Interesting graphs and charts department

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

Oh, and that graph? I hate its disingenuousness. disingenuous-ness? The relationship between the length of the line (years) is on a different scale from the height (dollars). Although there are 10 years and 10 ten thousand dollar increments, the ratios are different. The way the graph is drawn makes the cost increase seem more dramatic than it is.

And it takes one cost and doesn't compare it to other economic factors, like inflation. It's meaningless.

The vertical axis is not in $10,000 increments, it's in percentage change from the 2000 figure.

And I think the comparison is very meaningful. The reason for paying that tuition is the return in salary. Tuition is going up - faster than CPI - and salary for graduates is falling. Soon, if not already, it will be a financial mistake to go to college (for *many* degrees, says the philosophy gradaute, coughing nervously... engineering and medicine are probably still worthwhile).