college-level-mathematics
Original: college-level-mathematics on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Caption: AVERAGE COST OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITY TUITION PER SEMESTER: ~$17,000
(Image: a black graduation mortarboard cap with a gold tassel resting on a brown surface.)
Panel 2:
Caption: MEDIAN SALARY OF AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR PER COURSE PER SEMESTER: ~$3,000
(Image: a professor stands smiling in front of a green chalkboard covered in physics equations, including "F = ma", "F_ab", and "G".)
Panel 3:
Caption: COST OF A BABY TIGER: ~$7,500
(Image: three big-cat kittens. Labels point to two of them — "bobcat: $900" and "caracal: $2800.")
Panel 4:
Caption: CONCLUSION: SOMETHING HAS GONE HORRIBLY WRONG.
Mother (speech bubble): SON, YOU CAN EITHER HAVE A UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, OR I CAN PAY FOR 3 PhDs TO TUTOR YOU FULL-TIME ALL YEAR PLUS A SELECTION OF EXOTIC CATS.
(Image: a woman speaks to a younger person who sits reading a book.)
Source line: (SOURCES: COLLEGEBOARD.ORG, AAUP.ORG, BIGCATRESCUE.ORG)
Votey:
A professor speaks in a speech bubble: "Bonus credit to any student who brings me food or liquor."
(Image: a close-up of a tired-looking professor mid-sentence.)
Caption: AVERAGE COST OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITY TUITION PER SEMESTER: ~$17,000
(Image: a black graduation mortarboard cap with a gold tassel resting on a brown surface.)
Panel 2:
Caption: MEDIAN SALARY OF AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR PER COURSE PER SEMESTER: ~$3,000
(Image: a professor stands smiling in front of a green chalkboard covered in physics equations, including "F = ma", "F_ab", and "G".)
Panel 3:
Caption: COST OF A BABY TIGER: ~$7,500
(Image: three big-cat kittens. Labels point to two of them — "bobcat: $900" and "caracal: $2800.")
Panel 4:
Caption: CONCLUSION: SOMETHING HAS GONE HORRIBLY WRONG.
Mother (speech bubble): SON, YOU CAN EITHER HAVE A UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, OR I CAN PAY FOR 3 PhDs TO TUTOR YOU FULL-TIME ALL YEAR PLUS A SELECTION OF EXOTIC CATS.
(Image: a woman speaks to a younger person who sits reading a book.)
Source line: (SOURCES: COLLEGEBOARD.ORG, AAUP.ORG, BIGCATRESCUE.ORG)
Votey:
A professor speaks in a speech bubble: "Bonus credit to any student who brings me food or liquor."
(Image: a close-up of a tired-looking professor mid-sentence.)
Alt text
A four-panel comic comparing the absurd economics of higher education. Panel 1, captioned "Average cost of private university tuition per semester: ~$17,000," shows a graduation mortarboard cap. Panel 2, captioned "Median salary of an adjunct professor per course per semester: ~$3,000," shows a professor smiling in front of a chalkboard of physics equations. Panel 3, captioned "Cost of a baby tiger: ~$7,500," shows three big-cat kittens with labels reading "bobcat: $900" and "caracal: $2800." Panel 4 is captioned "Conclusion: Something has gone horribly wrong," and a mother tells her child, "Son, you can either have a university education, or I can pay for 3 PhDs to tutor you full-time all year plus a selection of exotic cats." The joke: tutoring from underpaid adjuncts plus pet tigers is cheaper than a degree. Sources cited: collegeboard.org, aaup.org, bigcatrescue.org. The votey adds a tired professor saying, "Bonus credit to any student who brings me food or liquor," underscoring how badly adjuncts are paid.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.