欢迎光临散文网 会员登陆 & 注册

外刊精读| week.6 大学费用--标价刺客| The Cost of ...

2023-08-21 19:30 作者:500个梨皮  | 我要投稿

The cost of many private colleges in America has reached $8,000 a year. The median household income in America in 2021 was $71,000 a year. This shows that college is unaffordable. Or does it?

美国私立大学学费已高达8千美元一年。而在2021年,美国的中等家庭年收入为7万1千美元。这表明,大学太贵了。或者真是这样吗?

The consensus view is that America has a college-affordability crisis and things are getting worse. According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, “college costs are out of control”. Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont, and other progressives have pushed for free college and loan-forgiveness for years. The White House attempted a costly bail-out of student borrowers which the Supreme Court recently declared unconstitutional. Both sides are telling a similar tale. But it does not reflect reality. Most undergraduate degrees in America are actually affordable, and in many cases going to college is actually getting cheaper.

大家普遍认为,美国确实正在经历一场学费危机,并且情况越来越糟糕。保守党智囊团美国传统基金会表明,“读大学的成本已经失控”。这几年,美国佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯(Bernie Sanders)和其他开明人士一直在推动免费大学和豁免学生贷款。白宫尝试耗巨资资助贷款学生,但最近最高法院宣布这是违反宪法的。他们都发表着相似的言论。但事实并非如此。事实上在美国,大多数的大学并不昂贵,在很多情况下,读大学正变得越来越便宜。

There are three main types of colleges in America: public, non-profit private and for-profit private. Public colleges are much less expensive than private ones. According to US News & World Report, which ranks universities, the average annual tuition fee for students at a public college studying in their home states is about $10,000, compared with $40,000 for private colleges. And most American students benefit from these lower prices. In 2021, 77% of college students (about 12m) were enrolled in public colleges. Some states are cheaper than others. Tuition in Wyoming costs $6,000 per year for residents, whereas Vermont charges $19,000.

美国有三种主要的大学:公立、非盈利性私立、营利性私立。读公立大学比私立大学便宜很多。根据给大学排名的《美国新闻和世界报道》,如果学生在自己家乡就读公立大学,每年学费约为1万美元,就读私立大学约为4万美元。大部分的美国学生则享受到价格更便宜的公立学校。在2021年,77%的美国大学生(约1千2百万名)报名进入公立大学。一些州的学费比其他州更便宜。本地居民在怀俄明州就读公立大学,一年学费为6千美元,而佛蒙特州则需要1万9千美元。

Public colleges in America look more expensive than most of their rich-country counterparts. America ranks second-highest for fees in the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, behind England. However, this does not give a full picture.

相对于其他发达国家,美国公立大学学费看起来非常昂贵。在经济合作与发展组织(成员国大部分为发达国家)中,美国大学学费仅次于英国,排名第二。然而,事实并非完全如此。

American universities advertise a sticker price that few students actually pay. According to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, a non-profit organisation, private colleges discount tuition by over 50% on average. And contrary to the common narrative, the net cost (what students really pay) of public and private colleges has fallen (see chart on next page).

很少学生真正支付美国大学所宣传的标价。根据非营利性机构全国学院和大学商务官员协会的数据,私立大学学费平均会减少50%及以上。与通常说法不同的是,公立和私立大学的净价(即学生真正支付的学费)不断减少(详见表格)。

Schools with large endowments are particularly generous. According to US News & World Report the average student at Princeton pays $16,600 per year for tuition and fees (compared with a $56,010 price tag), and tuition is free for families making $160,000 a year or less. With these tuition discounts, private colleges can sometimes cost less than public ones, though public colleges are usually cheaper.

被大量捐款的学校特别慷慨。根据《美国新闻和世界报道》,在普林斯顿大学,普通学生每年学杂费仅需支付1万6千6百美元(标价为5万6千零10美元),并且对于年收入低于16万美元的家庭,学生无需支付学费。尽管通常公立大学更加便宜,但是因为学费大打折扣,有时一些私立大学甚至比公立大学更加划算。

Americans also have alternative paths to a four-year degree that can help them save money. Students can attend two-year public community colleges for less than one year’s tuition cost at a four-year university degree, then apply those two years towards a four-year degree. The system is flexible: two-thirds of community-college students work and 70% attend part-time. This flexibility is unusual compared with higher education in other countries, says Simon Roy of the OECD.

美国人也有其他省钱方式获得大学学位。学生可以就读2年制的社区大学,这样费用比在四年制大学中就读一年的学费还低,然后用在社区大学的成绩去申请4年制大学的学位。这种教育系统非常灵活:在社区大学,三分之二的学生有自己的工作,70%的学生接受非全日制教学。与其他国家的的高等教育相比,这种灵活性并不常见,来自经合组织的西蒙·罗伊(Simon Roy)说到。

Though there are plenty of stories of students being landed with lots of debt for worthless degrees, college generally pays off too. College-educated men earn $587,400 more over their lifetime than men who only graduated from high school (women earn $425,100 more). This is much greater than the equivalent premium in Britain ($210,800 for men and $193,200 for women). “The expected gains from having a college degree are actually quite high in the US because the US is also one of the countries where income inequality is the highest,” says Abel Schumann of the OECD. This inequality makes college-going worth the initial cost for most people.

尽管许多学生因为含金量不高的学位背负巨额债务,他们遭遇各不相同,但是大学生普遍更加赚钱。相比于只有高中文凭,拥有大学文凭的男性在一生中能够多赚58万7千4百美元及以上(女性则多赚42万5千1百美元及以上)。这比同等条件下英国的数据要高很多(男性多赚21万8百美元,女性多赚19万3千2百美元)。“因为美国是收入差距最高的国家之一,所以在美国对大学文凭创造的收益的期待也很高,”来自经合组织的亚伯·舒曼(Abel Schumann)说道。这种收入差距使得读大学对大部分人而言是值得的。

Why, then, is there a perception that there is some sort of general crisis in college affordability in America? One reason is that country-level comparisons, such as the analysis by the OECD, compare the sticker price of American universities with that of their peers. Sticker prices are rising

while net costs remain steady and, in some cases, drop. A report from the College Board, an NGO, shows that whereas published tuition and fees for private non-profit colleges increased from $30,000 in 2006-07 to $38,000 in 2021-22 (in 2021 dollars), the net price actually decreased from $17,000 to $15,000. The story is similar for public colleges. Published tuition and fees were nearly $8,000 in 2006-07 and rose to nearly $11,000 in 2021-22. Meanwhile the net cost fell by $730.

那么,为什么会出现这种认识,美国的大学正在经历某种大学生支付能力危机呢?一个原因是像经合组织等国家级别的对比数据,比较了美国大学的标价和同等类型其他大学的标价。标价不断攀升,而实际价格保持稳定,甚至在一些情况下实价下降。一份非政府组织美国大学理事会的报告指出,尽管非营利性大学的学杂费标价从2006年7月的3万美元上涨到2021-22年的3万8千美元,而实际价格却从1万7千美元下降到1万5千美元。公立大学也是如此。标价从2006年7月的8千美元上涨到2021-22年的1万1千美元,而实际价格下降了730美元。

This discrepancy between the sticker price and the net price creates confusion, but it continues because it is valuable to colleges, says Beth Akers of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think-tank. Wealthy students pay the full price, subsidising their poorer peers. The higher prices are also good for marketing. Consumers tend to associate higher prices with higher quality. And students (and their proud parents) are flattered by tuition markdowns pitched as merit scholarships rather than discounts.

因为这种情况对大学是有利的,所以尽管标价和实价之间的差距令人困惑,但一直持续着,美国企业研究所的贝丝·阿克斯(Beth Akers)说道,该研究所是一个保守主义倾向的智囊团。富裕的学生全价支付全额学费,帮助他们贫困的同学。高昂的学费也是一种营销手段。消费者们习惯认同价高质优。学生(和骄傲的父母)更喜欢被包装为奖学金的学费折扣,而不是直接降低学费。

Yet even with decreasing costs and discounts, college can still seem unaffordable to many. Plenty of citizens in countries with free or low tuition do in fact pay for college. Instead of paying a tuition bill, they pay over time with higher taxes. Americans pay less in taxes, but that lumpsum tuition bill can be off-putting. For those students and their families unable to pay in cash, loans can be an answer. But accrued interest can quickly turn a reasonable cost into an unreasonable one. Here too there is some progress: a new initiative by the Biden administration will prevent interest from accruing on federal loans for people making timely payments.

尽管学费下降并且有一些折扣,但对于许多人而言大学似乎依然超出他们的支付能力。在许多国家,人们似乎享受着免费或者低价的高等教育,但事实上他们确为大学支付了费用。随着时间地推移,虽然不支付学费,但是他们支付的税收变得越来越高。美国的税收比较低,但是学费总价高得吓人。对于现金不足以支付学费的学生和家长,贷款是一种解决办法。因为利息不断增加,原本合理的价格很快就高的吓人。在这方面也有某种进展:拜登政府提出一项新的倡议,对于及时还款的人,将缓和增加联邦贷款的利息。

College does not benefit everyone and the quality is variable. Some for-profit colleges have become notorious for providing little value and targeting poor and non-white students. Students who chose to major in photography (or journalism) at a private college may find it takes a while to pay off their loans once they encounter the job market—but that choice may be worth it too. For the vast majority, though, college is affordable and worth attending.

大学并不能给所有人带去好处,且质量参差不齐。一些营利性大学已经声名狼藉,他们没有什么价值,主要目标学生是贫穷的有色人种。对于一些选择在私立大学学习摄影(或者新闻学)的学生而言,毕业工作后,需要一段时间才能还清贷款-- 但是依然是值得的。尽管如此,对于绝大部分的人,大学花费是能力范围内,且读大学是值得的。

外刊精读| week.6 大学费用--标价刺客| The Cost of ...的评论 (共 条)

分享到微博请遵守国家法律