Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983 • Hacker News Board

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#291

Post by elpakal » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:21 PM UTC

phillipcarter wrote: post #121

Surprised that nobody here mentioned community colleges yet. Not a silver bullet, but the total cost of someone commuting to a community college from home is an order of magnitude cheaper than going to college. In many cases, CCs have explicit transfer programs, and the chances of transferring to a decent university after year two are pretty high.

+1, and don't forget that they don't force you to pay room & board for your dorm your first two years.

I'm a product of the California Community College system and a lot of my teachers were teaching both in the UC and Cal State systems at the same time. I am happy with the quality of education I received.

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#292

Post by Xeronate » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:21 PM UTC

pixelatedindex wrote: post #282

Xeronate wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of ways to make money. Picking a job based on money is a good way to be absolutely miserable. My parents pushed me towards making money my entire life and there is nothing I regret more than following that advice. Every day I wake up dreading going to work and it seeps into every aspect of my life.

Presumably you have enough money now to switch to something that makes you happy? Personally, if you’re going to be miserable anyway (as most Americans are these days), it’s probably better to be miserable with money than without money, lol

I'm 29 and have 500k saved up (live in Santa Monica which is quite expensive), but yes I think I will quit my next stock vest which is Friday.

And idk. My best friend from high school moved out here with me and he's a waiter making 40k a year and seems totally happy. Works like 30 hours a week, no mental stress, able to work out and work on himself. I think money is highly overrated.

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#293

Post by anovikov » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:21 PM UTC

Well, speaking of loan forgivance - i am not really sure how it is supposed to work. Just allow to also let go of student debt when declaring bankruptcy, and revoking the degree?

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#294

Post by spacechild1 » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:21 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #144

I'm not seeing it explicitly defined but I assume this is the standard asterisk: "In the United States" so I got curious what's happening elsewhere. Average annual tuition in Canada in 2006: CAD $4,400. 2023: CAD $6,834. So I could see it also being in the ballpark of 710% since 1983 as well. https://www.statista.com/statistics/542989/canadian-undergra...

Here in Austria the increase has been 0% :)

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#295

Post by aj7 » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

“Prices will rise to absorb any subsidies.”

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#296

Post by Retric » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

SamBam wrote: post #179

za3faran wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope to see the day where interest bearing loans are recognized by the rest of the world as the evil they are. Muslims and Jews know this fact quite well.

Serious question: what would incentive anyone to lend to people who have any risk at all (i.e. everyone)?

One of the major dangers with interest is it compounds in bad times. Someone gets laid off for 6 months and suddenly owes more money, this is especially problematic if someone gets injured and can no longer make the same income etc.

Fees are one option. If you agree to a 2 year loan of 100$ as long as they pay you back 110$ that’s acceptable, the difference being if it takes them 3 years you still only get 110$. Obviously this runs into problems with inflation and people skipping payments etc, but it’s one socially “fair” way to handle loans between friends and family.

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#297

Post by rgrieselhuber » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

eschulz wrote: post #10

Makes sense when you have student loans backed by the federal government. If an 18 year old with no money and no credit history gets accepted into a qualifying university, she will be able to receive a loan since the bank knows that the government will protect their investment if she fails to pay them back. So now young people have this easy access to credit, and universities can greatly increase tuition and fees wit…

And I assume there is nothing preventing this student-loan backed tuition money from funding university endowments.

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#298

Post by taeric » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #275

taeric wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see how you think we were only talking of federally "backed" loans, but I did intend my expansion to be all loans the government has "protected." Which, as the other poster points out, is basically all of them.

Federal loans are basically all of them to start with (over 92% of outstanding balances).

I had thought that I had private loans back in the day. Been a long time since I paid all of mine off, though, so I can't remember who they were through. (And, I fully grant that, even if I was private loans, 8% is still a non-zero number...)

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#299

Post by HWR_14 » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

reaperman wrote: post #246

lordnacho wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the CDOs are probably tranched, so there will be some portions that are safe. But in general, you'd think the student loans would only be in trouble if there's a large increase in the unemployment rate. You'd get a meltdown if the government were to announce a change in the laws.

> But in general, you'd think the student loans would only be in trouble if there's a large increase in the unemployment rate. I thought the government guarantees these loans, but maybe I mis-read that, mis-understood, or something changed. I think the borrower is still on the hook and accrues fees if they don't pay but I also thought the federal government literally paid to keep the bank whole.

There are some loans the government guarantees and other loans that the government merely makes immune to bankruptcy. Obviously, they have different risk profiles.

Re: Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983

#300

Post by SoftTalker » Mon, Jul 10, 2023, 6:23 PM UTC

boeingUH60 wrote: post #219

Xeronate wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems wrong to influence your son's decision based on your financial situation rather than his desires/passions. Of course if he's naturally interested in the trades then sure.

Passion doesn't pay the bills. It's good to be passionate about something, but many passions are not marketable. Many have drowned in student debt following their passions, but this wouldn't be so in many countries that have university education fully covered or significantly subsidized by taxes.

The countries that have "free" university education also steer young people into career paths starting in middle school. If you're not the sort of person who will succeed at university, you get directed into vocational or trade school or apprenticeships, etc.