A beef with college education

[Tobin S.]

18. It's my understanding that private colleges don't get state money

That's why it's mostly rich kids and those going on grants and scholarships attending. I live in Richmond, Indiana and I responded earlier that I attend Indiana University East which is a state school and tuition is reasonable there judging by some of the rates people are paying elsewhere. In my same little town we have a private school called Earlham. It's not considered a big time school, but they have big time tuition. I checked their tuition before I transferred to IU. Full time with a dorm room costs a little over $40,000 a year. I'm a middle class non-traditional student who probably wouldn't even be accepted there because I can't attend full time, but even if they would accept me there's no way I could touch that tuition. We're talking $160,000 if you can get it done in four years.

I've toured Earlham before when I was driving a trash truck and taking care of their dumpsters. Kids from all over the country come to that little school. I saw license plates from Arizona and Connecticut and Florida. There were more out of state plates there than Indiana plates. Richmond is a small working class and middle class town for the most part. If you're from here and you go to college, chances are you are an IU East student and you are going to school on loans. But take heart poor kids. You are learning the same skills as the kids at Earlham.