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Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

forbes.com

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Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#11
I question if half of high school seniors should apply to colleges that cost MORE than 40k.

Some of the best educators I had were at community colleges with tuition ~1k per year.

It didn't have the marble buildings and heated pools of my UC, but class size was 20 instead of 200 and the primary vocation of the professor was education, not Nobel prize research

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#12
post #5

Isn't it cheaper to come to EU and attend the uni here then return?

Definitely. Uni in the EU is very inexpensive and all expenses will really be cost of living (or room and board if living on campus). Uni in the USA is outrageously expensive and is in addition to the cost of living.

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#13
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think so. > As of 2023, approximately 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, with the total student loan debt in the United States reaching $1.76 trillion according to the Federal Reserve. This figure includes both federal and private student loans. It's notable that the number of people with federal student loans is around 43.4 million, and there are about 3.5 million private student loan borrowers, l…

Average? Mean? Median?

Average, eg mean.

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#14
post #7
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The college system in the US works well. The vast majority of students go to community colleges or public schools and end up with very little debt (if any). The nightmare stories you hear are about the small, vocal minority that go to expensive private schools and/or major in something that doesn't pay well (like theatre) and/or get Masters degrees that put them in debt.

I don’t think so. > As of 2023, approximately 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, with the total student loan debt in the United States reaching $1.76 trillion according to the Federal Reserve. This figure includes both federal and private student loans. It's notable that the number of people with federal student loans is around 43.4 million, and there are about 3.5 million private student loan borrowers, l…

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Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#15
post #7
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The college system in the US works well. The vast majority of students go to community colleges or public schools and end up with very little debt (if any). The nightmare stories you hear are about the small, vocal minority that go to expensive private schools and/or major in something that doesn't pay well (like theatre) and/or get Masters degrees that put them in debt.

I don’t think so. > As of 2023, approximately 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, with the total student loan debt in the United States reaching $1.76 trillion according to the Federal Reserve. This figure includes both federal and private student loans. It's notable that the number of people with federal student loans is around 43.4 million, and there are about 3.5 million private student loan borrowers, l…

That average is the mean (we can tell because it roughly equals $1.76 trillion divided by 46.9 million borrowers).

The mean is notorious for being affected by outliers, that is, the few borrowers like doctors who owe tremendous sums. (As GP says, "the nightmare stories you hear are about the small, vocal minority")

If 90% of borrowers only owed $10k each, and the other 10% owed 210k each, the average would be $30k per borrower.

In fact, if 90% of borrowers only owed 1k each, and 10% owed 300k each, the average would still be over $30k.

Edit: According to the census, the median student loan debt is slightly under $20k, which certainly seems like an amount that people can pay off.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/student-debt-...

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#16
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The college system in the US works well. The vast majority of students go to community colleges or public schools and end up with very little debt (if any). The nightmare stories you hear are about the small, vocal minority that go to expensive private schools and/or major in something that doesn't pay well (like theatre) and/or get Masters degrees that put them in debt.

All true, however the amount of student loan debt (in total) is still a staggering amount. And while state colleges have sticker prices well below those of privates, the pricey private schools are more likely to discount tuition. So students have to guess at where they’ll get the most aid/discount (most schools do a decent job getting these figures to prospects, but you have to apply to get them). IMO, “shopping” for…

> IMO, “shopping” for college shouldn’t be anything like buying a used car. The prices should be affordable and publicly shared.

The price of a used car is more transparent than US universities. I think the main comparison for the cost of going to college is more similar to the cost of going to the emergency room. You get individual bills coming in from every doctor and nurse that gave a sideways glance at your X-Ray. Likewise with a university they talk about the price of tuition, and oh wait you're too far from home and need a place to stay? And you're under 26 years old? Going to need to spend another $10k per semester for staying in a dorm. You'll need food passes and parking passes. You'll need books and everything.

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#18
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think so. > As of 2023, approximately 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, with the total student loan debt in the United States reaching $1.76 trillion according to the Federal Reserve. This figure includes both federal and private student loans. It's notable that the number of people with federal student loans is around 43.4 million, and there are about 3.5 million private student loan borrowers, l…

That average is the mean (we can tell because it roughly equals $1.76 trillion divided by 46.9 million borrowers). The mean is notorious for being affected by outliers, that is, the few borrowers like doctors who owe tremendous sums. (As GP says, "the nightmare stories you hear are about the small, vocal minority") If 90% of borrowers only owed $10k each, and the other 10% owed 210k each, the average would be $30k pe…

The median amount of education debt in 2021 among those with any outstanding debt for their own education was between $20,000 and $24,999. This reflects the central tendency of student loan debts, providing a perspective less influenced by extreme high or low values compared to the average debt amount.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2022-economic-we...

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#19
I will recommend my kids go to college outside the US unless they get into a household name university. It’s not worth the money anymore. If college was about education surely a benevolent government-university axis would conspire to lower the price by any means; if it were about signaling inclusion into a higher social strata perhaps we might expect college to become ever more expensive…

Thiel and Will Hunting have said it better: “You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library.”

Re: Half of high school seniors won't apply to colleges costing more than $40k

#20
post #7
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The college system in the US works well. The vast majority of students go to community colleges or public schools and end up with very little debt (if any). The nightmare stories you hear are about the small, vocal minority that go to expensive private schools and/or major in something that doesn't pay well (like theatre) and/or get Masters degrees that put them in debt.

I don’t think so. > As of 2023, approximately 44 million Americans carry student loan debt, with the total student loan debt in the United States reaching $1.76 trillion according to the Federal Reserve. This figure includes both federal and private student loans. It's notable that the number of people with federal student loans is around 43.4 million, and there are about 3.5 million private student loan borrowers, l…

I think those figures support the GP's "small, vocal minority" argument. Assuming students carry their debt for 45 years (across their earning lifetime -- my gf and her ex both carry student debt in their 50s) that's only 1 MM students per annum, which is 5-6% of the number of students any given year. And most of them aren't complaining.
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