Chicago tech boom really on the way? (student loans, bankrupt) - Illinois (IL) - Page 13 - City-Data Forum

MannheimMadman · 10-02-2012, 10:44 AM

^^ Yep.

Heck, even Canada has a clue on how things should work. Granted, it's not free tuition, but their average cost is $5100, while this year, incoming freshman paid $11,636 to University of Illinois C/U.

EDIT: For the sake of curiosity, I had a look at my Alma Mater's tuition schedule for the year. Freakin' $26,300 per year!

marothisu · 10-02-2012, 10:48 AM

We always joked at my school how in a few buildings, they started putting up 50 inch plasma tvs to only show general news about the university, events information, etc while our tuition raised up $500/year that year. It's like...yeah sorry, I know it's going to make things look "better" but it's not something you need.

Some universities spend their money on the stupidest crap sometimes. A lot of the money goes to keeping up the buildings and paying your professors' salaries.

ToriaT · 10-02-2012, 01:08 PM

Pretty convincing graphic but there could be a catch. I think, and I do not know for sure so enlighten me, that a lot of the countries offer free education not to everyone but to those that test out at a certain level. If you do not have certain grades or test scores then you get put into vocational or other kinds of training. Not bad but here its a bit different. Even if you are not that smart or if you do not have top notch grades you can usually find a way to go to college. Maybe you have to pay for it, maybe you do not have a degree from the best of places. But you at least have one if that is your dream. And who is really to say that those folks are not sucessful eventually? I bet there are a lot of people with good jobs that went to CPS and maybe the junior colleges that struggled to get into a four year school and have become successful. I do not like the idea of the State or government telling me you are a C+ student, so you can't go to college as we are only taking the A-B students and giving them a free education. As much as a free education is attractive. The graphic though does make some compelling arguments.

emathias · 10-02-2012, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

^ pretty damn true. I need to get to scandanavia. My dad did a lot of his doctoral work there and my parents absolutely loved it there.

The debt thing though, I don't think a lot of parents who CAN afford it start investing early enough. I know a lot of parents make the kids save up, which is the right thing to do, but I don't think they realize there's ways to grow money over many years from not too much in the beginning. While rates are not what they used to be, when I was born, my parents and grandparents put $1000 or $2000 total into a CD account for me, and for 18 years just let it mature, and each time putting it into new CDs, etc. By the time I graduated I had about $40,000 ready for me for college use. It didn't cover 4 years, but it covered 2.5 years and the internships I got paid for most of my last year. I ended up taking out one loan for one semester of college as a result, and it did not start out with a ton of money.

I'm not so sure this could happen these days, but yeah.

Last Christmas, as their Christmas gift, for my brother, sister-in-law, and their two little girls, I opened up college savings 529 accounts for the two girls and put a total of $200 per month ($100 each girl) into them all this year, and will continue to do so going forward as long as I can afford it. The girls turn 4 and 6 next month, so I probably should have started this a little sooner, but I think it will help them a lot with the cost of college. Now my brother just has to make sure they're smart enough to get into college, lol.

emathias · 10-02-2012, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToriaT

...
I do not like the idea of the State or government telling me you are a C+ student, so you can't go to college as we are only taking the A-B students and giving them a free education. As much as a free education is attractive. The graphic though does make some compelling arguments.

I don't have a problem with free education only being free for people above a certain GPA. Free things should go to people who both want them and can use them, and people who want and can make use of college will find a way to keep their grades up. Wanting isn't a good enough reason by itself, and ability isn't a good enough reason by itself, there has to be a pairing of the two, and, for most students, to get a good GPA takes both desire and ability.

Part of the reason that works, is that the Nordic countries also have much flatter societies. Yes, they do have some very rich people, like the owners of Ikea, and some shipping magnates, but for the most part the poor aren't impoverished and the rich don't live lives that look completely foreign to the poor. It's a good balance, because there are enough quality of life differences that there is incentive to work for a better life, but the differences aren't so stark that the poor become desperate to escape poverty and despondent if they find they simply can't compete with the best and brightest, which allows resources to go toward allowing the best and brightest to apply their skills instead of excess resources going to churn of people running toward goals they will never be able to reach.

jdiddy · 10-02-2012, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

Last Christmas, as their Christmas gift, for my brother, sister-in-law, and their two little girls, I opened up college savings 529 accounts for the two girls and put a total of $200 per month ($100 each girl) into them all this year, and will continue to do so going forward as long as I can afford it. The girls turn 4 and 6 next month, so I probably should have started this a little sooner, but I think it will help them a lot with the cost of college. Now my brother just has to make sure they're smart enough to get into college, lol.

Wow, that's a generous christmas present. I gave my nephew a wooden alligator he can pull with a string.

emathias · 10-02-2012, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdiddy

Wow, that's a generous christmas present. I gave my nephew a wooden alligator he can pull with a string.

I'm probably not going to have kids of my own, so that played into the equation ...

marothisu · 10-02-2012, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

Last Christmas, as their Christmas gift, for my brother, sister-in-law, and their two little girls, I opened up college savings 529 accounts for the two girls and put a total of $200 per month ($100 each girl) into them all this year, and will continue to do so going forward as long as I can afford it. The girls turn 4 and 6 next month, so I probably should have started this a little sooner, but I think it will help them a lot with the cost of college. Now my brother just has to make sure they're smart enough to get into college, lol.

Yeah for sure. I hope when they get closer to 18 they thank you a lot. Could go a long way if invested correctly and all that...

jdiddy · 10-03-2012, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

I'm probably not going to have kids of my own, so that played into the equation ...

Well, even if that's a case, that's an amazing gift for your brother/neices.

mattywo85 · 10-03-2012, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

^^ Yep.

Heck, even Canada has a clue on how things should work. Granted, it's not free tuition, but their average cost is $5100, while this year, incoming freshman paid $11,636 to University of Illinois C/U.

EDIT: For the sake of curiosity, I had a look at my Alma Mater's tuition schedule for the year. Freakin' $26,300 per year!

Tuition is high but I think the fact that there is no bankruptcy protection plays a part in that.