Costly Education - How Much Does It Really Worth?

Posted by Analyse at 11:16 AM

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I was chatting with my cousin this weekend and I've learned that her nephew just entered MIT. Not Massachusetts tho - Mapua. Former Mapuan as I am, I've always been interested to any news related to my alma mater. I've always been proud being a part of this huge family.

But did you know that students from this institute are subjected to a kind of stereotyping? Most of the time, when folks learn that we're from this school, the common remark would be Ang talino / galing mo siguro no? To which I reply, Grabe naman, understatement yan, sigurado naman. Lol.

I don't know if current students / graduates still suffer from this same stereotyping. Graduates from this school normally enjoy a relatively high market value. I never wrote a motivation letter, companies were calling at home to get an appointment for an interview. I had choices. But I probably graduated at the right moment too.

Mapua had been known to be pang-masa. You get quality education without ruining your parent's pockets. I'm not the first Mapuan in the family. My Dad's cousin who is 4 years my senior paid P3,500/semester from year 1 to year 5 (older Mapuans in the family paid much less than that of course). I entered year 1993, paid P7,500 for the first semester then finished my studies 4 and a half years later with P12,500 tuition fee. Batch 1993 started the yearly increase system implemented by Mapua.

But did this increase go at a reasonable pace? I'm sure a lot of entities, from pre-schools to universities joined the bandwagon. Everything had gone at a gigantesque proportion. I've learned that they pay around P40,000/semester now (not really sure, but around that amount anyway), and they're practicing quarter-mester. That's a huge P160,000 a year!

Now. If you consider education as an investment, how much is the entering salary of a fresh grad nowadays? How long is the ROI? Are there still jobs in the Philippines? Are the Mapuans nowadays, with the amount of tuition they pay, still get the same prestige as what we, the former Mapuans enjoyed? Ain't that a kind of discrimination? Because by practicing such prices, the target market had been marginalized to a certain social class. Does the government do something to control prices? Or they just let private sectors exige their prices so everything would be inaccessible to lower class citizens?

No. This isn't a black propaganda against Mapua. As I said, I'm proud to be a part of its graduates. It's better to invest in higher education than spend too much money at playschools. Because I also learned that pre-schools could cost even more than P50,000 a year. That's too much money and when you know that during job interviews, employers don't really care if you did kindergarten or not, that's part of the investment going to waste.

Well, if you have the money, why not. Every parent wants the best for their kids. But should best be evaluated through pesos all the time? If you already struggle to make ends meet, I think it's better to explain to your child that you could get good education in public schools too - that you better save for the more important step which is college.

I graduated from Tubotubo Elementary School (no kindergarten, oh yes!), a public school situated at probably the most rural barrio in my hometown. A lot of people smile or laugh when they hear Tubotubo. Cute or baduy, it's up to you to judge. Laugh all you want but it's there where I learned how to write, count, socialize, build the kind of person I am right now. And yabang aside, look at where I am now (o sige, yabang na nga, lol).

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ana, ganyan na yata talaga, sa Ateneo, I think it costs 100k+/sem. Ang iniisip ko nga, mapapa-aral ko kaya nag mga anak ko pag college na silA?

Unknown said...

ana, mura pa yang Pph 50K per sem para sa kalibre ng Mapua. Kahit mga pipitsuging schools eh mahal na rin. Ganyan na katindi ang inflation sa Pinas. Ganyan na kalubog ang ating ekonomiya. Ang pangkaraniwang Juan ay lalong nawawalan ng pag-asa.

My friend who sent his kids to kindergaten at an exclusive school in Greenhills back in 2002 paid Pph 60K per sem. Sabi ko, Kindergaten lang, ganun na kamahal??

Maya said...

oo nga ana. super mahal na tlga sa atin.
kamusta ang pagbubuntis?

feng said...

ganyan talaga dito Analyse. everything has gone up, sweldo na lang ang hindi! you see, the disparity between the poor and the rich is really big. hayyyyy.

you wont believe it, pero preschools here, grabe, parang lifetime mo ng ipagtratrabaho eh. pero siguro, ganyan lang talaga, have to live with it here.

uy, batch 93 ka pala sa Mapua ha. heehee. napaghahahalata age natin ah. ako din eh, same batch as you. tanda na natin noh.

Analyse said...

Geri, sobra. I hope public schools still practice affordable price and that they still give quality education.

Julie, I hope you still could. Hayy, start saving na my dear.

Rhada, that's probably why my siblings wouldn't want to have more than one child in the family. Biruin mo, with soon 2 kids, ako na ang may pinakamaraming anak sa min.

Maya, naku ma-dear. Depressing situation sa tin no.

Pregnancy's ok. Just like with Louna, I'm having quite an easy pregnancy right now, hope it continues.

Feng, shhh. Hehe. Kalabaw lang ang tumatanda. ;)

Anonymous said...

Ako nga rin ngayon pa lang pinaplano na talaga ang pag college ng mga bata. Problema pa yung educational plan nila at wala na yatang chance na makabangon.

Free ba ang schooling dyan sa inyo?

haze said...

Ana it's a world crisis so everything is expensive. We sent my younger brother to Nursing school (EAC) finally he graduated last April. We paid an expensive tuition fee because EAC is specialized in nursing courses. Naku dagdag pa ang additional expenses, but we're glad he didn't have failing grades and I think in return that's the price :D! I would not mind paying expensive tuition fees if I am financially able as long as he is serious in his studies, ika nga that will be the only riches I can only offer to a love one

Anonymous said...

Hi Analyse,
You have every reason to be proud of coming from Mapua. I've met a few Mapuans and they are all outstanding. And you are right that when you search for work, employers don't give a damn where you had your elementary.

In the Philippines where good paying jobs are scarce, getting education from a well known school(college) is beneficial when it comes to job hunting.
Parents should only invest huge amounts of money on kids who really have the potential to minimize their risks specially if they are taking loans.

Here in the US, it depends on what field. Sometimes it's not really necessary to pay so much money for a degree from a big name school. I was talking to a lady who works at John Hopkins University Hospital and she said that there is really no difference in salaries of nurses who graduated from big name schools and community colleges.
I know of someone who went to a nursing school paying $24K per year. Nagkamot lang ako ng ulo- because Filipino nurses are as good(RNs) and they didn't pay as much.

Re: elementary schools:
If we were to pay for private school here, it will $5,000 per year. After observing the public school for a year, I find no reason to go on a private school.

raqgold said...

kapag matuloy yung plan namin to go back to pinas (dream on, raqgold :D) -- you know how much we would be paying for one semester sa isang german school? wag mo na natungin? kasi ako kinalimutan ko na rin dahil 300% more expensive sya compared to a kindergarten here.. and i mean, kindergarten pa lang yun ha.

pano ba kaya yung higher grades! i dont know how people in pinas could cope up esp since they would also need budget for school things, etc.