I am not really sure I understand exactly why this has become so argumentative, or at least appears to be argumentative, from the bleacher seats.
Is it really surprising in any way that tuition remission and a stipend are often insufficient in covering an individual's total expenses for graduate school? One step further, is it any way shocking that it cannot cover a family's living expenses? I don't have the census data in front of me, but I would think that a substantial number of households rely upon 2 or more family members (i.e., depending on family structure: Single parent, dual parent, multi-generational, etc.) to be breadwinners in order to support the entire family unit (i.e., rent, food, utilities, transportation). I think we need to put this into perspective and consider what a stipend, tuition remission, and other waived expenses amount to per year and consider that akin to salary over the course of a 5-year period. If you are fortunate enough to be in the situation to receive a financial aid offer that includes these components, said individual must consider if additional loans are required and whether that investment is worth it for themselves and their family moving forward. It is an important decision, one they must be made by the individual. While I would love it if all students received subsidized housing, I think this is somewhat unrealistic expectation in our current economic climate. The decision to attend graduate school is a serious cost-benefit analysis for many students, one that does not always allow each person to pursue their education. I wish that this wasn't the case, but there are real world and practical constraints everyone must consider and traverse. That said, I believe that advocating for increased stipends, improved financial aid, and more accessible subsidized student housing is a worthy cause to make education more accessible to all. I feel like the article makes this effort.
In addition to advocating for increased financial support, I think we need to advocate for increased student education about the entire cost of attending a given college/university, the student loan process, the impact of debt, and realistic expectations about future job prospects following graduation. Dialogue about the rising costs of tuition, diploma mills, predatory lending, and the adverse outcomes of debt is increasing within the popular media. Hopefully, systemic reform will follow. Too often, this information trickles down to students and their families well after major decisions were made. Increasing the accessibility of information about the overall cost of education, from lost years in the workforce to helping people form a realistic sense of cost for living in particular area over a span of time (i.e., rent, food, utilities, tuition, health insurance, renters insurance, car insurance, medications), could go along way in terms of educating the public on the front end. Perhaps colleges/universities should be required to provide data about debt for their graduates (i.e., mean, median, mode, etc), in addition to key outcomes for students and information about their earning potential in a given field. Unfortunately, not all students receive adequate fiscal and career guidance from family members, loan officers, guidance counselors, mentors, friends, or others.
I feel like regardless of what model of education you support, online vs traditional education, advocating for increased student support and education about "higher education" are something that could be agreed upon.
