universities and colleges are catering more to students, trying to make college a lifestyle, not just people getting an education. There’s more social programs, more athletics, more trainers, more sustainable environmental programs.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education wondered this spring whether the college bubble would be the next to burst: "With tuitions, fees, and room and board at dozens of colleges now reaching $50,000 a year, the ability to sustain private higher education for all but the very well-heeled is questionable. According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, over the past 25 years, average college tuition and fees have risen by 440 percent — more than four times the rate of inflation and almost twice the rate of medical care."
The Chronicle right asked: would consumers begin to resist finding ways to pay a grand a week for their children's college "experience"? If it does, it's likely to hurt those institutions who leveraged their assets - and smaller endowments - to keep up with the Ivy Joneses. As Forbes put it last year as the credit crunch smashed into the U.S. economy: "The crunch will be particularly bitter for the institutions that drained coffers to build 'country club colleges' complete with luxury dormitories, spas and top of the line sports complexes to lure choice students, hoping that a sharper crowd would lead to more accretive diplomas, entering a profitable cycle of more successful alumni and increased donations."
We didn't see any spas in our two college tours, but we did see cheerful upperclassmen serving as tour guides. Their amateur tour notes were in stark - and welcome - contrast to the slick presentations by admissions officers, who ran through all the wonderful programs available - before hitting the kids between the emotional eyes with median SAT scores, average GPAs, and minuscule acceptance rates. I much preferred the tours, with their stories of the best dorms and dining halls.
There are many more visits ahead, some serious pencil sharpening, and some tough choices. This process wasn't nearly as soul-scraping a generation ago, but it's basically unavoidable these days. We'll need some fortitude and some luck, and I'm hoping the oft-repeated guidance counselors' cliche happens to be right: there's a right school for every kid.
