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Higher Tuition For an Engineering Degree

i_like_spam writes "The NYTimes is running a story about a new trend in tuition charges at public universities throughout the country. Differential pricing schemes are being implemented, whereby majors in engineering and business pay higher tuition rates than majors in arts and humanities. Last year, for instance, engineering majors at the University of Nebraska starting paying an extra $40 per credit hour. One argument in support of differential pricing is that professors in engineering and business are more expensive than in other fields. Officials at schools that are implementing differential pricing are aware of some of the downsides. A dean at Iowa State said he 'thought society was no longer looking at higher education as a common good but rather as a way for individuals to increase their earning power.' And a University of Kansas provost said, 'Where we have gone astray culturally is that we have focused almost exclusively on starting salary as an indicator of... the value of the particular major.'"

4 of 531 comments (clear)

  1. Exactly what America needs! by SEE · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fewer engineers and more people with degrees in Art History!

    1. Re:Exactly what America needs! by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 5, Funny

      America already has those - why would anyone need another engineer?

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      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  2. Brought peace? by just_a_monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, yes, but apart from electricity, running water, internet connections, telephones, automobiles, computers and stable buildings, what have the engineers ever done for us?!

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    How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean.
  3. Re:Catching up to the rest of the world... by bladesjester · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, am not going to trust the same invisible hand that gave us pets.com to provide them.

    Adam Smith's Invisible Hand is way too fond of giving people the finger...

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    Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.