2 East South Street More Thoughts on College Costs Megan Scott’s article “Yes College is Worth It: Busting Myths about Higher Education” was full of interesting information and perspective about the the value of a liberal arts education. (I certainly value mine at Knox.) However, like most articles on this subject, when it comes to the issue of the skyrocketing cost of going to college, I think it misses the boat on three key points: 1. It is true that the “net price” for a year of college is often far less than the “full sticker price” due to financial aid. Still, the fact that the sticker price (at Knox) has increased more than 1,000 percent since the late 1970s (while the consumer price index has increased only about 300 percent) is dismaying to college shoppers. The sticker price is scary high. 2. The difference between the sticker price and what people actually pay is befuddling. When one is thinking, “What does it cost for a year at this college?” there is no coherent answer. It could be $55,000. It could be $5,000. Or it could be zero. This undermines confidence in the process. 3. Financial aid is what brings down the sticker price, but that can be grossly misleading because loans are called “aid” and excluded from the net price. But loans must be paid. They do not bring down the net cost. Obscuring this fact is manipulative (even if common practice these days). Imagine shopping for a car and having the sales rep refer to the down payment as the “net price.”
Thanks to Megan Scott and the Knox Magazine for addressing the difficult and uncomfortable issue of the cost of college today. —Mark Gallagher ’79
Send us your letters! Knox Magazine welcomes the opinions and comments of its readers. Write to the Editor, Knox Magazine, Box K-233, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 614014999, or email knoxmag@knox.edu. Letters should refer to material published in the magazine and may be edited for length or clarity.
Corrections Editor’s Note: Well, I think we got a bit too confident after the Fall 2017 issue of the magazine, in which no errors were noted. We surely made our fair share of errors in the Spring 2018 issue. We sincerely regret these mistakes (as noted below) and have doubled downed on our proofing efforts on this current issue.
section; Jim Buechl ’68’s daughter graduated from Emory University, not Knox College; Ted Jelen ’74’s name was misspelled; the wrong photo of Phil Singer ’76 and Paul Cimino ’76 was featured; and Meagan Kapes Busby ’14’s name was misspelled in the caption that accompanied her wedding photo. Knox Magazine regrets these errors. (Do we ever!)
In the “Go Figure” section, it was the Class of 1972, not 1973, who received the attendance award at Homecoming 2017. Professor Emeritus John Dooley’s new publication, Software Development, Design and Coding, was misidentified as his last book, Software Development and Professional Practice. In the Class Notes section, the following errors were made: Danny Littell ’61’s name was misspelled; the names of Rovelle Bois Bersted and Marcy Ashenhurst, both members of the Class of 1967, were misspelled in the Deaths
KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018
5