College costs

[Irrelevant]

I think the point @wllm1313 is driving at is that you take on all this debt (worse case) not to ensure a bigger income but to raise the ceiling of potential income. Not a ton of CEO/CFO's without degrees of some kind, even if they're not at all related to their field.

Cream rises to the top, smart hard working people will succeed, but those with the connections made through college with your degree can typically raise a lot higher. Of course there are exceptions, but we're talking big picture.

 

[BrentD]

This is an interesting discussion. For a retired prof, I don't know much about what the costs are - we don't collect fees in class (but we should).

Back in the Great Recession, when so many wanted to go to school because there wasn't any work anyway, my institution when the WalMart route. We made out of state tuition cheaper than in state tuition at any of our border state institutions. Enrollment jumped more than 50% in two years. We were slaughtered. It was raining students from the trees. Space on the sidewalks between classes was going at premium prices. It was pretty nuts. It has calmed down since then and we are only over capacity by 25% now.

Was it a good plan? Well it worked in front of plunging state budget support from the legislature. Was it a good education? Not really. But it was a great business decision - like OTC tags in Colorado, spiraling preference points in Wyoming, etc. Everybody has to make money, especially state-operated businesses like universities.

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell AND any human-created organization. which was basically Ed's point.

 

[marksjeep]

Several states out west participate in this program. Worth looking into if your state is one of them.

https://www.wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue/

 

[TOGIE]

But at the same time I’m definitely calling #westernprivilege on the guys on here who had help.

while i know you're jokin around i do recognize that it was a massive privilege i had.

but it's not like my parents were/are rich. pretty standard middle class family and i always felt like we had the least money out of all my other middle class friends, but i think that's exactly why i was lucky enough to have my school paid for.

my parents were big time frugal folks. my dad's parents who were even lower on the middle class spectrum than my parents were savers and were adding money to accounts for all of their grandchildren's education since the day we were all born. my dad had a side job as a home inspector while i was young and all of that money went into education investment accounts.

so sacrifice was made somewhere for me to have school paid for, it just wasn't my sacrifice. which is why i have made the commitment that if i'm blessed with children not only do i have an obligation, but a duty, to do everything i can to cover as much of their education as possible, if not all of it, which is going to require sacrifice.

 

[diamond hitch]

Also as a retired professor, let me give a few ideas. The first two years often contain filler classes for that rounding program. Take them at a cheaper school. Get a bunch of catalogs from prospective schools and curriculums. Compare costs and classes. Then look closely at transferable credits, scholarships, and above all placement and wages. You just as well get a degree in something fun that pays well.

Once you get the junk out of the way have the kid move to the state of choice for 6 months to get residency. Make very sure they work internships in their chosen profession. It will help in placement and they will figure out if they chose well before it is too late.

The number of people I have met over the years with degrees in unemployable fields is astonishing. The dept. you choose will make or break your future.

At lunch one day, the head of my dept said the majority of faculty need to be in a prison or a mental hospital. Its just cheaper to keep them at a university.

I paid for college myself, 10 universities, 12 years, four degrees. Persistence and the judgement on who not to hit.

 

[longbow51]

The number of people I have met over the years with degrees in unemployable fields is astonishing. The dept. you choose will make or break your future.

At lunch one day, the head of my dept said the majority of faculty need to be in a prison or a mental hospital. Its just cheaper to keep them at a university.

I paid for college myself, 10 universities, 12 years, four degrees. Persistence and the judgement on who not to hit.

This^^.

 

[YoungGun]

How did ROTC influence you career choice/ major etc? Do you think it steered you in a specific direction?

At first I planned to go Active Duty, so with that as my plan, I focused on my passions in studies instead of what was going to get me a career, since I was planning my career elsewhere (Army). So I studied Fish and Wildlife Management- long term plan was to do the Army thing (Military Intelligence), then move on to a career with the Park Service or a Wildlife Agency. However, I decided I wanted to stick around Montana by the time I was wrapping up said degree, so I opted for the Army Reserves, with the intent to look at jobs with FWP. Then, while I was at my Basic Officer's Course after graduation, I had a classmate who was Miami PD. We talked a lot about what we wanted out of a career and different aspects of jobs, and what he had to say sure peeked my interest. Just so happens my agency was hiring, so I applied and have never looked back, loving (most) every minute of it.

Did ROTC shape my decisions? Sure. But I also think the road in life is winding and you end up wherever you're suited, it just may take some time for some, or it can happen quick like it did for me. I'm clearly not in the field I studied, but I don't regret it. College and the Army still led me to where I am today, and for that there is nothing to regret. Plus, I still deal with some "wildlife", just the two legged kind most often.

 

[Irrelevant]

This prevailing idea that your degree guides your entire career is hogwash. How many managers out there have a degree in management? My wife manages over a dozen people and a 10+ mil budget in a field that wasn't the one she got her degree, not even close!

Cream rises to the top, if your diploma does nothing but get you in the door, it's done it's job.

 

[Bullshot]

I haven’t read all the responses so I do not know whether anyone raised this point already, but think long and hard before sending your kids to out of state public university over your in-state options. Generally speaking, there is really little difference, in terms of outcomes, in the meaty part of the curve of state universities. Therefore, your in-state option is generally the best bet. Now, if your kids are stellar students and get get into truly elite schools, then that will make a difference and the out if state costs could be worth it. Generally though, for normal folks, in-state universities are great options.

but...... NJ.......... LOL

 

[stealthy_bowman]

but...... NJ.......... LOL

 

[JEL]

We’ll have to agree to disagree here. Running start (high school) programs, community colleges, in state schools, and working 20 hours a week through school all combine to make this very feasible.

This is correct. My three boys all went to state school and graduated without debt. We helped them a little but very little. One played football so that helped some but most sports kids at small schools aren’t anywhere near full ride. My boys all knew what they wanted to do and got through without dragging it on. They are all now employed and doing well. They worked through school and also put the work into finding scholarship money.

 

[pwrwgn57]

Lot of truth to that. First year in the trade out of high school I made over 100k. No per diem just lots of o/t. I was 19 could have paid for college in full in a couple years. Most kids out of high school aren't willing to do 70 to 80 hour weeks though either I don't think.

Most of the younger employees don’t even want to work 40 hours. See it quite a bit with the new hires at my company that are put in the field and required to work 6 days a week. Very few last long.

 

[3855WIN]

We’ll have to agree to disagree here. Running start (high school) programs, community colleges, in state schools, and working 20 hours a week through school all combine to make this very feasible.

No, not really feasible to work your way through a decent college these days. Tuition has increased way past inflation.

 

[3855WIN]

My wife and I are paying for our kids to go to good schools. We paid for them to go to an outstanding private HS. We put a high priority on education and our kids starting life debt free. It all comes down to what you can afford and the future you want your children to have.

 

[BuzzH]

No, not really feasible to work your way through a decent college these days. Tuition has increased way past inflation.

I disagree...where I went to college, U of Montana yearly tuition for instate is about 5K a year, another $1k for books etc. so 6K a year.

Summer job will pay for that easily if you live at home.

 

[Irrelevant]

I disagree...where I went to college, U of Montana yearly tuition for instate is about 5K a year, another $1k for books etc. so 6K a year.

Summer job will pay for that easily if you live at home.

Sure, but then you have UW:


I wouldn't call UW elite, they're mid to upper level school, where you could either walk away as just another # with a piece of paper, or make connections into some very technical and unique fields. But it ain't no Harvard.

 

[Dakotakid]

I disagree...where I went to college, U of Montana yearly tuition for instate is about 5K a year, another $1k for books etc. so 6K a year.

Summer job will pay for that easily if you live at home.

What year?

 

[Southern Elk]

I disagree...where I went to college, U of Montana yearly tuition for instate is about 5K a year, another $1k for books etc. so 6K a year.

Summer job will pay for that easily if you live at home.

It’s about $12k now. Around $20k with room and board.

 

[Bob-WY]

Based on the last few I've hired, as software engineers, they run circles around many with more experience. They dive right into new technologies and challenges. I'd take 10 more just like them

 

[BuzzH]

What year?

2021, when I went it was less than $500 a quarter.