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Go to community college for 2 years (2-4k/yr)
Go to a state university for 2 years (6-10k/yr + living expenses)
I wouldn't call that oppressive debt.
I agree that looks good on paper but it vastly depends on what program you want into and how easy it is to get into state universities through transferring. Not all are easy to do so.
I know for myself and my husband, we are spending $680/month on student loans, we don't qualify for IBR because our student loan is only like 8% of our debt and I think IBR is 10% cap? And by the time our SL's go into the final tier, we'll be making more money than now, so again it will be pointless to do IBR.
I think this affects many people, most people I know don't own their own homes, rarely anyone under 30 unless they live in a VLCOL area. Homes in our area are EASILY $400k for a modest home.
At this point we are working off paying all our debts using Dave Ramsey, but I'm 31 now and don't see ourselves buying a home for a few more years. Maybe by the time I am 35?
I agree that looks good on paper but it vastly depends on what program you want into and how easy it is to get into state universities through transferring. Not all are easy to do so.
Not to mention tuition figures quoted seems a bit low and the total cost (room board and fees) is much higher. If it were that inexpensive threads and discussions about the cost of education wouldn't be a topic of concern. Let's not forget that incoming students don't necessarily get to choose which state is in-state versus out-of-state. They are subject to state of their parents' choosing.
What's the typical interest rate on educational loans these days? I'm paying for my wife's masters at around 2.3% starting back in early 2001.
Not to mention tuition figures quoted seems a bit low and the total cost (room board and fees) is much higher. If it were that inexpensive threads and discussions about the cost of education wouldn't be a topic of concern. Let's not forget that incoming students don't necessarily get to choose which state is in-state versus out-of-state. They are subject to state of their parents' choosing.
What's the typical interest rate on educational loans these days? I'm paying for my wife's masters at around 2.3% starting back in early 2001.
Those quotes are accurate for most state universities outside of your Cali's and east coast states. It does get expensive when you start talking about room and board, but how many 20-21 year old kids live on their own outside of college students? Why do you have to go away for college? Why not be a commuter student? Most small towns and cities have public universities, sure there are some people that will have to move to go to a state university, but you are pretending like most people live in an area where their isn't a state university within 40-50 miles and that just isn't the case.
My point is there are cheaper ways to do it and there are more expensive ways to do it. If the average student is only graduating with 24k in student loan debt it seems most people are finding that "cheaper" way to do it considering the face value on even the cheapest state universities when you factor in room and board are 20-25k/yr.
Most of my friends are in skilled labor (electrician, linesman, etc.) in St. Louis and in their late 20s and they all make 60-80k a year (depending on overtime). They are definitely not outliers. If you were to move that to a higher COL city I could easily see that getting to 100k, especially in their mid 30s.
I'm sure you are correct on that one. I think most people think of mechanics as working on high end vehicles and doing high tech things, but the vast majority are earning piece rate working at chain shops or neighborhood garages. For mechanics, $100,000 is definitely an outlier.
Electricians and the like are a different ballgame.
Those quotes are accurate for most state universities outside of your Cali's and east coast states. It does get expensive when you start talking about room and board, but how many 20-21 year old kids live on their own outside of college students? Why do you have to go away for college? Why not be a commuter student? Most small towns and cities have public universities, sure there are some people that will have to move to go to a state university, but you are pretending like most people live in an area where their isn't a state university within 40-50 miles and that just isn't the case.
My point is there are cheaper ways to do it and there are more expensive ways to do it. If the average student is only graduating with 24k in student loan debt it seems most people are finding that "cheaper" way to do it considering the face value on even the cheapest state universities when you factor in room and board are 20-25k/yr.
Arizona only has three public universities. Let me say that again, THREE. Arizona State University (ASU) out of Tempe, University of Arizona (UofA) in Tuscon and Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff (my alma mater.) There are community colleges. Maricopa (the largest) has several though out the state. At least NAU (I don't know about ASU and UofA) allow for distance learning at community colleges but they are rather limited. Also some schools are not options due to what programs they do and do not offer. A communiversity (satellite community university) opened in 2010 in my technical hometown and during my last semester they only offered one course that I could have done there vs the main campus so it wasn't worth going there
From where I live to ASU, I would be at about 50 miles but it would take about an hour and a half in typical traffic. To keep this in prospective, I went through Glendale to Maricopa which in itself was a 40/50 minute drive for about 30 miles both ways. If you can get all of your courses in the same day say Monday/Wednesday, Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday and/or online, that is doable. However, if you cannot and are forced to go four/five days a week, it your gas bill eats up your wallet even with a Dodge Dart or Toyota Prius.
In all, school decisions have to be economical to you. Just because you can commute to University, doesn't exactly mean you should. You need to look at your economic costs (not just the money) for rooming options and commuting options.
Last edited by mkpunk; 04-22-2014 at 02:55 PM..
Reason: added more explanations.
Arizona only has three public universities. Let me say that again, THREE. Arizona State University (ASU) out of Tempe, University of Arizona (UofA) in Tuscon and Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff (my alma mater.) There are community colleges. Maricopa (the largest) has several though out the state. At least NAU (I don't know about ASU and UofA) allow for distance learning at community colleges but they are rather limited. Also some schools are not options due to what programs they do and do not offer. A communiversity (satellite community university) opened in 2010 in my technical hometown and during my last semester they only offered one course that I could have done there vs the main campus so it wasn't worth going there
From where I live to ASU, I would be at about 50 miles but it would take about an hour and a half in typical traffic. To keep this in prospective, I went through Glendale to Maricopa which in itself was a 40/50 minute drive for about 30 miles both ways. If you can get all of your courses in the same day say Monday/Wednesday, Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday and/or online, that is doable. However, if you cannot and are forced to go four/five days a week, it your gas bill eats up your wallet even with a Dodge Dart or Toyota Prius.
In all, school decisions have to be economical to you. Just because you can commute to University, doesn't exactly mean you should. You need to look at your economic costs (not just the money) for rooming options and commuting options.
So you are from a small town in Arizona, I understand there are people like you, but the vast majority live in suburban and urban areas. Take Missouri for example. They have public/state universities in St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, Springfield, Kirksville, Cape Girardeau, Maryville, Warrensburg, and Rolla (I'm sure I'm missing some). Essentially every town/city with a population over 50k has a state university. Most of those have all the basic undergrad majors.
If instead I choose to go to Emory or something like that and end up 80-90k in debt for the same degree I could have gotten at the University of Missouri St. Louis, who's fault is that?
Community College in Virginia: 5-6K
State University 14K
I have 2 in college, 1 is @ JMU (graduated from TCC, another @ TCC)
When I went to JMU, I have to work 21 hours a week to pay for tuition. Now, with minimum wage, it's 47 hours a week. I had no student loans. He does.
I guess it depends.
Where I live CC is 98/credit hour. 15 credits/semester = $1,500 per semester *2 = $3,000 per year.
and the local university is $315.80/credit hour. 15 credits/semester = $4,737 per semester *2 = $9,474.
If I just went to school for 4 years it would cost me roughly 25k + books.
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