As tuition continues to skyrocket with each year, I can’t help but wonder if the administration is overlooking the most important component of the university: the student.
Not all Fairfielders drive Lexus SUVs, are outfitted in designer duds and spend spring break in the most exotic of locales. For those of us who are responsible for financing our education, the consistent increase in cost leads to the inevitable increase in loans and outside aid. With each additional loan I am forced to take out, I wonder if my education is truly worth the enormous toll.
Certainly the prestige and reputation associated with Fairfield comes with a price. However, when I am continually met with puzzled faces as I explain where I attend college, I question Fairfield’s status.
“Fairfield? Is that in Connecticut?” is the most common response, followed closely by “Fairfield? Oh, I’ve never heard of that.” For $36,720, I should have chosen NYU or Boston College.
Not to mention, tuition doesn’t cover books or excess living expenses-such as edible food. It also fails to cover any sort of recreational expenses, such as alcohol. Come on, for that cost, couldn’t they have at least thrown in a bottle of cheap hooch?
With graduate school on the horizon, Fairfield is beginning to appear less as an investment and more as a mistake. How many loans can one person acquire before they are permanently confined to indentured servitude? You know there is a problem when a student stresses more over finances than academics.
Since I have two more years left here, I only hope that the administration is able to control these incredible tuition hikes and consider the needs of their students over any unnecessary expenses. A green lawn should not be placed above a fair meal plan.
As I am filing for my bankruptcy papers, I will take comfort in knowing that I helped finance the beautiful renovations of Bellarmine Hall and the wonderful new parking lot near Dolan, while still managing to receive a well-rounded Jesuit education.
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