I disagree that ~$70,000 for a four year degree should be considered affordable, even if private universities cost many times that.
I do agree that public schools are generally a better financial option, as are community colleges.
I believe the parent is considering that price to include housing and other necessities as well. I really think you'll have a tough time finding a decent University that would cost less than that for a year's worth of use.
No, that's for a commuter student. Room and board would add much more to the debt total.
Re:America’s Student Debt Machine
by vorgisborg on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @04:07PM
(#17862398)
I don't think anyone here is asking for 10 dollar education, by affordable we want an education that won't take us wage slavery over a million years to pay back with potential interest also contributing towards that elongated time. Job security is always shaky especially out of high demand fields, so that is a factor in determining the 'unaffordability', if you can't pay it back and can't land the actual wage to live a life while being a wage slave then it's simply unacceptable.
public schools are also plagued with debt collectively, what a way to attempt red herring.
It's pretty sad how much Americans pay for our higher education compared to many other developed countries. I recently met a few college-aged Brits who just graduated with ~$5,000 in debt. How can we be paying an entire order of magnitude more for school?
Well for one, our administrators are AWESOME! And we have so many!
Re:America’s Student Debt Machine
by neuromantik8086 on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @12:29PM
(#17860176)
> So for those students who aren't going to an IVY on a full or partial ride, or those going to med school, I say do some research before committing to a private school.
It's worth pointing out that certain colleges within Cornell are part of the SUNY system / state schools, so (at least in this one case) Cornell provides both options (full ride and in-state tuitions).
State University of New York (of which I'm a graduate) estimates the yearly expense of a commuter student to be $17,320 @ a 4-year school, less if you live at home, buy used books, take the bus, or go to a community college. It's really affordable!
And there are so many opportunities for part time work on college campuses. Everything from grunt work to being a TA to being compensated for working for a department. Hell, I worked in the nursing department as a comp sci student sorting files and research articles for professors.
Along with this, programs like CLEP and DSST exams that let you test out of gen-ed coursework for $180 a pop. The savings can be in the thousands!
So for those students who aren't going to an IVY on a full or partial ride, or those going to med school, I say do some research before committing to a private school. There is absolutely no reason in my mind why somebody ought to take on such massive debt and I am totally against the idea of our government being in the student loan business.