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College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

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Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#51

Post by TwiztidK »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #26
atarian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not send your future kids to community college and then have them transfer?

If I understand this strategy, you send them to community college for the first two years, where they take their general ed requirements. Then they transfer to a "real" (expensive) college for the last two years, for the deeper/more specialized courses. It's not a bad strategy (we may do it with one of our children). But if higher cost is the problem, this solves less than half of it. Half because they still go to an…

Community College is cheap, really cheap. I took CC classes during the summer while I was in school, working an internship at the same time, to knock out some of my humanities classes. In total, it cost me around $1500 to take 15 credit hours of classes there (compared to $7k + fees for the same at my college).

But, you're right, it does solve a little less than half the cost. Which is awesome! If you wanted to go to a nice restaurant and could buy a Groupon that would let you get $100 of food for $55, that would be a great deal, despite it not being free.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#52

Post by billmalarky »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #27
atarian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not send your future kids to community college and then have them transfer?

Assuming they can get into college after that. If you think competition is fierce in a world of 7 billion people, imagine how it will look with 8 or 9 or 10.

You're making a lot of negative predictions about a world that is changing pretty drastically. Maybe you're right and we're headed for a dystopian future. While that's certainly a possibility, there are many other positive possibilities your children could experience (psuedo post-scarcity through the singularity, virtual reality, etc).

I'd wager the odds are quite good that life will be a more positive experience in the next 150 years than in the period of "dawn of mankind" - 1900.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#53

Post by tinduck »

sotojuan wrote: post #17

In my experience the middle and higher income brackets (middle and upper middle suburban class) is the bracket that is hurt the most by college costs. Too rich for substantial need-based financial aid, too poor to pay without big loans. The only answer is merit scholarships, but those can't go for everyone, so you end up with moms taking their kids to 1000 summer activities so they're competitive :-) Here's a possibl…

It hurts on all levels of the income spectrum, from lower to upper middle class. It's real bad in Tennessee where our flagship public school is 389.9 miles away from what was our biggest city in Memphis.

I am shifting in the opinion that we need to start funneling more money in to our public urban commuter schools. Wayne State, University of Memphis, Towson University, University of Cincinnati, etc... Honestly, The amount of public money that goes to private universities in this country is disgusting. Also the effects of Economic Agglomeration are well known.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#54

Post by flubert »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #15
sp332 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry if I misunderstood, but you're not having kids because you might not afford to send them to college? Edit: I just wanted to point out that the sticker price is usually not what people pay for college. Grants are very common and so are scholarships of various kinds and sizes. But beyond all that, you can opt-in to this repayment plan https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-education... which caps the…

We aren't going to have kids we can't support. Right now we absolutely cannot, and even in five years time things will still be looking relatively tight. We might be able by then to scrape together a down payment on a mortgage, or have a child, but not both. The biological window gets smaller by the day. Why bother?

I'm sure the you know this, but sometime I wonder if others on HN aren't aware that a house AND kids are how the other 99% lives.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/309-W-Maple-Ave-Mc-Cracken...

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1063-7th-Ave-S-Clinton-IA-...

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/112-E-James-St-Collinwood-...

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/740-Maple-Ave-Wild-Rose-WI...

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#55

Post by civilian »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #22
billmalarky wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"assuming costs rise at the same rate as the last 30 years" I just can't believe that will happen. The millennial generation has been burned HARD by higher education. I'm guessing the demand for expensive programs loaded with amenities that provide little value will plummet by the time their kids come of age. I expect huge growth in low-frills low-cost technical programs. Also, the insane cost of higher education is…

Theres no network, no alumni connection, no shared sense of pride for an alma mater in a low cost no frills technical program. Like they say, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

As someone who studied biochemistry in a small engineering school in New England, I royally screwed myself when I decided to live on the west coast, and I doubley screwed myself when I switched from biotech to software.

But hey, it's worked out okay, even though I've gotten a 0% boost from my alumni "network".

I think you're denying the agency of your future children if things like "college costs" and "climate change" and other macro-level problems are deterring you & your partner from having kids. Let your kids solve those problems! They'll be thinking about the problem differently than an old fogey like you, because they will have grown up in it.

And more generally: rm -rf, you're a smart motherfucker, and you obviously think globally, and the coming generation would benefit from having more of your spawn mixed in with them!!

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#56

Post by grimberg »

sotojuan wrote: post #17

In my experience the middle and higher income brackets (middle and upper middle suburban class) is the bracket that is hurt the most by college costs. Too rich for substantial need-based financial aid, too poor to pay without big loans. The only answer is merit scholarships, but those can't go for everyone, so you end up with moms taking their kids to 1000 summer activities so they're competitive :-) Here's a possibl…

I had a similar situation less a local top-10 local university. I could go locally and walk out debt-free (actually ended up about $10k positive) or go to a better university (Illinois or Georgia Tech) and walk out with ~100k in debt. A bunch of very sharp people of modest means stayed local. Those that didn't had parents taking second mortgages to help pay.

Suffice to say, I went local and things worked out in the end. I calculated that now, with a top job, I would have broken even in about two years. The only open question is if it will impact my future career prospects.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#57

Post by getgoingnow »

I dropped out of college (computer science) few months ago. Ahhh, the sense of freedom and gaining my sanity back. I don't even know why I enrolled; plus I hated teachers and most students. When I was there, I rarely attended lectures and instead watched them online, read books and did practical things on my own - so it didn't even make sense to be enrolled. At least I won't be a debt slave.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#58

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

spdionis wrote: post #45
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theres no network, no alumni connection, no shared sense of pride for an alma mater in a low cost no frills technical program. Like they say, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Well, you don't necessarily need that to "succeed in life". Doesn't sound like a good reason for not having a child. It's almost literally throwing the baby out with the water. But that's just my opinion of course.

Actually water is cheap where I live, but it brings on a larger concern: if climate change goes unaddressed and global population continues to rise, what world would I be bringing a child into?

At this rate, things just don't look good for humanity. At the very least I can assume my future kids would be safe with stable jobs and employable skills, which brings me back to higher ed.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#59

Post by chris11 »

grimberg wrote: post #56
sotojuan wrote: post #17

In my experience the middle and higher income brackets (middle and upper middle suburban class) is the bracket that is hurt the most by college costs. Too rich for substantial need-based financial aid, too poor to pay without big loans. The only answer is merit scholarships, but those can't go for everyone, so you end up with moms taking their kids to 1000 summer activities so they're competitive :-) Here's a possibl…

I had a similar situation less a local top-10 local university. I could go locally and walk out debt-free (actually ended up about $10k positive) or go to a better university (Illinois or Georgia Tech) and walk out with ~100k in debt. A bunch of very sharp people of modest means stayed local. Those that didn't had parents taking second mortgages to help pay. Suffice to say, I went local and things worked out in the e…

Do you think going to a better college would have made much of a difference in job opportunities? It seems like some of the larger tech companies do a lot of recruiting at state colleges.

Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets

#60

Post by gist »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #44
gist wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with college is not that you have "significant debt". The problem is choosing majors and/or a career path that doesn't allow you to pay off that debt. My wife has "significant debt" from college and medical school (roughly 200k) that she will pay off over 20 to 30 years (or whatever it is). However she earns a good salary for what she does. As a result the cost of the education is similar to a cost of doi…

That is a great answer and illuminates the serious ups and downs with higher education. However, I have two points that prevent me from changing my views: 1: The ex husband is a great example of how someone can go into tremendous debt that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy and still come out with nothing. 2: The rapidly increasing price of higher education compounds the risk of making the wrong choice. A mistak…

Yeah but the devil is in the details. Look further and you find that the husband is the type of guy who did very well in school academically but lacks the initiative to be the person who keeps the good job after law school. To that point he got a job at a top firm but blew it. One reason was he didn't want to put in the extra hours (I think) and he wanted instead to play with his young kids. The hard working guy who wasn't just interested in being family guy (this was roughly 10 years ago btw) is probably still on a career path if not partner with that firm. See there is always a story behind all of this.

My point is sure the game has gotten tougher but just because it is doesn't mean you blame the game you just outwork the other person.

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