<html><DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV>>>The increase will take effect this fall to offset what Clemson <DIV></DIV>>>trustees and administrators said was a $14.3 million loss of state <DIV></DIV>>>financing, and to provide revenue to boost Clemson into the ranks <DIV></DIV>>>of <DIV></DIV>>>the nation's top 20 public institutions. <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>So tuition is going from $3,600 to $5,100 a year? <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>Dropping into the EPI datazone for a moment, the current college <DIV></DIV>>wage <DIV></DIV>>premium is 45%. Clemson University graduates are likely to be richer <DIV></DIV>>over their lifetimes than the average American. <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>Public subsidies to higher education students are a pie-growing <DIV></DIV>>policy--one that I believe in--but they are also a blow for a less <DIV></DIV>>egalitarian society. I've never figured out why the odd coalition <DIV></DIV>>that supports them does so... <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>Brad DeLong <DIV></DIV>> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On one level, I totally agree with you. The public in California, the vast majority of whom don't have a 4 year degree and are working class, still do support increasing public universities as a high priority.  But the upper-middle class students who populate the universities should be paying more of a user fee. Perhaps it works out that they pay later on through taxes if they earn a good income. </DIV> <DIV> I'm trying to remember which university it was that was proposing charging different tuition based on majors, and having a full reporting of average wage earned by alumni by major. It might have been the university of Washington. Clearly that would be untenable because people would do things like major in psychology and try to take as many computer science classes as electives as possible.  It definitely makes sense for the graduate level. Plus, its interesting to look at the class dynamics of who might major in what at a university. My perception is that art history majors would be much more likely to be from a wealthier background, and to not have recent immigrant parents. My department, integrative biology (where people do research in evolution, ecology, animal behavior, oceanography(like me), exercise physiology, biomechanics) is a similar department. I've noticed that it is much 'whiter' than the molecular cellular biology departme! nt which has many more foreign students and recent immigrants. I would be surprised if the reason for this were not that first generation students (of which I am actually one) didn't feel more pressure to get well paying and prestigious jobs. I am supporting an african american friend of going back to school at age 32 in the pre-medical track, so I was looking at the black students in science and engineering directory and there were only 2 black students in biology (out of about 1400 undergraduate biology majors), and no math majors. There are, however, dozens of engineering majors, and Electrical engineering is arguably one of the toughest majors on campus - so I would guess that black students talented at math are going for the more remunerative pathway than pure math. I have an undergraduate friend who is black, from East Palo alto, and he doesn't like how a lot of his friends were staying in the 'safe' area in American studies, which is a perfectly legitimate field - but I! guess some students are deciding to major in the popular african american major even if their area of greatest talent or interest might really lie elsewhere.</DIV> <DIV>Christine</DIV><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html>