You may not know that the tuition fees of Ivy League universities in the United States have skyrocketed this year!
Approaching nearly $90,000 per year, the tuition fees for elite liberal arts colleges have also increased to over $80,000 per year.
That means that after four years of study, just the tuition fees alone will cost over $320,000, equivalent to more than 2 million Chinese yuan!
01Vine School Tuition Rises Every Year
All the seemingly endless spirals are aimed at gaining access to elite schools in an increasingly competitive environment.
For example, the total cost of tuition, room and board, and indirect personal expenses at Brown University for the 2023-24 academic year is nearly $88,000.
Cornell University announced that its total spending next year, including tuition, room and board, and personal expenses such as books and supplies, will reach $87,000, up 4.4 percent from last year but below the U.S. inflation rate, which hit a 40-year high in 2022.
Meanwhile, tuition plus room and board at Middlebury College, a Vermont liberal arts college, rose nearly 5 percent to $83,400.
By comparison, the median household income in the United States in 2021 is $71,000 a year.
Even a relatively modest increase would be enough to squeeze families facing more expensive food, rent and other costs. A more expensive education may also put pressure on students to concentrate on careers that offer higher paying potential, even if they are otherwise less satisfying. In other words, college ceramics and other majors may face the fate of being eliminated.
University Advisor Lainie Leber said: “If your parents can spend more than $80,000 a year, you better know what to do and get a degree that makes a difference. To be worthy of tuition ah.”
02The meat hurts!
Ivy League universities sent out their acceptance letters on March 30, and most other colleges sent them earlier.
Many of these schools have large endowments. Harvard University, for example, has a $53 billion endowment that enables it to pay full tuition for many low- and middle-income families. But many other universities are much more cash-strapped, and even middle-class families often face the high cost of educating their children.
It has become a hot topic on university discussion forums, with one parent asking other families in March for advice on paying for their child’s death in a post titled “Difficulty justifying costs.” University of Notre Dame admission advice. The parent wrote: “For us, a full $82,000 a year, plus a possible increase of 3-5%, adds up to a staggering $348 thousand in undergraduate tuition. The meat hurts!”
At the same time, it is increasingly difficult for children to get into an Ivy League university or a prestigious liberal arts college like Middlebury or Williams College in Massachusse. Last year, many Ivy League acceptance rates fell to historic lows.
Competition for elite colleges has intensified, partly because of the “test-optional” policy of not having to submit SAT or ACT scores during the pandemic, which has put in some applicants with poor SAT scores.
1. Columbia University Removes Standardized Test Requirement for Undergraduate Admissions
2.Harvard University says it will not require SAT or ACT scores by 2026
The number of applications to top schools is soaring – Harvard received 61,000 applications last year, 7 percent more than the previous year – but those schools are not expanding, leading to a sharp drop in acceptance rates.
To be sure, the financial pressure to attend college is prompting a rethink, with critics questioning whether an “elite” education is really worth all that money, and others pointing the finger at various university rankings that they say reinforce inequality.
But top universities have a different story to tell about their prices. Brown University says, “Regardless of a family’s financial situation, college is a major investment.”
