Paying For College

Do you know how much it costs to go to a state university per year? Includingtuition, books, transportation, food and housing, it's pretty much in the $25K per year range. It's a hefty chunk of change and due to the sinking level of spending by states, it's rising every year. On top of all that, every single student pays fees based upon the number of hours taken. Some fees pay for the library, or the computer network or parking. And some fees pay to subsidize athletic programs. Frankly, that's pretty underhanded when you consider that so many athletic directors like to falsely claim that their programs are self-sufficient. But let's imagine just for a minute that they were. If that is the case, wouldn't it leave a huge hole in their budgets to have players come out for the professional draft early? And isn't that basically just like taking money from the average students-you know, those kids who work at IHOP and Whataburger and live in dive apartment on cold pizza because that's all they can afford? Don't those students, who pay the full fare, fees included, deserve some sort of compensation for the Crabtrees and such of the world who are prepared to go onto the millionaire status after just a couple of subsidized years of college? How about this? If you look at some of the most highly ranked schools athletically, they often have some of the LOWEST rates of graduation. So are the regular students at that school just expected to pay for the gifted athletes to have their two years of college ball before jettisoning college life for the NFL, NBA or MLB? I think that when you sign with a college, you sign a contract that is binding. And unless you are willing to pay back the university for the education you recieved free and clear, you should not be able to enter a pro draft. Now I am sure the NFL and other major sports leagues won't like this, but I have to tell you that times are getting tough. And while UT and Alabama and Miami may fill the stadium, there are many students that are forced to drop down to smaller schools, community college or drop out completely due to the burden of college debt. What are these schools going to do when the student population realizes how they have been had? At some point, it will be too much.