Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for March 16, 2022

Oh lord. Gawd, I could wish that was all I had to pay for my kids.

Sounds about right for a quarter’s tuition then, but figure half again for the dorm. Authoring required textbooks had become another income stream for some professors.

Yep, that’s about right. I saved my parents money in the early 70s by commuting to a good California state university.

$358 per quarter at Auburn in 1975 as best I recall.

Wow, talk about inflation!

Wait, that IS what we’re talking about now.

Never mind. (Emily Litella)

Sadly, that tuition she complains about is easily the price of a required college book now.

She might want to consider nude modeling for extra cash.

In the mid 80s at the University of Central Arkansas it was $450 a semester for 15 hours or more. Dorm was around 1000 a semester. Books around 200.

College tuition back in 1970 likely was less than I earn in a week now. Sadly I couldn’t afford the rates then.

Those were the days when 1) State Legislators thought it was a good idea to support their state universities, and 2) the GI Bill actually paid your tuition bill with money left over for room & board along with books and supplies (or, alternatively, federal legislators actually funded programs for Veterans).

The total cost of tuition at Vanderbilt was fantastically expensive, $11,000 for the four years combined. During that period of inflation it increased every year. That’s how old I am, and how long ago were the 1970s, and what our grandchildren now face.

So is Arlo supposed to offer to pay it to get a date ????

I just paid the tuition for my son’s final semester in Jan. Oh how I wish it was $400!!

Want to see what the figures in today’s strip would be today? Use this “CPI Inflation Calculator” from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

Are we going to find out what her actual major was? Or what she did to “make a living?

Poor Janis.

Guess it depends. My tuition in 1970 was $1800/term. I bought a new car in 1972 for $2100.

Students working on campus = indentured servitude = work-release program.

See! You two already have something in common. A nice start to a beautiful relationship.

I earned a full tuition scholarship for my first year at Big State U. $125/qtr! By the time I got there in Fall of ’69, it was $175 and I was pissed!

With a family we had our FAFSA score was pretty generous. I didn’t really have much to do with it but my wife could pull together impressive scholarship and financial aid packages, and our kids did also work hard. One daughter figured out in her first week how to get her degree in three years. Graduated a week before her sister. Stole some of her thunder.

When I got to the end of my degree, I found myself open for two electives. I chose Archery and Tennis.

Maybe Arlo will clue Janis into the life modeling program. That’s often where they draw life models from; the students.

Glad I chose pets over having children. When I go to the vets whatever they charge I always say cheaper than college tuition.

Fall ’67 tuition at U. of Northern Iowa, $125.00, I still have the bill.

$1700 per year in 1970

Ole Miss was $350/semester in the 75-78 Time Period.

$400 in 1975 money is about $2200 or so in modern money, for comparison.

Hey Jimmy, Love A&J! I was at Auburn in 1976. I worked at Herbert Music store. Do you remember it? Auburn was great in the 70’s. Good times.

1954-58 My tuition, room and board never went above $ 699 per year. which was roughly 20% of that of my daughter in 1987-1991. This was at state schools. To put it in perspective, my first teaching job in ’59 paid $ 3400 a YEAR.

So it is 1975, Janis is a freshman so probably 18? That makes them in their mid 60s now.

When I started my first semester in 1973 (Central Connecticut State), tuition was $300 a year (for an in-state student). I didn’t live in a dorm, I commuted, but as I remember, room and board fees were something comparable to tuition. Full-time status came with 12 or more credits per semester, most students pulled 15 credits. My first semester book bill came to about $45 total. Today, tuition (in-state) is $5,731 per term (semester). I don’t know about the rest. Lord, what has happened?

From 1970 until 1974, I paid $370 per semester (two semesters per year) at UMass/Boston. I could actually save that amount during the summers to pay for college tuition. Nowadays, that would not be possible and I probably wouldn’t be able to graduate university,

I started college in 1976 at a junior college in Texas. Tuition was $4 a semester hour or roughly $60 a semester for a full load. I’m a professor today and my students are shocked when they hear the difference from what they are paying. Thanks JJ for this flashback!

1977, tuition was I think $300 a semester. All four years there I was able to pay it with summer jobs. As a parent I have voted for every politician who promised to fund education to the degree that it was funded for my generation, especially the ones that called out the state universities for padding administrative costs at the expense of actual teaching.

I start at Auburn in the fall of 1961. The tuition was $60/quarter. When my daughter started in the late 80’s the $60 was a dream (plus out of state tuition!) but it was worth it. Best days of our lives.

Oh Janis, see what the supply expenses are for somebody studying piano, the piano is free. The sheet music gets you.

From 1974 through 1978, my tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was $256.00 per full-time semester (12 or more credits). That was exactly double my high school tuition, which had been $256.00 yearly. I didn’t hit $400.00 until I started grad school.

Jimmy, first off….War Eagle! Auburn was still on the quarter system when I graduated in ’82. In-state was $200/qtr when I started and about $400 at the end. Bought all my books at J&M. Did you see that Anders just closed?

I went to Auburn starting in ’72 and remember spending hundreds of dollars in Johnston & Malone Bookstore for materials for my Industrial Design classes. This strip brings back so many memories. And, yes, you are correct about the tuition being about $140 per quarter.