US colleges struggling with low enrollment are closing at increasing rate (2019)

Re:US colleges struggling with low enrollment are closing at... by gpm on Monday January 13, 2020 @10:37PM (#22041613)

7 years to pay it off, 44 years old by the time they are done, you have to account for the 4 years in college.

Also, 150k is almost certainly an underestimate unless that's only tuition. If we assume 150k tuition (over 4 years) and that they currently make 50k per year that's 350k their out for getting educated. So 4 years education + 7 years earning it back would be 11 years, they're now 48 by the time they broke even, before considering interest.

That math still sort of works out, but it's far from a slam dunk. They're accepting a fair bit of risk. What if they study x and by the time they are out the job market has changed and their is no demand for x? What if they run into financial issues while in school and need to drop out? Etc.

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Re:US colleges struggling with low enrollment are closing at... by oivey on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @01:22AM (#22042341)

$150k seems high, especially if you’re making any effort to choose your school based on price. Where I went it currently costs in the $10-15k/year range for tuition, lab fees, books, etc for state residents. You could further drive the price down by doing some of it at a community college and utilizing financial aid. The opportunity cost of leaving a $50k/year job far outweighs the price of tuition.

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