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Don't Send Your Kids to College

jamesaltucher.com

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Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#21

Post by Andred »

jgoewert wrote: post #14

The flaw in his logic that I see is that somehow the $104,000 that was supposed to pay for going to college will somehow magically appear the first year that the kid will not go to college so that they can start a business. This is instead of how it normally appears with select education loans. I highly doubt lenders are itching to lend $104,000 to multitudes of fresh 18 year olds that dream about owning their own bu…

Agreed 100%. You either go to school and use that money to gain knowledge, friends and life experience or you never see the money in the first place. At age 29 I STILL don't have that kind of money sitting around to invest. How would an 18 year old kid get access to it?

Also, that $10,000 for living expenses is a static cost whether you go to school or not. So the number is really somewhere closer to $64k.

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#22

Post by barry-cotter »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #11
sasvari wrote: post #5

every time I read about the high tuition fees at US universities and extraordinary costs of higher education in the US, I wonder why only a small number of students are going to study in old Europe: no tuition fees in a lot of countries; good universities all around; no necessity to master the local language perfectly as there are a lot of programs with English as the language of instruction; many locations with rela…

no tuition fees in a lot of countries As a foreign national? As, say, a US citizen without a work visa? Does that really work? The idea that a foreign country would subsidize one's college education is pretty alien to a US citizen. Just going to a state university in a different state costs extra money in the USA. Or are you just asking: Why would people who are already lucky enough to have some kind of "old European…

Tuition fees for all European countries [pdf]

http://www.cesifo.de/pls/guestci/download/CESifo%20DICE%20Re...

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#23

Post by marvin »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #11
sasvari wrote: post #5

every time I read about the high tuition fees at US universities and extraordinary costs of higher education in the US, I wonder why only a small number of students are going to study in old Europe: no tuition fees in a lot of countries; good universities all around; no necessity to master the local language perfectly as there are a lot of programs with English as the language of instruction; many locations with rela…

no tuition fees in a lot of countries As a foreign national? As, say, a US citizen without a work visa? Does that really work? The idea that a foreign country would subsidize one's college education is pretty alien to a US citizen. Just going to a state university in a different state costs extra money in the USA. Or are you just asking: Why would people who are already lucky enough to have some kind of "old European…

Anyone qualified (high school equivalent or better) who has good enough grades to get accepted into a study program can study at Norwegian universities. Tuition is 170 USD a year.

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#24

Post by bobo99 »

sasvari wrote: post #15
mechanical_fish wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no tuition fees in a lot of countries As a foreign national? As, say, a US citizen without a work visa? Does that really work? The idea that a foreign country would subsidize one's college education is pretty alien to a US citizen. Just going to a state university in a different state costs extra money in the USA. Or are you just asking: Why would people who are already lucky enough to have some kind of "old European…

As a foreign national? As, say, a US citizen without a work visa? Does that really work? yes, it does. I don't know about every european country, but at least (at state universities) in Germany and Finland there are no tuition fees for non-europeans as well.

As far as I know, only the courses tought in the local language are free.

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#25

Post by joel_ms »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #11
sasvari wrote: post #5

every time I read about the high tuition fees at US universities and extraordinary costs of higher education in the US, I wonder why only a small number of students are going to study in old Europe: no tuition fees in a lot of countries; good universities all around; no necessity to master the local language perfectly as there are a lot of programs with English as the language of instruction; many locations with rela…

no tuition fees in a lot of countries As a foreign national? As, say, a US citizen without a work visa? Does that really work? The idea that a foreign country would subsidize one's college education is pretty alien to a US citizen. Just going to a state university in a different state costs extra money in the USA. Or are you just asking: Why would people who are already lucky enough to have some kind of "old European…

"Norwegian universities and state university colleges as a rule do not charge tuition fees for international students. However, you should take into consideration that living expenses in Norway are higher than in many other countries." http://studyinnorway.no/sn/Tuition-Scholarships

You do need a student visa, and there are other requirements pertaining to language and bringing the student up to par with what Norwegians learn in secondary school. (As I understand it, our last year of upper secondary school (videregående) is more similar to what is taught freshman year at an American College.)

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#26

Post by angdis »

I don't know where this "college is a bad idea" MEME started from but it is very bad advice that seems to be entirely based on ridiculous financial considerations.

The folks that I know who didn't go to college ended up struggling much harder and much longer to get to the same places as those who went to college-- and these are the LUCKY ONES.

There's also the "education" component that followers of this meme tend to ignore. Education is more than simple job-preparation. It is not merely an an advanced vo-tech program.

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#27

Post by sasvari »

bobo99 wrote: post #24
sasvari wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a foreign national? As, say, a US citizen without a work visa? Does that really work? yes, it does. I don't know about every european country, but at least (at state universities) in Germany and Finland there are no tuition fees for non-europeans as well.

As far as I know, only the courses tought in the local language are free.

the language of instruction has nothing to do with tuition fees (in both those countries, at least).

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#28

Post by nir »

BoppreH wrote: post #10

Isn't anyone else tired of articles that are completely useless to anyone outside the US? I'm fine with political insights, drug/weapons/abortion/religion debates or US breakthroughs, but articles about ways around student loans and rankings of cellphone carriers just go WHOOSH over me. Maybe I'm missing something, but I wish there was an [US] tag for this type of content.

Why is this completely useless outside the US? Going to college is the common course in many countries, it usually requires 3-4 years of your life and more money than you independently have at 18.

(Yeah, very cheap/free in some parts of Europe. Though those lacking Norway-style natural resources might see this change in the near future.)

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#29

Post by borski »

sasvari wrote: post #13
borski wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple: financial aid. As US citizens, if we qualify, we can attain federal financial aid and scholarships, thus lowering our overall cost of attending college significantly; sometimes lowering it so much as to be free, or nearly free. The same is not true if we attend a foreign institution.

if this would be true for the majority of students, there wouldn't be the discussion about extraordinary costs of higher education. or do I get something wrong here? of course I am not suggesting everybody to study abroad, I am just wondering why only few young (US-)americans are considering to study in Europe. especially with the prospect of not having to pay up a huge education credit while gaining a lot of experie…

Right; and I'm not saying everyone should attend a US school. I'm just saying there is a significant number of students who are US nationals that get federal grants and funding. They would not get this funding a foreign nationals in another country.

For that group of students, it is much harder to attend a foreign school. Not to mention cost of travel to visit parents and family. 4 years is a long time.

Re: Don't Send Your Kids to College

#30

Post by BoppreH »

nir wrote: post #28
BoppreH wrote: post #10

Isn't anyone else tired of articles that are completely useless to anyone outside the US? I'm fine with political insights, drug/weapons/abortion/religion debates or US breakthroughs, but articles about ways around student loans and rankings of cellphone carriers just go WHOOSH over me. Maybe I'm missing something, but I wish there was an [US] tag for this type of content.

Why is this completely useless outside the US? Going to college is the common course in many countries, it usually requires 3-4 years of your life and more money than you independently have at 18. (Yeah, very cheap/free in some parts of Europe. Though those lacking Norway-style natural resources might see this change in the near future.)

I'm currently a college student. The university I attend is completely free and is one of the best available.

What about people who don't pass the entrance exam? They go to private colleges, paying a value between 0.7 and 2 times the minimum wage. And there are cheaper alternatives.

Additionally, most people in college have part time jobs, making the payment even less problematic.

And this is 3rd world South America.

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