Should the annual tuition fee be taken as a criterion while selecting Universities to which one applies for admission?
Certainly YES! Even though the scholastic record and the scores in the entrance tests are good indicators of an applicant’s ability to be a successful Teaching or Research Assistant, US Universities have found by experience that some students with otherwise good credentials are poor teachers, at least in the first semester when the American educational milieu is totally new to them. Therefore, US Universities tend more and more to wait to have a look at the student before committing themselves to the offer of Teaching Assistantship. As a result, nowadays, most students who are accepted for admission are initially informed that, while they stand a good chance of securing a Teaching Assistantship, a firm offer will be made to them only after their arrival at the University. While some of them are able to receive such firm offers within a week of the commencement of the classes, most have to wait for at least one full semester, and some of them even for one full year, before the fortunate
