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U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

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Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#151

Post by LanceH »

sodafountan wrote: post #90
LanceH wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very first step should be to make student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy again.

You can't do that because it would be far more beneficial at this point to just declare bankruptcy out of college and get the loans dismissed than it would be to pay them back. Also there's nothing of value to repossess if you were to declare bankruptcy, banks can't repossess and then re-sell a college degree.

Why are these loans special? Other loans without collateral exist. Maybe private lenders shouldn't have the full force of the government behind them. Maybe they shouldn't be offering some of these loans.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#152

Post by gnicholas »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #77

UChicago 2011 graduate here. When I attended, I paid about $20k/year in tuition, given that I had various merit scholarships, worked for the university, and that my siblings also attended school. My parents were in for a RUDE awakening in my fourth year, however, when my brother graduated his undergraduate program...UChicago found out via a survey, that I was now the sole college attendee, and without warning they ja…

Different schools do the sibling calculation differently. I had the same experience you describe in my third year at Swarthmore, which jacked up the "parental contribution" after my brother graduated from Carleton College. But Carleton does things differently, with the same parental contribution each year. They know going in how many siblings you have and just come up with a flat rate that you pay each year.

Each method has its pros and cons: the flat-rate method gives certainty, and the adjustable method is more appropriate if you don't know whether siblings will actually go to college. It seems the most important thing is for each institution to communicate which method they are using, so nobody gets a rude awakening.

caveat: my data points are 15 yrs old

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#153

Post by hedvig »

chimi wrote: post #80
slg wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fundamentally incompatible with the idea that everyone should be able to afford to go to college and private institutions need to foot the bill for the costs. We as a society prioritized availability of college education over costs. In order to get both you would likely have to change to some income percentage based repayment system instead of traditional loan repayments and that probably wouldn't be possible…

Debt as an investment is fine. If you are investing in your future with your education, okay, but that requires the education be practical. It must have a value greater than its cost. That is not true for most education and thus we are not investing in our future as a society with this debt. I'd rather the debt we incur as a society be spent on infrastructure and engineers than wicker baskets. Wicker baskets don't la…

Okay - can anyone actually cite me even a class, let alone a degree, that has the word wicker baskets in them? If not, stop using this straw-man term.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#154

Post by stefano »

What I find funny in these discussions on HN is how most people seem to be completely oblivious to the obvious solution, proven to work in many developed countries around the world: have the state directly fund universities and don't charge tuition to students (or charge them a small amount). Why is the assumption "universities are private endeavours that should make a profit" something that goes unchallenged on HN?

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#155

Post by 1shooner »

seiferteric wrote: post #33
chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

This is my thought as well. These universities have had very little incentive to cut costs for a long time and have padded out administrators and built opulent and unnecessary facilities driving costs ever upward. Universities used to be little more than professors and classrooms with very few administrators.

>Universities used to be little more than professors and classrooms with very few administrators.

Correct. There was also no IT, counseling, healthcare, Title IX, and secondary public education was functional. Things are different now.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#156

Post by julienb_sea »

wholepointofcc wrote: post #135
wholepointofcc wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Debt is a powerful tool when used correctly, Could you expand on that? It's a very interesting perspective

Thank you FrozenTuna for your input but I was specifically thinking of physical people, as opposed to companies. I also meant a more specific application rather than a general iteration on the (perfectly valid) idea that if one can make more money with a value now, rather than later, and this opportunity cost is larger than the interest rate minus inflation, then the deal is good. Student loans would be a good exampl…

Mortgages are, typically, a functional debt market which is good for all parties involved. Well qualified buyers generally lack the capital needed to purchase a home outright. However, a bank can come in and provide long term financing at reasonable rates.

The buyer is pleased, because despite the interest payments, over time the buyer is building equity in a fairly stable or appreciating asset. This is a great example of "worthwhile" debt, and the private market for mortgages is thriving.

Of course, when guardrails are thrown out and mortgages are handed out haphazardly, things can get a bit messy, as we know.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#157

Post by viklove »

bluetidepro wrote: post #14

Is University of Chicago even that good? Genuinely curious, as I know nothing about it. I live here in Chicago, and feel like I never hear about it, compared to say Northwestern or like UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago). Why would anyone ever pay that much for college yearly, if it wasn't like the #1 school, by a landslide, in the US? EDIT: I guess it is good? haha The more you know. Just surprising that I've b…

You live in Chicago and you don't know UChicago is more prestigious than even NW? Damn son, you haven't been here very long have you?

ARENT DOWNTOWN??? UChicago is in the heart of Chicago! You know Chicago doesn't end at Roosevelt, right?? Let me guess, you grew up in the suburbs and moved to Lincoln Park 10 years ago?

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#158

Post by oneplane »

chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

In all countries? Here, we don't have that, the cost is fixed and so are the loans.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#159

Post by gtirloni »

stefano wrote: post #154

What I find funny in these discussions on HN is how most people seem to be completely oblivious to the obvious solution, proven to work in many developed countries around the world: have the state directly fund universities and don't charge tuition to students (or charge them a small amount). Why is the assumption "universities are private endeavours that should make a profit" something that goes unchallenged on HN?

[flagged]

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#160

Post by julienb_sea »

chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

Good luck with that. You just made college out of reach for everyone that isn't already wealthy, exacerbating inequality and further entrenching class boundaries.

To be clear, I agree with you, rip out the loan guarantees and let the private market deal. But progressives would never allow this.

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