Wow

MANIFESTO

in the continuing saga of the haves and the have nots, Dartmouth College announced over the weekend that

The Board of Trustees approved a 5.9 percent increase in tuition, room, board and fees for the 2011-2012 academic year ... With the increase, tuition, room, board and fees will total $55,365.

... The College will likely experience a $3 million increase in financial aid expenditures in the 2011-2012 academic year totaling a projected $80 million, up from this year's $77 million, according to the press release.

The college will obviously need to increase its financial aid.

I'm just blown away by this. The $55,365 obviously doesn't include football tickets, the occasional pizza, and the occasional Diet Pepsi. I know how students can come up with the money, but the whole thing sure looks like another method of eviscerating the middle class.

At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I have to point out that my entire college career cost less than half than one year the College on the Hill now costs.