Poor little guy can't get a student loan...
Today there were students running around the US campus with megaphones shouting “estudiantes, despiertan!” (“students, wake up!”) trying to grab some support for their protest tomorrow. They’re concerned about tuition increases and “recortes” (cuts) in education.
Wellsians – sounds familiar, right?
But here’s the plot twist:
Spanish students at US pay between 69-102 Euros for every six credits each semester, if I am understanding the handy-dandy BDSM-themed pamphlet that was distributed correctly.
Really guys?
So compared to Wells, where those who came in prior to 2009 pay $28,000/year for 12-20 credits, that’s… nothing.
Now, the tuition hikes shown here…
The bar graph isn't BDSM themed.
…Are projections for what might happen by 2020, long after these students have graduated. They also represent the worst case scenario, which is that students in their third year will have to pay 574 Euros for each six credits.
Seriously guys?
So I asked one of the protesters about this. I said (in Spanish), “Why are you yelling about this? In the United States, we pay more than $30,000 each year to attend a university.”
He responded (also in Spanish) that they were protesting because the tuition hikes were accompanied by cuts and changes to the university’s program, if I understood correctly. Basically, it seemed like he was worried that the higher education system in Spain would morph into the same evil, privatized tentacle-creature that the United States’ higher education system has become.
And that would, like, totally suck, right?
I told him that people at Wells were worried about similar things back home (except for shit spiraled out of control for us long before we were even thinking about college), so he invited me to tomorrow’s protest. I think I’ll go. I mean, it’s an experience, and why the hell not? I don’t have anything to do during that time anyway.
