The Price of Education May 2013 | Page 26

1.How has the price of a college education changed from the time you attended to present day?

I was in college over thirty years ago, and a semester hour was around $30-35 an hour. Now, it is well over $300 an hour. In addition to semester hour charges, the fees, housing costs and meals have all significantly increased.

2.What advice would you give someone struggling with coming up with funds to attend college?

If I were asked and could say it soon enough, I’d say start early. Save your money. Don’t bank on there being some gift, scholarship, award or that your parents will pay for it. Finance has changed, to the extent where you can gather some of your own funds: odd jobs, birthday. Save it and set it aside. Save something for college. It comes in handy. So that would be the first thing: start early.

Second, look for scholarships, look for other opportunities that are not obvious. A $500 scholarship here, a $1,000 scholarship there, a $250 award for writing a good paper. . . You get 15 or 20 of those, and all of a sudden, it’s real money. It doesn’t take a huge “home-run” scholarship. Look for the small opportunities and prizes.

Also, there are opportunities to interview with companies for possible internships. A lot of companies will afford someone the opportunity to work for them over the summer, make some money, and then pay part of their college tuition.

So, there are a number of different ways, just don’t think that mom and dad need to pay for everything.

3.How were you able to pay for college? Is this still possible now? Why or why not?

I was very traditional. I had an athletic scholarship at the University of Texas, but it was not in one of the major sports like football or basketball. It was track and field, and in those sports, there will be thirty freshman coming in and you’ll have to share twelve scholarships. So, one person may get books and fees and another might get part of their room paid. The dollars have to be spread out between a lot of people. I was on a scholarship, but it wasn’t a full scholarship. I had to pay for some of it myself, with money I had saved and my parents paid for some of it. Later, I started working part-time.

4.Do you believe that the price of attending college today is justified? Why or why not?

As with anything else, prices increase over time. Gas used to be less than thirty cents a gallon, now it’s almost four dollars a gallon. That’s just inflation, that’s just time. Things have increased in costs. I think a lot of college education is proportional with that inflation area increase. But, is it justified? It’s hard to tell. College education is invaluable. What would you pay for a college education? Almost anything.