So I just registered for my thesis "class," which in reality is just a way for George Mason University to extract money from me for the privilege of talking to the three professors on my committee. No hard feelings, though -- their time is valuable. Now I can finish the Open Source Shakespeare project and get my M.A.
It's taken me almost five years to finish since I was admitted to the Professional Writing and Editing program (you there! stop laughing!). When I took my first class in 1998, before I was admitted, the total cost was about $540. That includes the various fees for things everyone uses (the library) and fees for things I will never, ever use (the pool, the student union, the gyms, the movie theater, etc.)
Today, taking my three-credit "class" will cost me $772. That's an increase of 43%, or more than 6% a year during a time when inflation was less than 2%. It's becoming increasingly clear that education has become yet another excuse for the government to extract money from productive people and give it to a class of people (educators) whom it favors.
