While grumbling at the relative cost of degrees (basially ZA versus the rest), it occurred to me that the real way to analyse this would be to compare the cost of a course (or part thereof) to costs of other products, or to income. For example, perhaps the perception that a UK doctorate at $10k per annum (approx a month's gross salary in ZA as a senior consultant, with personal taxation around 40%) is a lot, but I don't have a clue what it is, relative to incomes in other countries...Its about twice what senior schooling for my son costs. Likewise, a full South African PhD at around $7k costs about half the price of the cheapest new car on the road in South Africa, and is far cheaper than senior school. So, this tells me I'm prepared to spend about 10% of a months salary on university fees. Any other perspectives, or perhaps a bit personal for people?! Angela
It is the Big Mac Index How much labor does the worker earning the average income have to work to purchase a Big Mac? Salaries are usually compatible with the cost of living in the country where they are earned. Therefore, while with the current exchange rate it looks like I make a lot of money compared to the average computer geek in SA, what does my money buy here compared to their's there? They may actually have a better standard of living than I do even though on paper, I make more money than them. There are, of course, a lot of indexes which measure this. Looking at SA salaries it appears that your universities are roughly comparable to ours in price based on local earnings. However, as SA allows us to pursue the degree from a distance we are allowed to take advantage of the exchange rate.
My own pain threshold for university tuition/fees comes when the cost in dollars starts to seem more than the cost in terms of my time. For example, a typical (Australian) semester course costs me about US$1000, and 100-150 hours of my time. To my mind, in this case the investment of my time is significantly greater than the direct monetary cost, so the latter doesn't concern me too much. Conversely, a course from Columbia or USC might cost over $3000, and at that point the cost in dollars seems as significant as the cost in hours.
Costs Angela, I am paying over $8k per year for my child to attend private school. The public schools in the southern U.S. are not adequate in most areas. And not just by my standards. Multiply that times 12 years and compare your degree to a high school diploma. Feel better? you may want to look at www.salary.com it has some factors. not sure if it looks at countries outside the U.S. but it will give you some cost of living for the U.S. Oxpecker, I use your method for looking at my own continued education. A friend of mine uses the beer and pizza rule. If the amount of beer and pizza he could buy with the same money is more valuable to him he doesn't spend the money on education. Kevin
