College is going to get more expensive...

[StealthRabbit]

If you think college is expensive (which it does not have to be), look at public school spending...
https://www.teaching-certification.c...-by-state.html

Example... WY = $19,238 / student for public schools k-12
but... College tuition in WY = $5,791 (UoWY is decent U for engineering, teaching, business, I've hired some excellent grads in Mech Eng)) add all the fluff (Including housing and food) and estimate total is $20,258. So, In WY, .. it is much cheaper to send your kid to college than to house and feed them yourself and send them to K-12.

Good idea! Send them to college (and have them get a job and pay for their own), good training for life, college is a tad late for that lesson, but your kid will be learning ahead of most peers their age.

Many states offer a Dual enrollment program during High School.
https://ecs.secure.force.com/mbdata/...oupall?Rep=DEA
Some states will cover college expenses up to the equivalent it would cost them to keep your kid in public school!)
https://www.teaching-certification.c...-by-state.html

Our state has offered FREE FT College instead of HS for over 30 yrs. (Worked for our kids and almost all their peers). Most of my co-workers (High-tech) kids did the same. Most of them entered U as full Jr's by age 18. Getting the first 2 yrs free can significantly cut your kid's college expenses. (and shorten their timeframe to making Big Bucks)

Colleges that are affordable... (the first 100 listed are <$8800 annual tuition) Add fees and books. (Varies, but ~$1000 - $1500 each)
https://www.educationcorner.com/most...versities.html
https://www.collegecalc.org/

Need an out-of-state inexpensive college?
https://www.collegecalc.org/lists/am...state-tuition/

Add fees and books. (Varies, but ~$1000 - $1500 each)

Lodging? A creative student can find very good deals on housing (if necessary). You would be paying for them to stay at home or with a relative anyway. I never had the option (I was GONE by age 16), and a caregiver for a destitute and disabled parent by age 18.

Lots of options.

When costs increase, we must find a way to fund our priorities.
If mine was college, I would have a FT job in my field with an employer paying for my school and OJT (as I did).

Graduate with a job + experience and prepare for advancement. or... leave if you must.

My MD did the path of debt forgiveness by serving at a Native American reservation. Claims it was a very valuable part of his education. I know several teachers who did the same.

Another option... Get a J-o-b and save your dough to go to college. Should be able to save for 4 yrs college expenses within 5-7 yrs.
Or get a better job. (My boss did a summer on CBOE floor and made enough dough for 2 yrs of grad school.)

[mizzourah2006]

Originally Posted by WestieWhitie

College used to be a lot cheaper when the expectation was nothing but lectures, a dining hall that sometimes serves something that might resemble food an an old dorm building that might sometimes stay above freezing during the winter. Things get quite a bit more expensive when one expects the campus to be a luxury resort with michelin-starred dining options and a director of acceptance and tolerance assigned to every professor on staff.

I think this is an underrated statement. I graduated from my UG in 2006 and my PhD in 2013. So from 2002-2013 the differences were fairly drastic. Went from student unions that were 30 years old to brand new student unions with nice restaurants. Went from gyms that were fairly normal to state of the art gyms with custom equipment and custom weights. Went from lap pools to lazy rivers. When I started in 2002 dorms were like 50-60 years old with 2 people to a room and a common showering area. Different floors for different genders/sexes. Towards the end they had specific dorms in the downtown area with rooftop pools. The school buildings (bschool, engineering schools, etc.) were all being built brand new and/or gutted and completely rebuilt.

All of this comes at additional costs and at the end of the day they have to do it because other schools are doing it. They have to compete for the high caliber students and students in general.

[bobsell]

Originally Posted by moguldreamer

The ratio of administrators to students has exploded since 1970.

And most of those "administrators" are just cronies.

Tons of politics involved, with zero qualifications involved.

[bobsell]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

This idea (called education) actually works in lots of different countries.

But it doesn't work in the USA.

Students get caught by the catch-22 and their degree becomes completely worthless as the words "would you like fries with that" become part of their post graduation plans.

[greenvillebuckeye]

Originally Posted by Submariner

I have observed that state universities today are spending a great deal on off-campus extra activities for students.

I live near one of the top 'party schools'. Every semester the faculty allow students to on paid apprenticeships [man a sailing yacht for 3 weeks, or attend a dog sled training camp, or hike a national park, etc]. This is all mid-semester and entirely paid for by the university.

When I attended college in the 1980s none of that existed. Out tuition covered classes that was it.

We have friends who are grad students and they are constantly sharing photos of themselves on a beach, or on the deck of a big sailboat, or at a scenic vista point on top of some mountain.

Graduated from a state university in 2003. Glad I did when I did because during my 4 years there the campus was very sterile. Pretty in the main quad portion of the campus but as you went further and further outward from that main quad area the more plain it became. I noticed after I graduated and went back a few years later that things had been "gussied up". As a result I also noticed that tuition / room / board had begun to rise annually as well. Like I said, in a way I'm glad I attended and graduated when the campus was well....boring haha.

[greenvillebuckeye]

Originally Posted by mizzourah2006

I think this is an underrated statement. I graduated from my UG in 2006 and my PhD in 2013. So from 2002-2013 the differences were fairly drastic. Went from student unions that were 30 years old to brand new student unions with nice restaurants. Went from gyms that were fairly normal to state of the art gyms with custom equipment and custom weights. Went from lap pools to lazy rivers. When I started in 2002 dorms were like 50-60 years old with 2 people to a room and a common showering area. Different floors for different genders/sexes. Towards the end they had specific dorms in the downtown area with rooftop pools. The school buildings (bschool, engineering schools, etc.) were all being built brand new and/or gutted and completely rebuilt.

All of this comes at additional costs and at the end of the day they have to do it because other schools are doing it. They have to compete for the high caliber students and students in general.

I like to refer to this as a collegiate arms race. I saw this happen at my alma mater essentially right after I graduated in 2003. Colleges began to shell out $$$$$ on things that had / have really nothing to do with academia but were / are designed to attract kids. Because if one school does it then the rest have to in order to keep up. You are absolutely 100% correct.

[MechAndy]

Having a set period of time to complete training for a student is a great investment for our in my opinion.
Once again this does work in other countries.
A much better investment than all these trillions of dollars printed to get votes via a welfare system.

This should be applied to trade/tech schools as well.
This is one way other countries have a healthy middle class population.

I think both sides of the isle have been hurting the middle class.
We are well on our way to having the rich class control the poor class and it shouldn’t be that way.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by greenvillebuckeye

I like to refer to this as a collegiate arms race. I saw this happen at my alma mater essentially right after I graduated in 2003. Colleges began to shell out $$$$$ on things that had / have really nothing to do with academia but were / are designed to attract kids. Because if one school does it then the rest have to in order to keep up. You are absolutely 100% correct.

And yet, UC Berkeley turns away roughly 85% of applicants, in spite of having older gym facilities, etc. If you provide a high-quality education and a degree that's worth something, they will come.