From what I've heard others saying, part of the reason it's become so expensive is because the availability of student loans. Not having the money to go is no longer an issue for most people, so colleges can afford to raise tuition and not see any decrease in enrollment because of it. Instead college students simply take out higher loans (for which they later pay dearly when they can't get a job).
Online courses cost the same as regular ones at a given institution, sometimes more. Many of the online only schools are for-profit and not very well respected in the professional world. Either way, they still have to pay an instructor to design and facilitate the course online, and they also have to pay for an online learning software (such as Blackboard) to distribute it.
The best way to get through college cheaply is to live with relatives (for extremely cheap/free), get as many credits as you can in community college (which costs about a third of a regular college), and then transfer to a 4-year degree granting school. If there is both a community and 4 year college in your hometown then you are in a very good position. It may not be the most prestigious school or the best for your field of study, but most employers these days care way more about experience than where you went to school. It ends up just being a name on a resume in the end, and slight difference in rank or prestige carry little to no weight in hiring decisions, unless it's a top-tier school (ivy league, etc.).
The only real value of the so called 'better' schools is the networking you might obtain while studying there. Honestly though, if you're determined and know how to network, you'll find a way to get connected no matter where you're at. The 'better' networking is often not worth the six figure loans.
As far as tuition going down, there are some regulations that ensure it does not raise too quickly. However I don't think it will ever go down. If there were to be a massive political shift and a large portion of tax dollars used to aid struggling universities, then tuition might stop increasing and even out over time with inflation. But at the moment, public schools are actually 'losing' govenrment aid and instead resort to cutting faculty and quality of education while raising tuition just to break even each year.
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From what I've heard others saying, part of the reason it's become so expensive is because the availability of student loans. Not having the money to go is no longer an issue for most people, so colleges can afford to raise tuition and not see any decrease in enrollment because of it. Instead college students simply take out higher loans (for which they later pay dearly when they can't get a job).
Online courses cost the same as regular ones at a given institution, sometimes more. Many of the online only schools are for-profit and not very well respected in the professional world. Either way, they still have to pay an instructor to design and facilitate the course online, and they also have to pay for an online learning software (such as Blackboard) to distribute it.
The best way to get through college cheaply is to live with relatives (for extremely cheap/free), get as many credits as you can in community college (which costs about a third of a regular college), and then transfer to a 4-year degree granting school. If there is both a community and 4 year college in your hometown then you are in a very good position. It may not be the most prestigious school or the best for your field of study, but most employers these days care way more about experience than where you went to school. It ends up just being a name on a resume in the end, and slight difference in rank or prestige carry little to no weight in hiring decisions, unless it's a top-tier school (ivy league, etc.).
The only real value of the so called 'better' schools is the networking you might obtain while studying there. Honestly though, if you're determined and know how to network, you'll find a way to get connected no matter where you're at. The 'better' networking is often not worth the six figure loans.
As far as tuition going down, there are some regulations that ensure it does not raise too quickly. However I don't think it will ever go down. If there were to be a massive political shift and a large portion of tax dollars used to aid struggling universities, then tuition might stop increasing and even out over time with inflation. But at the moment, public schools are actually 'losing' govenrment aid and instead resort to cutting faculty and quality of education while raising tuition just to break even each year.