Tuition solutions instead of kvetching

amother

Peach

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:42 pm

amother Sapphire wrote:

Seriously, the only way the tuition crisis will be solved is if everyone had way less kids. But no one will ever say this. There, I said it.

Did you ever hear of economies of scale? This might not work the way you think.

amother

Eggshell

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:48 pm

amother Peach wrote:

Did you ever hear of economies of scale? This might not work the way you think.

But it may because people's salaries aren't dependent on the number or kids. That is one of the largest factor in the tuition crisis. Even with the economics of scale, salaries are still the priority factor in all this.

amother

Sapphire

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:50 pm

amother Peach wrote:

Did you ever hear of economies of scale? This might not work the way you think.

The more kids a family has, the less likely they are able to pay full tuition. And a certain amount is needed to educate each child, so that’s necessary money not coming in to schools.

amother

Petunia

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:52 pm

amother Sapphire wrote:

Seriously, the only way the tuition crisis will be solved is if everyone had way less kids. But no one will ever say this. There, I said it.

Everyone always says this, but I don't know.

Think about it this way - in the frum communities that average two children per family, tuition is 15 to 20 thousand a year PER KID.

In my frum community which averages over eight children per family, tuition is a fraction of that.

It almost seems that every Frum family actually pays the same amount, no matter how many kids they have.

In a market economy, which is what we have in the US, the price is set at what the market will bear and it looks like the price settles at a pretty similar price no matter how many children you have.

amother

Eggshell

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:03 pm

amother Petunia wrote:

This is very high level and biased. You can't use averages for this rationale, because the average is not a good representation when people individually calculate their finances.

The cost is community dependent. If I have 2 children and live in a community with $25k costs, it will be reduced to $5k if I move to the other town. That will hold true regardless of what the average total tuition costs.

If people have smaller families in the town with lower costs, their tuition costs will be reduced, and the towns average will then be reduced too.

amother

Sapphire

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:05 pm

amother Petunia wrote:

You’re comparing two different school systems. The Teaneck schools you describe have many more extras, that’s why they charge that much. Lakewood schools don’t offer the same type of education. You get what you pay for.
But even so, the bottom line is that when parents can’t pay full tuition, the schools remain underfunded.

amother

Petunia

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:09 pm

amother Eggshell wrote:

For the individual it will be reduced, but if we are talking about communities, we are definitely talking about averages.

Even if you think it SHOULDN'T be this way, facts are that it is. Communities with larger families have lower tuition costs. I wonder why?

I see it as a manifestation of the simple law of economics, how do YOU explain it?

amother

Peach

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:10 pm

amother Sapphire wrote:

I think that the model of expecting parents to shoulder the brunt of the budget is the broken piece here.

The schools of yesteryear were primarily community funded. Tuition covered a much smaller chunk of the pie.

amother

Petunia

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:11 pm

amother Sapphire wrote:

There's a reason why they are completely different school systems. IMO that's because in a community with large families, that's what the market will bear.

Even in Lakewood there are schools that are more expensive and have lots of bells and whistles, but they tend to have smaller families and/or be wealthier.

These are just basic rules of economics.

amother

Peach

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:11 pm

amother Sapphire wrote:

The more kids a family has, the less likely they are able to pay full tuition. And a certain amount is needed to educate each child, so that’s necessary money not coming in to schools.

If there are 12 children in a class, they have to pay a teacher and for a classroom.

If there are 24 children in a class, they have to pay the same teacher and the same classroom, but divided among less people.

That's economies of scale. It's cheaper per person if there are more people in the system.

amother

Petunia

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:13 pm

amother Peach wrote:

It's also cheaper if they have less "bells and whistles".

amother

Hyacinth

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:20 pm

Socialism: the smaller families should share the cost with the bigger families.
(Just kidding LOL

)

Seriously though, the reason the more right wing communities charge less, is because they are simply not able to ask that amount for a family with ten children. But still, even with the costs cut to half, the math doesn’t add up if you have 10 children instead of 4.

amother

Peach

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:25 pm

amother Hyacinth wrote:

Socialism: the smaller families should share the cost with the bigger families.
(Just kidding LOL

But if all parents had 4, the asking amount would simply go up.