A question about college costs.

[Ssith]

You could say I'm an ignorant teenager when it comes to college. The mere thought of going to a CC while my peers and siblings go off to amazing colleges all over the U.S makes me want to die. I've dreamed of a decent college experience since middle school, just flying off to a great college somewhere out of state so I can get away from my annoying family and finally live on my own. Sometimes I don't even feel like I'd care if I left a university 80k in debt. I just want to go out, I've been waiting for this for too long.

In short: my life sucks.

let me understand.

your grades are bad, you don't want to go to community college because of pride and you're expecting to get into a better school through sheer wanting? your life sucks because you're making it suck. go do the work and guess what, you'll get the rewards. the world doesn't owe you a princess just because you were born - earn that shit.

[Drekker17]

The thing is you can spend a lot of time at a CC and not really get much done, and then many times your credits won't transfer so the money and time you spent won't count towards a bachelors degree at a university. Based on your Avatar I Think you probably have heard of SCC or Metro, I know people who have gone there or are going there, and are my age. They are still going to a community college with no degree while I graduated from a 4 year university in 3.5 years.

I mean I don't have a great job or anything yet but I'm independent pay all my bills have a degree and no debt.

I would almost never recommend a CC just because it rarely takes you anywhere you want to be.

CC isn't bad, especially for getting basic credits, my state has a guaranteed transfer program...so if you take one of these classes all Colorado colleges must accept the credit as long as you get a C or above. These classes include English, math and basically any general required classes, and also beginner classes for more specific things. People that are just beginning should check if there state has similar programs, so they can get all the basic stuff done for a lot cheaper.

[Nymie]

Also...what about the military option?

I joined the army For the experence (just going to work and school got old), and i quialify for the new post 9/11 GI bill. They pay for 100% of college costs as well as give you a living stipend every month (anywhere from 700-1600 a month depending upon location). For 2-6 years of service it sounds like a pretty good deal. Why are more people not taking advantage of this?

Also, while in the military they will pay up to 4500 a year for school, ive been going to college for the last 4 years while in the service and have not paid a dime.

Would people rather go into 50k+ in debt to go to school than go into the military for 2 years and have school paid for in full?


Please pardon my spelling fellas i know my grammar is awful

Easily one of the most single sighted and naive postings I have read on this site.

Because we are in a shitty war that until recently had no end in sight. Because you are not guaranteed a cush job stateside, therefore could go off and fight and not come back. Some people have that in them (like my husband) some people do not. Also, the military cannot accommodate everyone nor do they WANT everyone who would enlist or become an officer candidate solely to go to college and it would screw up the military having so many people committed to only a couple years; I wouldn't want my husband deploying with infantrymen who didn't have morethan an average of a year or two experience under their belt.

Not everyone has the same exact options as you. Not everyone has a community college close (I did not). Not everyone has college level options offered in high school (I did luckily). Some people have to take loans b/c there is absolutely no option. I am diabetic (type 1 since age 6) and therefore I cannot join the military. I made okay grades in high school but was sick with mono my senior year; I didn't get scholarships. My mother's business had a fire so she opted to take out a loan for my first year and I then picked up scholarships after the first year. They did not cover 100%. I got a good job, my Mom moved out of state to help her dying brother and his wife, and I continued taking partial loans. I have about 40K in loans, but I am now in law school and using my husbands post 9/11 GI Bill so I will not have to take out any further loans. Life isn't perfect and sometimes you have to do what is not ideal in order to work towards a goal down the road. You have to understand that just b/c you have not lived other people's lives does not mean they are doing something wrong, which is the tone I feel you took in your post.

[Theinquisition]

Easily one of the most single sighted and naive postings I have read on this site.

Because we are in a shitty war that until recently had no end in sight. Because you are not guaranteed a cush job stateside, therefore could go off and fight and not come back. Some people have that in them (like my husband) some people do not. Also, the military cannot accommodate everyone nor do they WANT everyone who would enlist or become an officer candidate solely to go to college and it would screw up the military having so many people committed to only a couple years; I wouldn't want my husband deploying with infantrymen who didn't have morethan an average of a year or two experience under their belt.

Not everyone has the same exact options as you. Not everyone has a community college close (I did not). Not everyone has college level options offered in high school (I did luckily). Some people have to take loans b/c there is absolutely no option. I am diabetic (type 1 since age 6) and therefore I cannot join the military. I made okay grades in high school but was sick with mono my senior year; I didn't get scholarships. My mother's business had a fire so she opted to take out a loan for my first year and I then picked up scholarships after the first year. They did not cover 100%. I got a good job, my Mom moved out of state to help her dying brother and his wife, and I continued taking partial loans. I have about 40K in loans, but I am now in law school and using my husbands post 9/11 GI Bill so I will not have to take out any further loans. Life isn't perfect and sometimes you have to do what is not ideal in order to work towards a goal down the road. You have to understand that just b/c you have not lived other people's lives does not mean they are doing something wrong, which is the tone I feel you took in your post.

Not really sure where your coming from here.

As a current serving NCO in the U.S. army I believe that some of your animousity may be misplaced.

There is nothing wrong with doing a few years and leaving the military if its not for someone, as long as they serve honorably I don't see what the issue is. Some people will join and find the brotherhood of service is where they want to be and stay.

I bring it up because as a servicemember with college under my belt, I don't understand where people can come up with 40k+ of debt and I wanted to ask. It was not out of spite or arrogance..but curiousity.

Being in the service, its easily to become disconnected with the civlian world. Things have changed when i was in college. People wear super skinny jeans now, and thick rimmed glasses and are considered at the cutting edge of fashion. When i was in school that would have been ridiculed lol.

Having many people commited for a few years doesn't hurt the military. People join for a variety of reasons.

As a military spouse you should appreciate this. You benefit from your husbands sacrifices everyday. College assistance, healthcare, commissary etc etc. While I do not say you have had a easy life...at this point its probally alot easier than many others.

Anyway......the jist of my oringinal post is that there are more ways to pay for college than just put yourself into back breaking debt.

[Palmatum]

They wont sell me a bloody kindle where i live!

Also i dont know how many of them exist as e books.

Most reference and non-fiction books aren't and most probably never will be available on Kindle.

Most of them are what scholars have in their library and if you're paying 4k for a set of books, you want something to feel in your hand lol.

[Myrrar]

I went to UCF(graduated last Spring) and this is how they broke down our costs. We are public, have a med school, and have been the biggest Uni in the US for a few years student wise.

For a year
Classes 14 hours per semester: 5,806
Books: 1,146
Room & Board(on-campus): 9,300
Transportation: 1,800
Personal Exp: 2,276(...lol)

Total Costs: $ 20,328(not even close to that realistically)

This is considering not taking summer classes.

It takes an average of 4.5 years to get a 4 year degree. In Florida we have a scholarship program based off your grades and test scores in high school. It got majorly cut over the last few years and now they give $100 per credit hour for the top and $75 for the middle(which most get). So, the major scholarship only gives you $1050 per semester now.

You can try for other scholarships ofc, but they aren't exactly easy to get anymore, not with the amount of students in Uni these days and the amount of money these programs aren't getting anymore.

So, 40k debt may seem like a lot to you, but it's really not. I worked 30+ hours a week, lived in a 4 BR house with 4 people, drove to classes with one of my roommates so only had to pay for gas 1/2 the time, had Bright Futures, was pretty frugal, and still had to take out a ton of loans for undergrad.

[Lockon Stratos]

I went to UCF(graduated last Spring) and this is how they broke down our costs. We are public, have a med school, and have been the biggest Uni in the US for a few years student wise.

For a year
Classes 14 hours per semester: 5,806
Books: 1,146
Room & Board(on-campus): 9,300
Transportation: 1,800
Personal Exp: 2,276(...lol)

Total Costs: $ 20,328(not even close to that realistically)

This is considering not taking summer classes.

It takes an average of 4.5 years to get a 4 year degree. In Florida we have a scholarship program based off your grades and test scores in high school. It got majorly cut over the last few years and now they give $100 per credit hour for the top and $75 for the middle(which most get). So, the major scholarship only gives you $1050 per semester now.

You can try for other scholarships ofc, but they aren't exactly easy to get anymore, not with the amount of students in Uni these days and the amount of money these programs aren't getting anymore.

So, 40k debt may seem like a lot to you, but it's really not. I worked 30+ hours a week, lived in a 4 BR house with 4 people, drove to classes with one of my roommates so only had to pay for gas 1/2 the time, had Bright Futures, was pretty frugal, and still had to take out a ton of loans for undergrad.

Bright Futures has been gutted, when I was in school it covered 75% of tuition at 4 year universities, and 100% at Community Colleges. I saved a lot of money just going to a CC for 2 years and then transferring to a Uni. Didn't get any grants, just loans, and my debt was only $12k

[Neazy]

Yall could move to Arizona and take the AIMS test they give you in high school. It's a statewide test for high school students and if you get in the top 10th percentile or so on all the portions (writing/reading/math, and I believe they added science a year after I took it) you get a full ride to any AZ college. The test was really easy; my SAT was just south of 2000 (too low for any scholarships) but I got the scholarship from the AIMS test on my first try without any extra studying. The only hard part is surviving undergrad at those AZ schools without becoming an alcoholic and losing your scholarship to bad grades.

[Tandrius]

Also, many of us were in 4 year programs (or even disguised 5 year programs) that will not take community college transfer credits. Then if you do grad school (I had almost no debt after undergrad) you're almost certainly talking out of state, and even if you're on a full scholarship you have classes and teaching responsibilities 8-10 hours a day 5 days a week and have to take out loans to survive, because when you work a job you get lectured by your advising professor about keeping your priorities straight.

Then you finish your masters and discover there is zero work because the marked got flooded because you graduated the year of the crash, so you're back trying to get a doctorate (taking out more loans) because everyone looked at your resume for two years and said, "why should we hire you? I have 20 people with your same degree and 15+ years experience."

So yea, 100k-ish in debt from school is entirely possible, especially if you're married and can't just bum in a room with 4 other guys.

[link4117]

As well as people not pursuing scholarships, grants, etc. and using student loans to pay for living expenses.

Bolded for emphasis. Is that supposed to be a joke? Do you know how shitty many many many student loans are? That has to be some of the worst advice I've ever heard. Student loans are nasty little things and most people try their damn hardest to avoid taking one. Also, many people can't afford not to take one. On the extreme end is people attending med school and the like not being able to pay their debts back for decades even.

Not to mention that grants don't apply to a lot of the middle class. Yeah they can get a scholarship, especially if they pick a school lower than they should have to... But other money is insanely hard to come by if your family isn't extremely poor or you aren't extremely smart. Just go take a look, so much student aid is focused on how much your parents make, yet a lot of families won't pay for a kid's education in full. Some don't even give them a dime for it. And even if you do meet the standards to get student aid, you're still going to need loans with atrocious interest rates. Any grants left over for people sitting in the middle class are extremely small. To the tune of $200 - $500.

So in reality a middle-class, above average student has to choose between having an affordable education at a school which is below their abilities, or lifelong debt and an education that fits and challenges their abilities.

[Subetei]

1. Teachers are among the most educated people in society, and as education costs rise so will their compensation demands in order to repay their investment. it's a feedback loop.

Nope... and this was pretty easy to look up avg college professor salaries since about 1986 have slightly outpaced inflation. They have gone up quite a bit at elite research schools and private schools etc but those aren't the ones with the highest tuition increases. There was a list of highest tuition increases and they were all state schools in states with the highest funding cuts. I think the top 3 were all from Arizona which had the steepest funding cuts... we are talking like 24-36% tuition increases.

Private schools 3.9% (if you include financial aid tuition actually dropped 4% at private schools)
state universities 8.3%
community colleges 8.7%

[Catta]

Most reference and non-fiction books aren't and most probably never will be available on Kindle.

Most of them are what scholars have in their library and if you're paying 4k for a set of books, you want something to feel in your hand lol.

Yes, i feel like i should have something on my bookshelf after 7 years...

[Reg]

Bolded for emphasis. Is that supposed to be a joke? Do you know how shitty many many many student loans are? That has to be some of the worst advice I've ever heard. Student loans are nasty little things and most people try their damn hardest to avoid taking one. Also, many people can't afford not to take one. On the extreme end is people attending med school and the like not being able to pay their debts back for decades even.

Not to mention that grants don't apply to a lot of the middle class. Yeah they can get a scholarship, especially if they pick a school lower than they should have to... But other money is insanely hard to come by if your family isn't extremely poor or you aren't extremely smart. Just go take a look, so much student aid is focused on how much your parents make, yet a lot of families won't pay for a kid's education in full. Some don't even give them a dime for it. And even if you do meet the standards to get student aid, you're still going to need loans with atrocious interest rates. Any grants left over for people sitting in the middle class are extremely small. To the tune of $200 - $500.

So in reality a middle-class, above average student has to choose between having an affordable education at a school which is below their abilities, or lifelong debt and an education that fits and challenges their abilities.

It's not a joke. The interest rates on student loans are some of the lowest rates you'll ever find for borrowed money. I did it to be able to afford to live and also took out extra to buy a car to get back and forth to work and class.

[Slybak]

It's an increase in demand. College attendance rates have been on the rise for a while, fueled in part by a growing population and in part by the perception of necessity; in the mid 20th century it was widely assumed that a person could attain a guaranteed decent living with a HS diploma, and you'll find more people today who believe that the moon landing was a hoax than who believe that some kind of formal post-secondary education isn't necessary. Whether that perception is accurate or not is immaterial; if enough people believe it, the demand, and thus the cost, of a formal post-secondary education will increase. The rate of public/private college enrollment over the past century looks like this:



The result is a rate of inflation in post-secondary education costs that far outpaces general inflation, and has been for a quite a while. This year, tuition increases averaged 4.8% across the board while CPI inflation was at 2.1%. And that 4.8% is the lowest rate of increase in more than a decade.

The other fundamental difference is in how we pay for it. In the past, the sufficient level of education that provided the middle-class guarantee (K-12) was fully covered by general taxation. Since then we have added about five years to that requirement (pre-school and four years post-secondary), and the cost of those added years has largely remained the responsibility of the individual that pursues them. In other words, we're demanding more of people but not giving them an equivalent level of support in meeting those demands.

[Ssith]

Just go take a look, so much student aid is focused on how much your parents make, yet a lot of families won't pay for a kid's education in full. Some don't even give them a dime for it.

this was my situation. my parents make too much money for me to be allowed to apply for student aid jobs at the school i went to, despite them not helping me pay for school. i was told that i could apply after X date, after the deadline for "students who actually need it" to apply, but even after that date i wasn't allowed to get a job through that program on campus.

[link4117]

It's not a joke. The interest rates on student loans are some of the lowest rates you'll ever find for borrowed money. I did it to be able to afford to live and also took out extra to buy a car to get back and forth to work and class.

What? When? Go look right now. Most rates sit at 3-3.5% for anything else. Student loans, on average, sit at 6-8%. The lowest I found was 3.5% in school that changed to 6.5% after you complete undergrad. Most students will have part of the loan left when they finish college.

[n33b0wner3]

let me understand.

your grades are bad, you don't want to go to community college because of pride and you're expecting to get into a better school through sheer wanting? your life sucks because you're making it suck. go do the work and guess what, you'll get the rewards. the world doesn't owe you a princess just because you were born - earn that shit.

Thanks for the tongue-lashing, mom. What you're saying really ties into the whole "ignorant teenager" thing I mentioned before, nothing new to me. Thanks for the input though.

[Garnier Fructis]

Thanks for the tongue-lashing, mom. What you're saying really ties into the whole "ignorant teenager" thing I mentioned before, nothing new to me. Thanks for the input though.

Dude I hated the thought of going to a community college at first, but after doing that for 2 years and moving on to a university, I can honestly say that community college is about the best damn thing that's ever happened to me in terms of education. No debt, no unit limit, it was awesome.

[Voraliska]

I am working on my RN right now, and just finished paying for classes, at 12 credit hours plus books, my tuition fees were over 3,000$(doing basic classes at community colelge, then transferring to university). Pell Grant didnt even put a dent in it(since it is based off of income tax, and we make good money) Since I was late this year in applying, I had to take out a loan, but I have already start applying for grants and scholarships in my area for the next semester, and keeping my fingers crosses. Even with help from scholarships, i expect to be pretty close to 50k in dept by the time I finish my bachelors degree. plus the fact RNs have to keep going to school for continuing education eek, but bonus is with getting into the medical field, and the fact my husband makes good money, I do not see a problem with paying it off quickly. Most people think that you can start living the high life, but if you keep to a budget, and live within your means, you shouldnt have that many issues in the end.

[Garnier Fructis]

I am working on my RN right now, and just finished paying for classes, at 12 credit hours plus books, my tuition fees were over 3,000$(doing basic classes at community colelge, then transferring to university). Pell Grant didnt even put a dent in it(since it is based off of income tax, and we make good money) Since I was late this year in applying, I had to take out a loan, but I have already start applying for grants and scholarships in my area for the next semester, and keeping my fingers crosses. Even with help from scholarships, i expect to be pretty close to 50k in dept by the time I finish my bachelors degree. plus the fact RNs have to keep going to school for continuing education eek, but bonus is with getting into the medical field, and the fact my husband makes good money, I do not see a problem with paying it off quickly. Most people think that you can start living the high life, but if you keep to a budget, and live within your means, you shouldnt have that many issues in the end.

Wow, what kind of extortionist community college do you go to? Mine was $26 per unit, which gave me a grand total less than $400 every semester.