Five Cents a Ride The Cost of College in 1910

In 1910, the average starting salary for a college graduate was $750 a year. The average starting salary for a Pace undergraduate in 2005 was $43,000 a year. Obviously, the times have changed for the better. However, with an average of $16,000 in student loans, $2,400 in credit card debt, in conjunction with the rise of prices in gas, rent, and food, a starting salary just may not be good enough.

Pace started in 1906 as a two year business school and now, in 2006, tuition, cost of living, and income seems to have been preferable when the college was first established. This may, in part, have to do with the dollar forfeiting its power since the early 1900's.

Of course, what could have been bought with a dollar in the early 1900's far exceeds anything that can be bought today. One dollar in 1910 had the purchasing power of a twenty dollar bill today. Imagine buying a Starbuck's coffee, a brand new CD, and a ride on the subway for just one dollar. A loaf of bread cost three cents and milk was only thirty cents. Even a barrel of beer cost $7, and a case containing 36 pint bottles was priced at $1.75. The cost of living has changed drastically in the last hundred years, especially for New Yorkers.

One of the most significant events to affect New York City was September 11th. Living in a post 9/11 New York, at times, has been more demanding that manageable, especially in downtown Manhattan. One of the most important factors in this change is the ever increasing gas prices. In 1910, gas cost $ .07 which seems unimaginable with today's preferred average of $3.89 per gallon. Even the subway cost only five cents a ride in comparison to the two dollar charge we face today.

But cost of products and services is not the only change we've seen. In 1909, a seventeen year old earning twenty cents an hour was able to live a comfortable life. Despite the new minimum wage increase to $6.15 in 2007, most students carry at least $2,700 in credit card debt and $16,000.00 in college loans. The exponential increase in tuition isn't helping either.

The Pace brothers charged their first 13 students $150.00 for two years of business, C.P.A, and accounting classes, earning about $1,850 total in two years. Today, the University houses over 8,000 undergraduate students, as well as 4,000 graduate students and 700 law students. Undergraduate tuition on campus is $31,504 while living off campus is approximately $37,174 a year. Today, Pace grosses $252,032,000 from its undergraduate students on and off campus. It is evident that Pace is prospering, but are the students?

Pace has made giant leaps in assisting their students' financial situations. This includes offering a variety of classes, supplying substantial financial aid and scholarships, as well as providing dormitories around downtown New York. The University has armored its students with a reputation of being one of graduates among accredited alumni including Herbert L. Henkel, chairman, president and CEO of Ingersoll-Rand Company Limitedm, Melvin Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio, and James Quinn, president, Tiffany & Co, among others. According to U.S. News and World Report, Pace has become one of the top 50 private university business programs in the country. Pace University has transformed in the last hundred years into a worthy investment, solidifying students futures-no matter what the cost.