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Comment by blairbeckwith | Hacker News Reader

Am I the only one who doesn't think this is that bad? Living on campus is a privilege, not a right. Students probably can live off-campus for less, but paying $1800/month (guessing that "a year" is ~8 months) for accommodation + food... Really doesn't seem that bad. It's certainly a premium, but it's an entirely optional one and doesn't seem like an extreme one.

Add on administration overhead for dorms, etc.

Proximity to classes, extra-curricular access, living with your peers... If you're going to move out of your parents' house, $15k per year doesn't sound that bad.

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You must live in a bubble. $15k in living expenses is a lot of money for even middle class families—$15k is like $25k pre-tax and that’s more than about 40% of Americans even make in a year...

Living expenses like dorms/meals are also why so many kids end up taking out student loans and have so much debt. How is that productive for society? It seems like Americans have a very weird attitude towards certain fundamental things like healthcare and education where they prefer to privatize those commodities rather than make them cheaper for all to benefit from. I think it’s bad for society for people to be putting 17 year olds into debt for degrees and then ripping people off for 20-40% of their incomes for healthcare. It would be a major stimulus for the economy if Americans paid what Europeans do for education and healthcare. I don’t understand the conservative argument at all. We get worse results for higher prices. The only people who benefit from our system are the ultra rich.

This is where living at home becomes an option.

You're changing your argument and obviously that's not a solution for all. There aren't universities near many rural areas. You're basically saying college is only practical for upper-middle class and above--that's not beneficial to society or a healthy economy. Higher education should be affordable so everyone can go, which is positive to society and the economy.

At least at my college, living on campus was required for first-year students.

I've definitely heard of that, and I don't think it's a terrible idea. I didn't finish college, but looking back I do wish that I had lived on campus for my first year. It always felt like I didn't get the "true" college life experience not living on campus.

As for the requirement piece, it definitely sucks if it's not an expense you can take on without debt and there's no other options in the area. If there are other options, though, then people who can't or won't pay that can just go somewhere else. School's have worse requirements (BYU comes to mind) that people can opt out of by choosing to go somewhere else.

I also think it's a good trade-off. Students should be wary though, no one wants to be stuck in a minimum wage job after graduation with loans. I also would add that students ought to take advantage of the resources available - meaning, don't just go to class, get food, and back to your dorm room throughout the school year, but rather participate and get involved: join clubs, develop relationships, teacher assist, etc.

I think you are right but when combined with the loan issue commented above it adds to the cost. If students had the choice between dorms and living at home with 15 extra k many would choose to live at home. However, because it is part of the student loan the 15k is not really seen and no one is trying to negotiate lower costs.

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