Is Rutgers Worth the Cost [POLL]

A quality education is not going to be cheap.

However, when you consider whether or not you’re getting “bang for your buck…you have to seriously ask yourself the question, “is my going to a 4 year school worth the cost?”

And how about the state university at Rutgers?

There’s a report out today that had some students misled into thinking that the cost to attend Rutgers would increase by 20 percent. That had many scrambling to meet with university officials to clarify the matter.

Could you imagine…20 percent!

Twenty percent more to pay a former president 330 grand a year to teach history! Plus countless other thousands to pour into the athletic program.

However, it’s not to be!

According to this:

University officials were supposed to meet with student leaders Thursday to clear up confusion about a financial-aid letter sent to thousands of students last week.

The form letter included a projection that the cost of attending Rutgers could rise to $29,050 during the 2012-13 school year.

That number lumped together early estimates for tuition, fees, room, board, books, transportation and other miscellaneous costs.

But some student leaders misunderstood the numbers in the letter and began to spread word via e-mail that tuition, room and board alone could be going up to $29,050 this fall — a 20 percent increase.

Some student leaders said the financial aid letter should have included a better explanation for the $29,050 figure to avoid creating confusion among students waiting to learn the 2012-13 tuition rate.

John Aspray, a former Rutgers student and campus activist. said "It's really poor form on their part," "I understand why students are worried."

The Rutgers Board of Governors is scheduled to vote on tuition for the upcoming school year at its July 18 meeting in New Brunswick.

University officials traditionally do not reveal the size of the proposed increase until shortly before the vote. But a spokesperson said students should not expect a large increase this year.

But there will be an increase just the same.

The report continues…

Last year, Rutgers raised tuition and fees 1.6 percent for in-state undergraduates, one of the smallest increases in decades. The Board of Governors cut the proposed tuition rate in half at the last minute in an effort to help families struggling to pay tuition in the wake of the recession.

This year, many Rutgers students are concerned about a tuition hike because of uncertainty over the cost of the complex higher education restructuring approved by the Legislature last week. Under the plan, Rutgers will take over most of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey on July 1, 2013.

Rutgers' governing boards, which still must approve the merger, are still calculating the overall cost of the takeover. But it is unlikely any of the cost of the UMDNJ merger will be passed on to students during the upcoming school year, university officials said.

Given the fact that jobs are scarce for those graduating college and college debt is at an all time high, do you feel you get any “bang for your buck” in attending Rutgers?