James: Hello, everyone. Welcome to advanced level.
Lulu: 歡迎大家回到閑話美國挑戰版。So we're going to continue with the topic of university.
James: Yeah.
Lulu: Last time we talked about all these basics.
James: Yeah, the dormitory andall stuff likethat.
Lulu: How about we start with the big question with how much does it cost?
James: Do you really wanna know?
Lulu: I'm a little bit scared, but let's dive into it. First of all, you have public and private universities, right?
James: Yes, we do. So we have for which called state schools and private schools. So in general, public or state schools are cheaper than private schools.
Lulu: Is it a lot cheaper?
James: That is a lot more complicated than it seems.
Lulu: Ok, so, can you give us some examples, like actual numbers?
James: Well, let's focus on just public schools for now. In America, public schools are at the state level. So each state has their own public school. And uh, if you're a resident of that state, you pay what's called instate tuition, basicallyat a local tuition. So let's take a famous school that many of you may know, like a University of California Berkeley.
Lulu: UC Berkeley. Ok.
James: Very famous school. So if you're from California, if you're a California resident, UC Berkeleycost five thousand seven hundred twenty one dollars per term.
Lulu: Per term. So a year, that would be you have to double it.
James: Yes, but if you're not from California, so if you are like me, who's from Washington. The cost of going to UC Berkeley would be twenty thousand two hundred seventeen dollars per term.
Lulu: Per term. Wow, that will make it forty thousand dollars per year.
James: That's right.
Lulu: That's always close to the average income.
James: Right, so myself or a Chinese person would pay the same price going to UC Berkeley, because we're not from California.
Lulu: Oh, so they don't have international tuition. They only have in state/out of state.
James: Correct.
Lulu: What about private universities? Are they…I can't imagine them being even more expensive than that or much more expensive than that.
James: You will be wrong.
Lulu: Ok, scare me.
James: So a school like Stanford, which is also in California, big fancy school, is fifty thousand dollars a year.
Lulu: Fifty thousand, wow, ok, I'm doing the math right now in my head. That's only the tuition?
James: That is just tuition fees. That does not include accommodation.
Lulu: Okay, so here is the question. If this is the exemplary tuition fee for American universities, both state and private, and then ifyou compared that with the average income in America, how can people afford it? If they cannot afford it, what would they do?
James: Well In short, they can't afford it. So they borrow money from banks or from the government to pay for it.
Lulu: Uh, so it's similar in the UK. In the UK, the student loan interest, I think it's fixed at around one point five percent, which is very low, andI heard in Americathat's not the case.
James: Yes, They're so lucky. Currently, the US government loans are five to seven percent interest.
Lulu: Wow, five to seven percent. Then for four years university, if you cannot pay it back, that's going to be a lot of interest. That's going to be a lot of money.
James: Yeah, there are a lot of American students who graduate tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
Lulu: And is it at least fixed? So when you go in, for example, five percent, it will stay five percent?
James: Usually it's fixed to the year you got the loan. So if you got the loan at five percent and later they change the rules, your loan stays at five percent but any new loans will be at the higher rate.
Lulu: Uh, it changes, is it still going up?
James: Alas, I might have to check at this.
Lulu: How can people even afford education?

James: They can't.
Lulu: And for those people who are brave enough to finish their university degree, first university degree and then if they want to go into post grad education, does that cost even more?
James: A little bit for… if you're just getting a master's degree, it's a little bit more expensive. But if you're going into more of professional schools like medical school, law school or business school, it's a lot more.
Lulu: It's a fortune, isn't it?
James: Yes.
Lulu: Yeah. I know that based on experiences from my friends, that's a lot of money. So essentially, if you go through the system and you don't have family money for it, and you just basically getting deeper and deeper into student loan.
James: Yeah, that happens.
Lulu: And how long, in general, does it take for people to pay back?
James: Well, the government loan to design to be repaid in ten years.
Lulu: What if it can't?
James: Then they will take more than ten years.
Lulu: Ok, all right. So does that mean that when you start working, they would just take it out of your pay?
James: It is possible, but that normally doesn't happen. The government loans that you can work with the government to come up with a payment schedule that is more suitable for you. The bank loans are much more vicious.
Lulu: It just sounds like a lot of debt. Then at least getting an education, I think that's most people think. So nowadays in America with a university degree, does that mean a lot?
James: It still does. University graduates do have a higher employment rate than none university graduates. Most jobs to require the degree, their salaries are slightly higher. But in a lot of cases, especially in more technical fields, science fields, a bachelor's degree usually isn't enough.
Lulu: Ah, soyou have to go higher.Just out of curiosity, what is the percentage of American that actually have a bachelor's degree or up?
James: Slightly more than a third.
Lulu: Okay. So, One third of the country have bachelor's degree or up.
James: Yes,the adult population.
Lulu: Then, talking about employment/unemployment rate for university graduates. It seems that people who are in certain majors, they are having a hard time finding job, for example, you constantly hear jokes about English Literature Major having a hard time findingjob.
James:Right, well, the students who have the highest potential would be STEM majors. So science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Lulu: Oh, S T E M. Yeah, what if you study history or art?
James: Well I became a teacher, and I studied history. So um, there are paths, but most likely if you're going to study on STEM, you're going to be moving into a field that has nothing to do with your degree. And you might have to do more learning in order to be more marketable for a company.
Lulu: I think it's roughly the same in china. We do have a similar situation going on. And you know, in china, we also hear the whole thing about schools in general, universities in general in the west, it's easier to get in but it's more difficult to graduate. So do all people who go into the universitiesgraduate?
James: Definitely not, there are quite few students who do not complete their studies.
Lulu: What is the percentage?
James: Most schools have a completion rate between sixty and seventy percent.
Lulu: Sixty to seventy percent as low as that. That's pretty low, because we Chinese universities generally over ninety five percent as a completion rate.
James: Yeah, for America. There are several reasons for this. The biggest reason is most students just quit because the university life is just not suitable for them.
Lulu: I guess money is also….
James: Money is also a big issue, just run out, can't afford it, they can't go.
Lulu: But one more question though. Do American parents help at all?
James: Some do. This will depend on the family background, family income andall this kind stuff… But yes,family do help when they can, but not all families, it just depends.
Lulu: So it's not a must.
James: Not a must.
Lulu: So that's what we have to say about American universities. And I'm sure some of our listeners have been to American universities or are looking to getinto American universities.
James: Yes, we'd like to hear about your experiences with American universities, either applying or studying there. Leave us a message in the comments.
Lulu: We will see you next time.
James: Bye.
Lulu: Bye.

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