Bert Dirschell
Centertown
Dear Editor:
A recent NT article on Lincoln University's search for more funding was quite interesting. In FY2019 Lincoln received $33.9 million from taxpayers ($19.9 million from Missouri taxpayers and another $14 million from federal taxpayers).
In 2019, Lincoln graduated somewhat over 400 students. Every degree granted by Lincoln cost taxpayers nearly $80,000.
The cost of my 1970 four-year engineering degree, from a private college, was the equivalent of 6.25 times my monthly starting salary; about $30,000 in 2019 dollars. The cost included tuition, books and fees; I did not live on campus. I received no scholarships, nor government assistance. My blue collar, middle-class family and I paid the entire cost. My wife and I were essentially debt free when I graduated.
With so many of our tax dollars being spent on "higher education," why have we seen no "investigations" on the explosive growth in the cost of a college degree?