College at its current cost is too expensive for America, period. It has gone up faster than inflation. I still think any college accepting money backed by the federal government should be required to offer courses for a set amount per credit hour. People seem to have no issue with government dictating how much medical procedures and supplies cost, why not college.
College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
71–80 of 213 posts
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#72My partner and I - both well-educated and well-employed professionals - sketched out our long-term financial plan recently. The only way we envisioned owning property would be to build our own a considerable distance away from our small city's center. That alone proved to be a significant part of our budget, which is already under considerable pressure from student loans and car payments. We estimated the expenses fo…
Why not send your future kids to community college and then have them transfer?
I spent my last 2 years of high school getting an AS before going to my state school. I wouldn't recommend it to high achieving students, at all.
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Theres no network, no alumni connection, no shared sense of pride for an alma mater in a low cost no frills technical program. Like they say, it's not what you know, it's who you know.
As someone who studied biochemistry in a small engineering school in New England, I royally screwed myself when I decided to live on the west coast, and I doubley screwed myself when I switched from biotech to software. But hey, it's worked out okay, even though I've gotten a 0% boost from my alumni "network". I think you're denying the agency of your future children if things like "college costs" and "climate change…
Thank you, it is rare that an Internet comment puts a genuine smile on my face, but there it is. I'll keep what you said in mind.
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#74My partner and I - both well-educated and well-employed professionals - sketched out our long-term financial plan recently. The only way we envisioned owning property would be to build our own a considerable distance away from our small city's center. That alone proved to be a significant part of our budget, which is already under considerable pressure from student loans and car payments. We estimated the expenses fo…
Well, children (and humans) are a number 1 environmental problem anyway. So you're doing the right thing.
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I understand this strategy, you send them to community college for the first two years, where they take their general ed requirements. Then they transfer to a "real" (expensive) college for the last two years, for the deeper/more specialized courses. It's not a bad strategy (we may do it with one of our children). But if higher cost is the problem, this solves less than half of it. Half because they still go to an…
Community College is cheap, really cheap. I took CC classes during the summer while I was in school, working an internship at the same time, to knock out some of my humanities classes. In total, it cost me around $1500 to take 15 credit hours of classes there (compared to $7k + fees for the same at my college). But, you're right, it does solve a little less than half the cost. Which is awesome! If you wanted to go to…
The linked article specifically mentions that the CC safety net is fraying as well - costs for middle class income brackets range 11% to 22% instead of 16% to 45% (across various other options and states; unfortunately all 8 states mentioned are different so no direct comparisons).
So yeah, they are cheaper but not all of them necessarily offer the same discount your anecdote provides.
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with college is not that you have "significant debt". The problem is choosing majors and/or a career path that doesn't allow you to pay off that debt. My wife has "significant debt" from college and medical school (roughly 200k) that she will pay off over 20 to 30 years (or whatever it is). However she earns a good salary for what she does. As a result the cost of the education is similar to a cost of doi…
Key to this decision is also the ability to know what future demand for a given profession will be like, and have a realistic expectation of getting a job. Lawyers were misled by a lot of law schools, and their tuition skyrocketed. With automation impacting some aspects of that field, demand has dropped, and so several classes worth of students have been screwed. I'm not familiar with the medical field, but in theory…
> Lawyers were misled by a lot of law schools
Generally a good idea to be skeptical of what someone selling you something is saying, right? I question whether any of these people who went to law school did much research or thinking (or if their counselors at schools did) in advance of such a major decision.
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#77I think a reality that will hopefully soon catch up with societal stigma in the United States is that college isn't right for everyone. I understand this as a separate point from college being unattainably expensive, but it is an important point. I have friends who would be mechanics, Peace Corps volunteers, electricians, or plumbers if they hadn't instead gone to a private 4-year institution, pressured to attend the…
>I think a reality that will hopefully soon catch up with societal stigma in the United States is that college isn't right for everyone.
That's the problem, not the solution. College should be for everyone. There's no reason why a person who becomes a plumber or peace corps volunteer or electrician can't also go to college and learn those things, among other topics.
In 2015, only 33% of American adults had a college degree [0]. American adults are not over-educated, they're just over-charged for their education.
[0]https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publicatio...
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#78In my experience the middle and higher income brackets (middle and upper middle suburban class) is the bracket that is hurt the most by college costs. Too rich for substantial need-based financial aid, too poor to pay without big loans. The only answer is merit scholarships, but those can't go for everyone, so you end up with moms taking their kids to 1000 summer activities so they're competitive :-) Here's a possibl…
Hi fellow UT CS grad.
I had to google for an article I remember reading a while ago but apparently over half of UT grads come from families that make over $100k+. It's not as bad as I thought but UT Austin has a much higher representation of (upper) middle class kids than lower class kids.
https://www.texasobserver.org/are-texas-public-universities-... http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/10/14/ut-unspoken-low-i...
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not having kids because you can't pay for their tuition given your current earnings is a quite novel position to take. When college was cheaper, people still had children. Many of those children did not go to college.
Most jobs require college degrees and work experience, even if the person can be trained on the job. My children could be excellent but have neither of those things and if just one person with a degree and some halfway decent dress sense walks in the door, my kids' resumes will be in the trash in an instant.
>Most jobs require college degrees
https://www.google.com/#q=number+of+people+with+college+degr...
Re: College Unaffordable Even in Higher Income Brackets
#80I'd have guessed most families sending kids to college were making upwards of $100K anyway. The headline felt a little misleading because I thought it was already taken for granted that it was hard to afford for most sub-$90k households, particular if they have multiple kids.