Yea, I realize this is somewhat piling on, but when Obama makes it this easy.....
-----------------------------------------------------
George Washington University Is An Odd Location To Discuss Fiscal RestraintApr. 14 2011
By DAVID WHELANYesterday President Obama gave a major address on how to tame the budget deficit. The location was George Washington University. Its president Steven Knapp was in attendance as Obama?s host.
One thing that occurred to me was that George Washington is kind of a strange location to talk about belt-tightening.
After all,
George Washington University has been crowned the most expensive school to attend in the country, costing $56,000 a year.
GW?s been the most expensive, or one of them, for many years. As a college applicant it was one of those places where the guidance counselor warns: this is a good school but get ready to drain your family?s bank account. The school has even tried to address its reputation as the most-expensive but without much visible success.
In terms of dollars-to-value, GW ranks in the basement. U.S. News, which does not sort by tuition, has it as the 51st best university in the country.
Forbes takes cost into consideration when ranking colleges. We have GW as the, get ready: 291st best college.
Would you fill up your brokerage account with shares of what Morningstar calls the 291st best mutual fund? Or pay Mercedes prices for the 51st best car rated by Consumer Reports?
GW is ranked down near other expensive schools like the University of Miami and Syracuse University. Forbes ranks it below solid, small, and inexpensive places to get your bachelors, like Grove City College and Fisk University.
Back to Obama?s speech.
In a sense George Washington is a metaphor for the federal budget. Are we as taxpayers getting our money?s worth? Are GW students, who pay the most, getting the best college degree?There?s been some recent literature about a bubble in higher education. Paying $200,000 to send a kid to school for four years is onerous when the average household income in this country is $50,000. That?s especially true if you have more than one child?or if he decides to major in something less than practical.
Facebook investor Peter Thiel has recently been getting an audience for his theory that colleges cost way too much. One of my recent subjects, Clayton Christensen, has a new book coming out about how higher education has become like other un-innovative industries. He previewed it here in this talk, comparing colleges like my alma mater to General Motors. They add new features every year and then pass on the costs in an attempt to compete with others schools doing exactly the same thing. Colleges need the equivalent of a Toyota Corona to appear and disrupt their business model.
Did President Obama see the irony of appearing at George Washington University to discuss how to cut spending? Probably not.
He started his speech by saying that the budget debate: ?will affect the lives of the students here and families all across America in potentially profound ways.?
What else might profoundly affect the finances of an American family? Getting a tuition bill from George Washington University
George Washington University: The Least Fiscally Fit School In The U.S.
