Last week, WSN ran a story on a report from the website CampusGrotto that listed the nation's most expensive universities, including the cost of room and board. As expected, NYU ranked highly on the list, coming in second behind Sarah Lawrence College. NYU's tuition is often highly publicized, and it's a common topic of discussion among students.

As students, WSN Editorial Board members face the same constricting finances and enormous debt that many college students face. But given the location of the school, the quality of education students receive, and the amazing opportunities we are presented with at NYU, we think it's important for students to look past tuition numbers when considering the value of our education.
Whenever the issue of tuition is brought up, the university often repeats the same few ideas: We are a tuition-driven university, we don't have the same endowment that comparable universities do, and everything is expensive in New York. We are not making excuses for NYU; we think it should try better to balance tuition against financial aid. But these points are still valid. University spokesman John Beckman said in WSN's story that being in New York is NYU's "greatest asset"; we agree. We are afforded opportunities here that very few students have. Paying a high tuition is just one of the sacrifices we make to study in New York.

But behind the numbers, we think the true issue of the rising cost of higher education is whether the education is even worth the tuition. A report recently released in the higher education press compares the earning potential of graduates from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, and Pennsylvania State University. The report found that there was little difference in the money earned after graduation. The real difference, however, is simply whether one chooses to pursue higher education at all.

So we ask: Is an NYU experience truly worth $50,000 per year? In speaking to the NYU student body, we think the answer to that question would likely be yes. But will these four years of undergraduate study eventually pay off? That remains to be seen.