Nobody likes to pay tuition bills. But compared to what it actually costs to provide a year of education, UGA's price tag is a real bargain.
Nobody likes to pay tuition bills. But compared to what it actually costs to provide a year of education, UGA's price tag is a real bargain.
B Y - L A U R A - W E X L E R
ast year, the American Council on Education reported a rather startling finding: by and large, the public has no idea what higher education costs.
In a national telephone survey of 2,000 moms and dads, parents estimated that college tuition costs nearly three times more than it actually does.
So then it's Easy Street when the bill arrives, right? Not so fast. Though parents overestimated the cost of tuition, they were right that the total price for a year at a public university in the U.S. averages about $9,000 for an in-state student. The cost of room and board, books and supplies, and personal expenses are added to the average tuition (about $3,000) to arrive at that figure.
In the wake of the ACE report, Georgia Magazine decided to boldly go where few have gone: deep into the multitudinous pages of UGA's budget. We wanted to know the price of a year's education at UGA, and—something which is usually overlooked—what it actually costs to provide that year's education.
But before you proceed, consider this basic economics lesson: in public higher education, price and cost are not the same beast.
Price of a UGA education
For an in-state student, tuition and fees for the 1998-99 UGA school year cost $2,930. Compare this with 1997-98 tuition and fees for several other southern universities (only in-state rates are listed):
University of Virginia, $4,754; University of North Carolina, $2,173; Duke, $22,173; Emory University, $21,110; Georgia Tech, $2,901; and Georgia Southern, $2,256.
But don't be deceived. Tuition and fees comprise less than one-third of a student's yearly expenses. The UGA Bulletin advised students and parents to project expenses of approximately $9,700 for this past academic year (see chart). That included two semesters of tuition, room and board, books and supplies, and personal expenses.
Most UGA students receive the HOPE scholarship, which provides tuition, fees, plus a $150 book allowance per semester. But 60 percent of UGA students rely on finanical aid to offset the roughly $6,700 in annual expenses that HOPE does not cover, says director of student financial aid Ray Tripp. "Of all UGA students who borrowed," says Tripp, "the average debt at graduation is $10,300."
Cost of a UGA education
So, the price tag for a year's tuition at UGA is roughly $3,000. Does that mean $3,000 covers the cost of a year's education? Not a chance. It costs about $12,000 to provide that year of education.
"The students pay only about 25 percent of the cost of their education," says Ted Eley, administrative director of UGA's banking trust department. "The State provides 75 percent."
In other words, tuition and fees, plus state tax money, plus a small amount of money from other sources, comprise the resident instruction budget. This budget, in the strictest sense, provides a UGA education; it pays for instructors' salaries, classroom upkeep, and administrative support.
"This is why when you read that UGA is a bargain, it is," says Virginia Sorrow, manager of UGA's budget department. "Much of the money comes from sources other than the students."
Essentially, the approximately $9,000 the state kicks in for each UGA student's education means the difference between the cost of a private and a public university education, says Sorrow—at least for the student.
Thank you, tax dollars.
The Georgia legislature allocated more than $1 billion for higher education in 1997-98, making it the 10th-ranked supporter of higher education nationally. And last year, the state contributed $286,214,011 (75 percent) to UGA's resident instruction budget, while student tuition and fees provided $84,064,863 (22 percent). The remaining three percent came from grants and gifts and other sources.
Just remember this: it costs more than $300 million to provide a year of education to UGA's students. But the price runs only about $9,700 per student.
There's the bell. Your economics lesson has now ended.