January 30, 2007
America's Most Expensive College
That somewhat dubious distinction goes to local George Washington University. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education and as reported in Forbes magazine, GW has the highest tuition of any college in America. Incoming undergrads can not only expect to learn in the heart of the nation's capital, but they (or, more likely, their parents) can expect to pay a very, very pretty penny to do so. The financial snap shot isn't pretty:
George Washington UniversityThe number two school on the list, the University of Richmond, is about a grand less then GW. Also, that's the flat tuition rate and does not include room and board. Which, according to the rates on the web site, can add an additional $8,000-$11,000 to the bill. Now, we're sure GW is a great school, but that's pushing $50,000 a year so your kid can get drunk, pass out and skip class the next day. And, as those of us still paying off our student loans can attest to, you can all that for much cheaper. What do you think? Is GW worth the money?
Washington, D.C.
2006-07 Tuition: $37,820
One-year increase: 4%
Seven-year increase: 58%
Photo by dcJohn.
|
Worth it? By what measure? It's hard to imagine that funding GW's expansionist real estate empire returns the best value to the student.
Um, no, it's not really worth it. GW is a good school, not a great one.
Princeton rules!
my tuition was $1600 a semester, gotta love NC public schools!
thank jesus for tuition benefits, because I really had no other good reason to go GW for undergrad (and grad school). as for the experience itself, yeah, i enjoyed my GW experience, but that price tag is not worth it whatsoever. GW really ought to be using all the revenue that it's getting from the exorbitant tuition on improving the school's academics and research facilities instead of erecting phalluses in the student union.
As a recent GWU graduate (2005), it was borderline worth it then... but by these tuition rates, you'd be better off buying a $50,000 sports car and racings for pinks in rural Virgina.
At least you'd make some money out of the deal...
Is it worth it? Well as a graduating senior I hope to God it is. I think it is important to note that while being insanely expensive, almost all of my friends receive a substantial amount of financial aid which helps offset the huge costs. However, GW does seem to do its best to limit such opportunities. I don't feel bad for many of my fellow classmates who have to pay the full price because they tend to be the same people who have brand new BMWs.
Room and board is steep at GW as well. Incoming students pay a total of $54,000/year in 2006-07. Outgoing President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg devised a plan that would make tuition/room/board quite high for the first year of a student's college career, but would guarantee no increases to that student's bill for all four years. He claims this plan makes it more likely that students will be funded through financial aid and other sources.
THAT IS SO FUCKING EXPENSIVE.
There are many, many similarly-priced private schools, especially in the aspiring-but-still-not-great category. Places like Princeton and Harvard can keep from making headlines like these by subsidizing tuition with their stunningly-large endowments. Places like G-dub tend to have small endowments, which takes from flexibility. One notable way urban up-and-coming schools have been diversifying their revenue streams has been buying up real estate.
Really, GW assumes that you want to study in a city, didn't get into Columbia, NYU or G-Town, and have parents who can pay. For that demographic, 5k one way or the other doesn't matter much, when you compare GWU to University of Miami and whatever other schools are similar.
Thanks, Sweet.
G-dub has a small endowment, eh?
Well your mom really knows how to sit AROUND the house, if you know what I mean...
Ha ha! Small endowments.
Small, inflexible endowments. Ha ha! Tiny stiff penises.
"Places like Princeton and Harvard can keep from making headlines like these by subsidizing tuition with their stunningly-large endowments. Places like G-dub tend to have small endowments, which takes from flexibility."
Good points. But these aspiring-but-still-not-great institutions do get their subsidies from somewhere. For example, from those for who money isn't a prime factor, and from various public and private scholarship sources, which public and private funds might otherwise be more productively applied at less expensive institutions. Hmmm.
What the original article mentioned but the DCist information does not include is that the tuition is locked in for four years, so while other expensive schools like Richmond increase each year, what you see is what you get with GW. I'm not saying it justifies the high cost, just that at least there are no unfortunate surprises with each additional year.
It's definitely more expensive than when I want (2005 grad) but I thought my education was well worth it - if not based on the classes, then at least based on the location and the surrounding opportunities. Because classes are structured to run Monday-Thursday, the school really encourages students to hold internships on Fridays in the area. I spent a year working on the Hill and received credit towards my political science degree, and a year doing research at NIH towards my biology degree.
I think that encouraging students to hold internships outside of campus is a great feature, and not something which is pushed as strongly at other local schools. I'm a Ph.D. student now at Georgetown, and the undergrads in my lab would never be able to pull off holding a research internship at NIH, because they are stuck with classes 5 days/week, whereas I was easily able to fit all my classes into Tuesdays/Thursdays only.
Long story short -- perhaps the particular classes aren't worth quite such a high price, but the overall educational experience very well might be.
i don't know many people who are paying the full amount. there's plenty of financial aid to go around.
that's one expensive midnight breakfast.
do the girls at GW even know what to do with large endowments?
The law school costs just as much per year as undergrad. Hilarious.
that's one expensive midnight breakfast.
would the students know how to handle large endowments if they were handed to them?
8=====0
Wikipedia says GW has the 56th biggest endowment at just over $1 billion
For those lucky enough to attend GW with financial aid (as I did), the university was a bargain for the education it provided. Sure its academics aren't those of Harvard or Yale, sure we don't have football and compete in the A-10 for BBall, but the exposure provided by the university to the city to the federal gov and to the political process was invaluable and possibly unmatched. (and I’d argue that point with anyone, even those suckers up on the hill at Gtown).
If you're interested in pol sci or international affairs GW in some ways is worth the Benjamin’s, but I still have no idea why people pay to go their and study Art of English, except for the fact that their parents are rich.
As a graduate, I don't feel that the price was in any way indicative of the education I received. Most of my professors were adjuncts or on limited contracts.
Alex is right, GW would do better to spend their money on full-time professors and academics than building nonsense that only makes the surrounding community more hostile to the university.
Most full-paying students that go to this school can more than afford it. You should see the cars that are sometimes parked outside the library!
The "we're in the city so we can get internships" argument strikes me as odd given that there are a number of schools in the area, many even on Metro lines!
Coming to DC for college is a good idea, given all the opportunities, but for over $50k a year, I would want a football team.
i say the sest bet to GW is to transfer there as a junior from a community college, then make sure that your financial situation sucks so that they'll give you a good scholarship. the thing about the intolerant pricks in GW's admin is that they're so ignorant to the world of those of us whose parents don't make 100k a year that they think anyone who's lower middle class is a charity case. they actually give me 10 grand more to go here than my mom makes in a year.
but housing is rediculous. i have a hole in the wall with a shared bath that "i" pay approx 1,400 a month for.
i have to admit though, if i had actually known before i came here about GW's real bottom line (real estate) and their bullyish approach to the community, i would probably have gone elsewhere.
I am about to graduate, and I think it would have been wiser to attend AU than GW. I've loved my experience here, but that's mostly a result of my loving the cultural and journalism offerings of the city itself.
The worst thing about GW is they don't seem concerned about the price increases at all. My sophomore year I asked if there was any way I could get more financial aid since my parents wanted me to transfer to a state school to save money. The financial aid officer said flatly no... our session lasted all of about 10 seconds. They tell students not be upset because tuition is locked in, but telling people dont worry about getting fucked in the ass because we promise not to fuck you any harder over the next four years isn't a vaible solution to a serious problem.
Then again, I'm glad GW is number one at something.
A personal anecdote, as someone who applied to Georgetown and GW and got into both:
Georgetown offered me $30K a year, need-based scholarship. GW offered me $17K a year, merit-based, no aid provided otherwise. Georgetown has cheaper tuition and is better-ranked than GW. (And has numerous other merits that I won't get into here.) You do the math.
But, yeah, seriously? GW is not worth $54K a year. I don't think Harvard's even worth that.
Is GW worth it?
Ahem.
HA ha ha ha ha HA HA!
I just can't wait until May, so I can stop going here and paying here. We don't even have a real cafeteria, we just have fast food places that overcharge (everything on the Wendy's 99 cent value menu is at least $1.29) and lots of kids who aren't paying for their tuition and really take it for granted (oh, wait, for them, it is!).
"that's one expensive midnight breakfast.
do the girls at GW even know what to do with large endowments?"
Clearly you've not hung out much at McFadden's.
GW is a place where wealthy parents can buy their mediocre children a "respectable" degree.
Went to GW, got a fine education, etc., but there is no goddamn way that place is worth that much.
As a 2003 Alum I have very mixed feelings about GWU. It certainly has it's faults, and academics could be stronger and professors better paid (as in, full-time). On the other hand, they do have a model of heavily subsidizing smart kids from the middle of nowhere with the money they get from less bright rich kids who have enough money that they don't care.
It is hard for me to judge based on the full tuition rate, since I didn't get anywhere close to paying for it. For exmaple, I have a $10, 000 scholarship. When I was working thirty hours a week while going to school just to make ends meet, my grades slipped and I went below the qualifier. And the next semester the financial aid department, with only minimal arm twisting, gave me a $20,000 a year alumni grant on top of the loans, etc., that I had every semester. I might have been scrimping while there, but I would have scrimped anywhere. However, I can out with only the bog standard Federally subsidized loans as student debt on the other side.
I can rail at GWU for academics, because I think some of the departments are widely off cue, but it is hard to complain about the cost since only those who know what they are getting into need to pay anywhere near the full price.
And to counter the argument that the price pays for the real estate, hate to burst your bubble, but it works the other way around. The real estate actually has helped pay for everything else, and it was an ingenious stroke to do so.
I love GW and it was worth every fucking penny.
My partner is a tenure track professor at GWU. I decided to go back to school to finish my degree, but even with the tuition assistance they offer family members it was still a better deal for me to pay out of state tuition at Maryland.
Waaaaaaay too expensive.
While I graduated GW with almost a year's worth of tuition in student loans; some relatives still think I went to Georgetown; and I started complaining about the school during my first day of CI, I still would not trade my college experience for anywhere else.
Sure, academics could have been stronger. I didn't have many amazing professors but those five or so who were challenged me in my studies. Sure, SJT was an egomaniac, but he did have some great stories.
And having only a Tuesday-Thursday class schedule got me my first job. Having a great job right out of school was the best graduation gift.
"If you're interested in pol sci or international affairs GW in some ways is worth the Benjamin’s, but I still have no idea why people pay to go their and study Art of English, except for the fact that their parents are rich."
Ah-hem (clearing throat)...I had a phenomenal experience studying art at GW. It's not JUST a place for those interested in poli-sci, international affairs, and what-not. I had classes that took full advantage of the city's many art museums that are FREE, and was in an art major program that was small, close-knit, had professors that actually remember you several years later, and gave everyone a place to be heard. I've since had much success from what I learned earning my degree there. Take a moment and realize that there's more to DC than just politics and GW gave me the opportunity to think smarter about taking advantage of my surroundings. It's a place where it's easy to be a big fish in a small pond (or at least think like one), and if anything that's what you pay for.
Like that Katie character, I was not a poli-sci, or international affairs (or even business!) major. I was into the psychological scene. And because of my experiences at GWU, not necessarily that which I learned in the classroom, but in doing research with people who I was put in contact with by some of my undergrad psych professors at the GW Medical School, I was accepted into the number one Counseling Psychology Program doctoral program in the country (and now I pay NOTHING, having full funding). And while I lacked what many call "the campus experience", GW has a campus of it's own. You're not just paying for the education you get in the classroom, but you're playing for the education you get about life! I would not have been as successful as I feel I have been without GW. I will raise high the buff and blue for the rest of the day.
Is GW worth the money?
Judging by the spelling and grammar of students and alumni, I'd say no:
...but housing is rediculous.
...GW in some ways is worth the Benjamin’s, but I still have no idea why people pay to go their and study Art of English
Heh.
The tuition sucks. I'll be approximately $987397254986 in debt when I graduate this year, but at least I'll be guaranteed a decent job from my experience and connections here.
The problem is that despite the huge amouns of money they're raking in, they are still INCOMPETENT BOOBS who cannot execute the simplest of tasks without huge amounts of drama. They seriously seriously suck at life, I have no idea where the money goes.
First, I think this post--and the rankings--need to be amended to point out that GW's price is a flat tuition rate. That said, I still think it's too expensive. It's not an issue of whether GW itself is worth the money; college in general has become far too expensive in this country.
I went to GW on a merit scholarship; I couldn't afford it but couldn't get financial aid (which is now true of a whole lot of middle class people). GW at least gives academic scholarships; at Georgetown, they only give sports scholarships.
For what I paid (about 1/2 to 2/3 price), GW was more than worth it. Depends what you're studying, but some of the programs there are fantastic. It's one of those schools that's as good as the effort you put into getting things out of it.
Not worth it. Grad school not challenging enough. An MA in intl affairs from GW, even with a high GPA, means nothing; in 3 years of job-searching (and 7 years after graduation), I haven't been hired in my field. Poli sci dept full of adjuncts and egocentric and uncaring profs who will not help PhD students one iota. Thank God I left.
Any school in the "top 100" will provide ample challenges for motivated undergraduates, even other students skate through with good grades. Great teaching (if not research) professors are now sprinkled across the country, and an undergrad can seek them out in whatever department, thus avoiding the more unpleasant profs. GW is no different.
But I hear that GW intl affairs grad students don't get jobs.
JHU and others leapfrogged GW on the IA thing. GW is good for medicine, IP and some other law, and forensics. Art majors taking advantage of all the free museums. G'me a break. NoVA students do that.
Excuse me? "If you're interested in pol sci or international affairs GW in some ways is worth the Benjamin’s, but I still have no idea why people pay to go their and study Art of English, except for the fact that their parents are rich. "
I want to stand up for the English Department at GW, it was my major after all. With the exception of a few weird professors (two a bit too old an one a bit too young--all three a bit egomaniacal) it was a great department, and one that wasn't as pumped up on it's own importance as poli-sci or the media school.
It most certainly was not a major of rich kids, or I wouldn't have been there.
But most people do go for poli-sci, the media school, or IA. But a lot of people find out they aren't as interested as they thought, and they move back to some of the traditional liberal arts while maintaining the connection to the city that they made will pursuing other ends.
Worth it may be a question you can answer right away, but I am still exploring paths that GW put me on, and I couldn't rightly say.
Fuck that shit. Go to a public school instead.
I graduated GW almost six years ago, and am still about 50k in debt, as my parents made too much money for me to get much in aid, but nowhere near enough to cover my tuition (which at the time was about 40k including housing). I regret not going to a state school, but only because I was so poor that I needed to take "real" jobs in my free time to earn living expenses, and I couldn't afford to take advantage of the internship opportunities that other, richer poli-sci majors were doing. So the whole "studying politics in DC" thing was entirely wasted on me. I think it is worth it, but only if you can afford it. (Oh, and I am so bitter that my loan money went to all sorts of luxuries that popped up AFTER I graduated, thanks so much, Trachtenberg. Pfff...)
I thought this ...ahem... short segment about the size of GW's ...ahem... endowment should be mentioned. It's from the 2/1/7 WP:
---
GWU
School's Endowment Exceeds $1 Billion
George Washington University's endowment has passed $1 billion, the school said yesterday. As recently as 2003, the endowment was managed by a Board of Trustees committee. Then the school's first chief investment officer, Donald W. Lindsey, took over, and the fund has averaged nearly 18 percent net annual returns since.
-- Susan Kinzie
I thought this ...ahem... short segment about the size of GW's ...ahem... endowment should be mentioned. It's from the 2/1/7 WP:
---
GWU
School's Endowment Exceeds $1 Billion
George Washington University's endowment has passed $1 billion, the school said yesterday. As recently as 2003, the endowment was managed by a Board of Trustees committee. Then the school's first chief investment officer, Donald W. Lindsey, took over, and the fund has averaged nearly 18 percent net annual returns since.
-- Susan Kinzie
". . . people pay to go their and study Art of English . . ." -MBK
MBK, you should have taken at least one English class. You're not helping GW's image with your 2nd grade grammatical oversight! See example below for proper use of "their" and "there" if necessary.
I studied International Affairs "there" and it was worth it. There are less expensive alternatives available, so why get upset? People can spend "their" tuition dolllars where they please. Sure the money could be better allocated, but so could the federal budget. Nothing is perfect.
'03 ESIA grad
I suppose it's so expensive because the market is willing to pay those costs. But hey, I'm no economist.
I am surprised the school is able to get away with it. As a prof, I'm lost as to what GW's claim to fame might be. They aren't a particularly prolific or notable research institution, and they don't have any exceptional practices regarding student education. So... feh research, feh pedagogy; what's left to justify people willing to pay these high rates?
It sure seems likes like a case of an institution and cohort trying to pass off wealth-based selectivity as merit. Maybe the reputation and prestige is worth the extra money, but that doesn't mean there's any real substantive case to back the image up.