After

Fifty years ago, in September 1970, I matriculated to Plymouth State College, now Plymouth State University, and began studying to become a teacher. I don’t recall the particulars now, but I do recall that some time later I added up all the tuition, fees, and room and board costs of my four years at Plymouth which was approximately a rip-roaring $10,000. Included in those fees were things like performance and music lessons (I was a piano “major” in a Music Education track) and course overload fees.

For the 2019-2020 academic year, an in-state undergraduate year of study at Plymouth State costs $25,790 - $11,870 in tuition, $2,570 in fees, and estimated $11,350, depending upon housing and dining choices, in room and board. The tutition portion of my first year at Plymouth was $600 each semester. I understand inflation has occurred over the 50 years, but I am truly gobsmacked by the 989 percent increase students and their families pay for an equivalent year of education. And, to be clear, Plymouth is not being singled out here except that it is a comparison I feel I can make because of my experience. Take a look at your own institute of higher education; I’m willing to bet there have been similar increases.

We hear a lot about diversifying the teaching force in our public schools, and rightly so. It is my strong belief that, on top of education being one of the most maligned career choices today, students experiencing the effect of an over-$100,000 investment in undergraduate school as an education major, see loans and repayment of same as a showstopper on a public educator’s salary. The financial pile-on continues when one considers costs of required licensure and testing (MTEL), as well as the requirement for a graduate degree in education by the fifth year of employment.

Here’s what I think. In order to increase the diversification of teaching and education force, there needs to be a real effort to make higher education affordable. In order to make a career in education a choice for BIPOC and language-diverse candidates, I believe the credentials - the degree, the license, the post-graduate requirements - have to be attainable financially without causing a lifetime of choking debt.

Once this country gets serious about creating an affordable pathway through higher education, a career in education will become a viable option, and the efforts to foster a teaching population reflective of the diversity in our society will begin in earnest.