Can I start two threads in one night? I feel like a PW. (College food pantries)

virgin4lyfe

So I just saw something on the news that is honestly making me upset.
They're starting food pantries at colleges because kids are having a hard time making tuition and living expenses and they don't have any money left to buy food.
What does it say about our society that we'd rather have people at college start support services for hungry college students than lower tuition as a whole so kids can, oh, I don't know, afford food?

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/food-pantries-rise-us-college-campuses-22924910

"The perception is of college students that if you are able to go to college and you have an opportunity to go to college, you're part of the haves of this country, not part of the have-nots," said Beth McGuire-Fredericks, assistant director for college housing at the Stony Brook campus on eastern Long Island and a co-founder of the pantry.

"How can someone who's in college be someone who has a need like food?"

Tuition alone has become a growing burden, rising 27 percent at public colleges and 14 percent at private schools in the past five years, according to the College Board. Add in expenses for books, housing and other necessities of college life and some are left to choose between eating and learning. Also, most students enrolled in college at least half time are not eligible for food stamps.

virgin4lyfe

I have lived on ramen and campbell's soup occasionally. Right now I'm actually living back at my parents so I can afford college minus room and board. College tuition is crazy.

LushC

::coming out from lurking::

I agree, it is sad. An undergraduate degree has practically become a necessity to make a living wage (although I know I'm not the only one who knows many people that struggled to find work even with a degree). It's frustrating that more isn't/can't be done to make it affordable.

It reminds me of seniors choosing between food and medications. It makes me sad to think we have college kids choosing between food or textbooks/tuition when the end goal is to make a better life for themselves. I get that struggling can be necessary at times but this just seems so preventable.

LushC

KJLx121 said:

I have lived on ramen and campbell's soup occasionally. Right now I'm actually living back at my parents so I can afford college minus room and board. College tuition is crazy.

I used to have a mini cookbook for dorm room cooking that had about fifty different recipes that could be made with ramen lol! Th fan favorite was the ramen noodles, hot dogs, ranch dressing combo....*shudder*

jesuisfatiguee

fredalina said:

The tuition bubble is really awful. It is bound to burst soon. I was pretty poor in college (scholarships for tuition and books but had to pay my living expenses), and that was a long time ago. I'm sure things are only worse now.

We can only hope.

MrsCodeMonkey

My go to was a bagel for $1 with the free jelly. When I was feeling fancy I'd spring for peanut butter.

I would often buy a wrap for lunch and save half for dinner. Those were the days...

I do agree that college is way too expensive.

LushC

FTWR said:

LushC said:

KJLx121 said:

I have lived on ramen and campbell's soup occasionally. Right now I'm actually living back at my parents so I can afford college minus room and board. College tuition is crazy.

I used to have a mini cookbook for dorm room cooking that had about fifty different recipes that could be made with ramen lol! Th fan favorite was the ramen noodles, hot dogs, ranch dressing combo....*shudder*

Our bookstore sold a cookbook of 100 ramen recipes. Also, my favorite is to cook the noodles, drain the water, and add ranch and hot sauce.

You are bringing back some serious memories for me!! LOL!

I'm boring though, I just liked them cooked the regular way with no special ingredients

MrsCodeMonkey

fredalina said:

je+suis=fatiguee said:

fredalina said:

The tuition bubble is really awful. It is bound to burst soon. I was pretty poor in college (scholarships for tuition and books but had to pay my living expenses), and that was a long time ago. I'm sure things are only worse now.

We can only hope.

It's not entirely a good thing. Think what happened when the housing bubble burst. Hopefully it won't be as bad since not everyone is in college, but there's bound to be fallout.

Look at this chart. Look at the size of the housing bubble. Now look at the relative size of the tuition bubble. Scary.

But what do you think would cause it to burst? Think online education will become trendier? Students would skip the whole campus experience, but still get their diplomas.

LushC

MrsCodeMonkey said:

But what do you think would cause it to burst? Think online education will become trendier? Students would skip the whole campus experience, but still get their diplomas.

These are great questions. I have a family member that works in HR and is always commenting on how online degrees don't always hold their weight versus degrees from traditional universities. I wonder how much truth there is to that and how moving forward that could change if online degrees become the more affordable option

virgin4lyfe

Now I'll admit I'm ignorant - what do you consider to be the exact effect of the housing bubble bursting? I know the housing market is crazy right now and was a little worse just a little while ago.

MrsCodeMonkey

KJLx121 said:

Now I'll admit I'm ignorant - what do you consider to be the exact effect of the housing bubble bursting? I know the housing market is crazy right now and was a little worse just a little while ago.

It's one of the biggest factors leading to the recession. Lots of people lost their homes because they took on loans they couldn't afford. Many people ended up owing more to the bank than the house was worth. Lots of houses foreclosed or ended in a short sale. It was very bad. I think there used to be a documentary on Netflix about it.

NoSoup4You

I work in higher ed and just went to a speaker regarding this recently.  The trend is likely for established schools (not what you think of as "online" schools) to move toward online classes.  In particular, the gen eds will be offered online.  It allows the school to reach more people and save money on facilities.  It helps with the stigma of online degrees since your diploma will say such-and-such State University.  Brick-and-mortar classes will be for the capstones of undergrad and for graduate programs.