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Good morning, and welcome to the Wednesday Morning Quickies. Today’s lead story is another tuition hike at the University of Kentucky, a total of 4%.
Here are some quick year-to-year average comparisons for college attendance since 1976, when I was a college student. The average cost of tuition of attending a public university like the University of Kentucky was around $2600 in 2016 dollars. My last tuition check at Western Kentucky University (note that this did not include room and board as the above figure does) was $750 for 12 credit hours in 1979 dollars, which works out to about $2480 in 2016 dollars.
If you look at the link above, you’ll note very quickly where the college price explosion took place — in the 1986 academic year, where tuition costs leaped up 35%, and have steadily increased ad double-digit rates every year since. UK’s increase is incredibly modest by these standards, but do note it was mandated at this level by the state Council on Postsecondary Education, which is mostly appointed by the governor.
I admit to having serious concerns about the relationship between easy, low-interest student loan programs and the university system that benefits from the nature of those loans. With so many former students struggling to repay massive student loans becoming a national epidemic, one has to wonder how long it can continue to be viable.
Consider:
UK officials are sensitive about public criticism over tuition increases, and always present a list of state flagship universities with higher in-state tuition, including Virginia, Michigan, Illinois and Tennessee. Less expensive than UK are Indiana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio and Missouri.
According to one UK study from a group of students who started in 2010, about half graduated with no debt, but those who did graduate with debt had an average debt load of $30,000. That’s about the same as the U.S. average, according to the Project on Student Debt.
Starting your working life $30k in the hole seems... sub-optimal to me.
Tweet of the Morning
@suns continue their desperate plan to draft every Kentucky player possible in the hopes of one day luring away Calipari.
— Colin Ratey (@Dashots_UA) June 6, 2017
Hilarious. Dumb, but hilarious.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky Football
News and notes from Mark Stoops’ Governors’ Cup luncheon - SEC Country
Both Mark Stoops and Bobby Petrino talked about their respective football teams. But they also addressed the Louisville/Kentucky Super Regional.
Alvonte Bell dismissed from UK football - KSR
Stoops said during the Governors’ Cup luncheon that Bell was dismissed for a violation of team rules.
Boom Williams is loving every minute of working out for the Bengals
Love Boom. I want him to do well.
Mark Stoops Adds South Carolina’s Top Kicker to 2018 Class - KSR
Nice.
Mark Stoops on Kentucky QB job: ‘It has to be an open competition’ - Gridiron Now
It will be very hard for anyone to take the job from Stephen Johnson after what he accomplished last season. I wouldn’t rule it out, but I think Barker is going to have to wait for Johnson to run into trouble.
Kentucky Basketball
17-18 non-conference basketball schedule released - Courier-Journal
The final details on Kentucky’s non-conference schedule have been released. We now have a pretty much complete picture of who the Cats will play.
Is UK basketball recruiting class the best ever? - Glasgow Daily Times
Ask me again in March.
Calipari says Huggins 'doing backflips' over UK trip to WVU - 247Sports
Cool. Well, it should be a tough one, and I expect serious crowd hostility for that game.
Kentucky’s 2017-18 nonconference schedule breakdown - CoachCal.com
My first-pass take on this schedule is that it’s the toughest I can remember for any team in the Calipari era by a significant amount. Bold move, coach. Hope it works out for us all.
Other Kentucky Sports
With depleted pitching staff, it took best-case scenario for UK to win region - Rivals
With so many games played, the Cats were running low on arms going into the Regional Final. They got a much-needed break, needing just three pitchers to get past NC State.
UK’s date with Louisville for a shot at the CWS - Herald-Leader
Ben Roberts details what’s next for Kentucky Baseball: The Super Regional, Kentucky’s first, and a match-up against the rival Louisville Cardinals.
Edmond, Curry Make U.S. Training Team for 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship - UKAthletics.com
Congrats, ladies!
Links Posts
Cats Illustrated News Stand [free] - Rivals.com
I like the part where Malik Monk says his shooting range is further than Steph Curry’s. Bold talk from an 18-year old skinny guy, don’t you think?
Wednesday Wildcats Links - The Leach Report
College Football
Ole Miss uses Mississippi State player's trolling subtweet as evidence in NCAA case - SB Nation
Well, why not? It seems these days, you can use Twitter for anything, even foreign policy.
College Basketball
Thad Matta out at Ohio State - CBS Sports
Wow, I remember when Matta was the next great thing. Remember Greg Oden and Mike Conley and were setting college basketball on fire, reaching the NCAA Tournament final in 2007? Matta did some good things, but his last three or four years have been very tough.
The Cameron Johnson transfer saga shows where the real power is in college sports - SB Nation
Well, this has been a long-lamented problem, and it isn’t going away. The NCAA is composed mostly of administrators, and scratching each other’s back is what they do.
How will Wichita State's move to the AAC impact the Shockers? - SI.com
Well, I think it will help them in the near term if they keep up the excellent play. The AAC is a much better conference and should help them get more respect from their victories.
But it could also cost them if they lose more games. Tough call.
Other Sports News
Predators fan explains his $1,100 bar tab that includes 93 Coors Lights - SB Nation
Well, that certainly is a lot of very watery beer. At least he could’ve made it Coors heavy, you’d think.
Other News
NASA’s Hubble Spots Universe’s Brightest Galaxies, Thanks To Gravitational Lensing - International Business Times
Gravitational lensing. That sounds so cool.
Cannabinoids and chemotherapy in combination kill cancer cells - Medical News Today
Faster, please.
General relativity passes test at Milky Way’s central black hole - New Scientist
Isaac Newton smiles.