The Cost of an Education

By: Melissa Mabry

June 23, 2014

One of my favorite classes at University College Dublin (UCD), "Inequality in Irish Society," provided me with some of the most insightful lectures and conversations I have ever had in my academic life. This course inspired my previous blog post about housing inequalities within major cities across the world. The primary lecturer, and all the guest lecturers as well, spoke with incredible depth and nuance about inequality and unfairness in Ireland in various systems, such as the economy and employment. Also to my benefit, the structure of this course included a discussion section, referred to as a tutorial, where I was given the opportunity to talk about the course topics with a small group of my classmates and a tutor. Often in tutorials, the class is broken up into small groups of five or six, and it was in these groups, after the material at hand was analyzed, that I was able to hear from Irish students about their experiences and interests. Interestingly, the discussion over differences between university in the United States and Ireland was exceedingly prevalent.

Many of the students bemoaned increased tuition prices at UCD and the added financial burden it placed on their parents or themselves, as many of the students in my class were financing most or all of their secondary education with money earned from part-time jobs, scholarships, or government assistance. They brought up how many people attended school solely on government assistance and how they felt those funds were sometimes unfairly allotted to individuals who either misuse it, hardly attend classes, or have “gamed the system” into receiving more than necessary. It would be out of my depth to even begin to analyze the complexities, stereotypes, and connotations that manifest in countries with an active welfare system. Nevertheless, it was generally agreed upon that university was becoming increasingly expensive and the government needed to aid those who desired an education in an effective and efficient manner. For the most part, I liked to keep fairly quiet during our small groups because I wanted to hear their points of view about life in Ireland as a young person, which summarizes one of the main reasons I wanted to go abroad: to expand my knowledge and deepen my understanding about the human experience.

Although one day, out of curiosity, I decided to ask just how much tuition costs per year at UCD, and if memory serves, I would say the answer was approximately $4,500 USD. One of my classmates, who spent a summer in the United States, said to me, “That’s nothing to you, right?” When I told them how much I pay per year for university, they were shocked and truthfully, a bit disgusted. Although I explained this was fairly normal for college in America and there were always scholarships, financial aid, and loans to help students, they could not grasp why, for any reason, university needed to be that expensive. They pushed about the suffocation of lingering debt post-graduation, the pressure to find a job that pays enough to keep your head above water, and the desperation, even embarrassment, that arises if you must move back home.

While my classmate was correct that tuition at UCD is not comparable to most institutions in the United States, these costs are relative to cost of living, ability to work, and various other factors. Whether in Ireland or in the United States, when the cost of an education bloats to unattainable amounts, it is students who pay the price and most often, it is those who are already being hindered by several other intersecting disadvantages such as their age, race, socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality, home life, employment prospects, etc. Like in my previous post, I cannot claim to have an answer to rising tuition costs, but I do know it is paramount to ensuring a thriving society and economy that those who have a thirst for knowledge are able to earn a college degree without breaking their backs financially.

Opens in a new window