A thought on Hogwarts schooling...
Having recently become a grad student after a couple year's hiatus, I have been looking back on the Harry Potter series with new eyes, especially after all the crap I went through to get funding.
My question is this- Who exactly pays for Hogwarts? I mean such a large school must be pretty expensive to run and I can't believe that tuition would be offered for free. There is no mention I can think of of Harry paying for school itself, and the Weasley's poverty seems to come down to not having new robes and wands mostly, despite the fact that having that many kids in private school must be ridiculously pricey.
Is there some sort of wizard financial aid then? (actually, I think it would be a great subplot in the 4th book if Percy took the job with Crouch partly because he needed a way to pay off his debts, and so he is even more anxious to stay on his good side) And if there is not, surely there would be some alternate means of schooling, since Hogwarts is apparently the only school of its type in Britain? (something that my school experience makes really hard to believe) Logically, there should be a number of other, smaller schools that have cropped up over the years, as well as another, larger rival who might even ask for less money in order to undercut its competitor. (am thinking of Oxford and Cambridge back when most people didn't got to college) I know that my undergrad university was very proud of its making a higher education affordable to people who wouldn't usually have the chance to go, and when said education has such a huge impact on the way you are treated in society (look at poor squibs, for example), I have a hard time believing there wouldn't be more competitors happy to teach students the same material but at a fraction of the cost. At the very least I would think there would be some sort of alternate/homeschooling program, especially considering how ridiculously dangerous Hogwarts is.
So, am I missing something here or is this one more thing that Rowling forgot?
My question is this- Who exactly pays for Hogwarts? I mean such a large school must be pretty expensive to run and I can't believe that tuition would be offered for free. There is no mention I can think of of Harry paying for school itself, and the Weasley's poverty seems to come down to not having new robes and wands mostly, despite the fact that having that many kids in private school must be ridiculously pricey.
Is there some sort of wizard financial aid then? (actually, I think it would be a great subplot in the 4th book if Percy took the job with Crouch partly because he needed a way to pay off his debts, and so he is even more anxious to stay on his good side) And if there is not, surely there would be some alternate means of schooling, since Hogwarts is apparently the only school of its type in Britain? (something that my school experience makes really hard to believe) Logically, there should be a number of other, smaller schools that have cropped up over the years, as well as another, larger rival who might even ask for less money in order to undercut its competitor. (am thinking of Oxford and Cambridge back when most people didn't got to college) I know that my undergrad university was very proud of its making a higher education affordable to people who wouldn't usually have the chance to go, and when said education has such a huge impact on the way you are treated in society (look at poor squibs, for example), I have a hard time believing there wouldn't be more competitors happy to teach students the same material but at a fraction of the cost. At the very least I would think there would be some sort of alternate/homeschooling program, especially considering how ridiculously dangerous Hogwarts is.
So, am I missing something here or is this one more thing that Rowling forgot?