Tuition then and now
How students make ends meet

Dear Presidents:

I attended Ohio U during 1953-55; the following years, I transferred to Ohio State. As I talk now to my grandchildren about how I paid my way through school by summer jobs, a board job in Lindley Hall, working in the library reserve room and manning the switchboard in Bryan Hall, they are incredulous. I realize that no one could probably meet their tuition in that way now.

But I am curious as to how much tuition was then in 1953-1955. I would appreciate an answer to find out if it is no longer possible for a student to "pay their own way" now.

Thank you so much,

Judith Lacey Rielle

Editor's note: According to university archives, the exact costs for tuition on campus in 1954-56 are as follows:

Classes by correspondence, $7.50 per credit hour

General registration fee, $67.50 for residents ($172.50 nonresidents)

Part-time enrollment (1-6 hours), $6 a credit hour or $15 nonresidents

Student activity fee, $7.50

Health fee, $5

University center fee, $5

Library fee, $1

Rent of room (dorm), $76.50 a year

Board, $189 a year

Graduation application, $10

Fee for mailing a diploma, $2

Estimated expense per year: $354

A typical course load was 12-17 credit hours.

Dr. Glidden's response to the letter is below.

Dear Ms. Rielle:

Your letter inquiring about whether university students today can pay their way through school by working at campus jobs in residence halls or the library touches a sensitive nerve, because for various reasons college tuition has risen much faster than wages for the types of jobs available to students. To answer your question directly, it is very difficult — one might say nearly impossible — for a student to work enough to pay his or her way through school, even with the help of substantial grants or scholarships. And of course it is not just tuition that is so expensive today, but the cost of room and board as well.

You and I are contemporaries. I began my university education in Iowa in 1954 when tuition was $78/semester and room and board were $550 for the year! (I also remember that the fanciest new Ford one could buy in those days cost less than $2,000.) There are two serious concerns, of course. One is that access to a residential university such as Ohio University is not affordable for many deserving students today. The other concern is that those who do make the investment in a college education often leave school with substantial debt to repay.

The investment in a college education is still worth it, of course. The latest statistics I've seen report that college graduates earn 77 percent more than high school graduates, and master's degree holders more than double the earnings of high school graduates. But even more important, there is a public good associated with an educated populace that is far greater than the investment state governments are making today. A highly educated and enlightened citizenry offers benefit to the whole society, not just to the educated individuals. One wishes for leadership such as that provided by Manasseh Cutler when he argued persuasively to the Continental Congress in 1787 for the provision of public education through the university level in the new Northwest Territory.

Sincerely,

Robert Glidden

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