Comments on: How Much Does College Cost, Per Hour?

By: Lori Duprey

Lori Duprey — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:08:39 +0000

This is really interesting. I did this one time in the past, and it was about $50/hour. According to your worksheet, it is $38.47 for me. I did not include any time doing homework outside of class though, because that is not what I am paying for. Most homework assignments are things I am teaching myself, or reading books I could read if I weren’t paying the school. Group projects… well maybe they should be counted because that interaction I could not get on my own.

As for your film school expenses, I feel your pain. I was a photography major and it wasn’t books I was paying for, but film, developing, printing, mounting, ink, backgrounds, props, etc. I tried to be as financially conscious as I could be (as I needed to be) and found it often hurt my images and/or creativity. I still make do with what I have, but I sometimes find myself wondering what would be different about my style if money weren’t an obstacle.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:54:14 +0000

@Northern Cyprus:

It’s true that the other costs of college add up. I can be the first to tell you that - it wasn’t tuition or even housing and fees that got me, it was paying for textbooks and funding my required film school projects that sent me over the edge and caused me to drop out of school (for a time).

But as others in the comments have pointed out, this calculation doesn’t really mean anything - it’s a quick number that’s mostly just fun to play with. Also, if you wanted to include things like housing, books, fees, transportation, you easily could, by adding it all up and putting it into the spreadsheet in the “tuition” box.

By: Northern Cyprus

Northern Cyprus — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:51:41 +0000

College is really expensive. You should also think about other expenses other than tuition fees.

By: Somebody

Somebody — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:20:04 +0000

According to your spreadsheet, I’m paying $4.27 each hour for college.

However, with my financial aid factored in, I’m being PAID $14.95 an hour.

Ah, scholarships…

By: Давид

Давид — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:22:51 +0000

I am very happy to have gone to very good, yet inexpensive school, University of Maryland ($3,984.25 tuition per semester for in-state).

By: Phillip

Phillip — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:44:18 +0000

I don’t really see the point in such a calculation. And it isn’t that I don’t care about the cost of college. As was somewhat discussed in the comments, I would be more interested in looking at the net effects of attending college (as compared to not), particularly financial, but you could also broaden that to include many other categories.

In terms of a non-financial evaluation, it would be highly dependent on what something is worth to a person. Also, you would have to consider many different reasons. In particular, I am going to college because I love to learn, want to have higher learning such that I can get a job in a particular field (or eventually be a professor), enjoy the college social life - which is different than that of someone who starts working right away, want to be away from my parents (if I started working right away, getting my own place would seriously detract from any earnings - although it still would be a possibility), and want to be exposed to ideas and people that I probably would not meet elsewhere.

Now what would be interesting is if I tried to put a dollar amount on each of those things - and with the way tuition prices are going, I think more and more students will have to decide that (or at least decide to attend community college or a public university as opposed to private). I think it is in a way, similar to how Americans feel about gas. Prices went up, but consumption was unaffected. Particularly, big name private universities can charge whatever they want, and at this point, the majority of Americans feel it is worth it.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:36:51 +0000

I definitely think it’s a trick to tell yourself (an interesting one, but a trick), that you are paying less in tuition per hour if you work more hours. Maybe think about it this way: if you work less but more quality hours, then you would have spare time to do the priceless things in life that can’t be calculated…like bong beers with friends, or tip cows (if you’re in a location conducive with such activities). and who knows…you could even get a job (which isnt priceless but could fill in the extra hours) to make money that would defray the cost of schooling. i like this blog!!

By: plonkee

plonkee — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:12:56 +0000

I remember all my lecturers saying that you needed to spend twice as much time on out of class work as that spend at the lectures themselves. I think I only averaged that amount in my last year if you include revision for finals and the fact that I was doing a large project.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:14:05 +0000

Jeff,

The number you’re after would be extremely difficult to pinpoint. After all, you’d have to know exactly what job you’d be working if you weren’t in college, and at what pay. You’d then also have to figure in the increase in pay you might get from jobs after college, for having the degree.

You could certainly put together a spreadsheet with estimates, though.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:59:28 +0000

This figure is drastically distorted.

The real cost of college is not just the tuition, but what you are missing out on by being in college.

Let’s say you took a job at a dept store making 7.50 per hour instead of going to college. You’re also missing out on 300 dollars per week (minus taxes) by being full-time in school. Not to mention, the potential raises (you may be an assistant manager making 40k per year or so by the time you have worked there for 4 years.