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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

#71

Post by readicculus »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #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

I wonder how the survey question was worded because when I applied I recall most of my applications were to out of state schools meaning which at the time these were been 30k+. Wasn't ever planning to pay this much and would only conisder if I received any substantial scholarships or aid. I think applying does not mean willing to pay that much

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

#72

Post by Quillbert182 »

tmaly wrote: post #69
c0balt wrote: post #2

> “The original purpose of tuition discounting was to make higher education affordable to low-income students,” Bridgewater president David W. Bushman said in a press release explaining the dramatic shift. “But over time, the practice has resulted in higher and higher tuition sticker prices that bear little resemblance to the actual cost of education. This somehow seems inevitable in hindsight. It is quite bizarre, a…

I often wonder why we don't provide free university education in the US. It would benefit society and employers as a whole.

Some states effectively do. Georgia and Florida will pay full tuition for In-State students with high enough GPAs. Students still have to pay some fees, so it isn’t perfect, but it provides incredible value.

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

#73

Post by smt88 »

shkkmo wrote: post #61
leereeves wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I just added a similar figure to my post. To me, that seems consistent with "very little debt" as discussed above. It's less than the cost of an economy car, for an education that increases average lifetime earnings by over a million dollars.

That's the current debt load, not the debt load graduated with nor the amount that will end up paid over the lifetime of the debt. Even so, calling a 5 figure debt load "very little" is flat out ridiculous.

$25,000 is basically nothing compared to the extra earning potential of the degree. It's less than a lot of cars. A good saver could pay it off in under 5 years without noticing a decrease in lifestyle.

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

#74

Post by alistairSH »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #21
starttoaster wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Food and accomodation shouldn’t be a surprise cost, as it wouldn’t be if you buy plane tickets to Thailand. Is there any real gotcha costs that you only find out later?

Book cost is highly variable. And not remotely affordable.

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

#75

Post by soupfordummies »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #39
soupfordummies wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tuition has gone up a LOT lately though (like everything else I guess). I remember my school was like ~2200/semester and last I checked it was now up to like ~5000/semester. So there's 40 grand right there if you finish in 4 years.

Is that a community college or destination University? Some of the community colleges near me are going in the opposite direction and have even eliminated tuition altogether.

public university that is mostly local folks. So, not quite community college but still one of the more "cheaper" options around here

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

#76

Post by recursive »

thfuran wrote: post #46
gumby wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>Assuming students carry their debt for 45 years I don't think that's common. I especially don't think it was common ~45 years ago.

It's a totally bonkers assumption. If it was true, it seems to support a slightly different version of the same point. A 45 year loan on education doesn't seem like the result of a successful system.

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

#78

Post by xvedejas »

taurath wrote: post #64
xvedejas wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I held a similar level of student loan debt, and it was worth it. My earnings are much larger thanks to the degree it enabled me to pursue, and I was able to pay it off early. While I don't think the system is ideal, just the existence of student debt isn't indicative of an issue, we'd need to look at statistics around what proportion of borrowers have undue hardship as a result.

Personally I don’t think it’s ideal that people who are going into less lucrative but still incredibly important societal roles should have to give up the ability to have basic needs like stable housing met because the cost of getting into those roles preclude the ability to meet basic needs.

I am not sure if you're in agreement or not, but yes, loans help access things that cost money (like basic needs) in the case that earnings are deferred due to education. Student loans generally require no payments until 6 months after education ends.

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

#79

Post by tafda »

BriggyDwiggs42 wrote: post #38
s1artibartfast wrote: post #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

Can you direct me to my UC’s marble heated pools pls

Berkeley’s Hearst Gym at Bancroft & Bowditch

https://www.nollandtam.com/portfolio/hearst-gymnasium-pool

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

#80

Post by chipsrafferty »

shkkmo wrote: post #61
leereeves wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I just added a similar figure to my post. To me, that seems consistent with "very little debt" as discussed above. It's less than the cost of an economy car, for an education that increases average lifetime earnings by over a million dollars.

That's the current debt load, not the debt load graduated with nor the amount that will end up paid over the lifetime of the debt. Even so, calling a 5 figure debt load "very little" is flat out ridiculous.

It's very little. You can easily pay that off in a few years.
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