How much will VA IN-STATE universities cost in 15 years? (student loan, schools)

[fcyolo]

A colleague theorized that something will disrupt the cost of tuition in the future. You can't go in debt for 150K and be offered a 40K job, it just doesn't work. Either a disruptive change that brings the cost down like online education (which is here even from sought after universities) or something else. It's a bubble and part of the fuel is student loans loaning to anybody included majors that are worthless and have no chance of paying back the loans in a reasonable time frame.

[fcyolo]

Originally Posted by hilsmom

well, the problem is, it is already breaking normal families/humans. Kids are crippled with debt for years and have to put off things like buying a home, childbearing, etc. College isn't for everyone, but it also shouldn't just be available to the 1%.

I have one 9 years out. We have some saved, but not nearly enough if costs keep going up at these rates. We haven't had raises in several years (thanks, Congress ;P), yet the cost of everything else in life keeps going up, and 5-10% is FAR past inflation.

Something has to change. This is absolute insanity.

There has to be a cut off point. Everyone wants to say college should not be for the rich but historically it always has. Newsflash, you move the basic entry to college educated the rich find something else to distinguish themselves from all the commoners.

[Thinking-man]

Originally Posted by fcyolo

There has to be a cut off point. Everyone wants to say college should not be for the rich but historically it always has. Newsflash, you move the basic entry to college educated the rich find something else to distinguish themselves from all the commoners.

....and don't forget, the rich are often the educated.

[Grsz11]

It has to plateau eventually.

[hilsmom]

well, here is the problem with the "it has been for the rich" scenario - the blue collar jobs that used to lead to a middle class life that didn't require college are going the way of the dodo. To even have some very low level jobs these days, you need a college degree,

It's a vicious cycle.

We hope to be able to provide college for both our girls in full because that is what my parents did for me. And my husband got a lot of his paid for through the military and employer assistance (he was on the 10 year plan after military service first).

We wouldn't be upset if our girls did NOVA first - it would save some money, obviously. But, I also am a pretty big proponent of sending them off to college to experience life away from home. I did it at 17 - 8 hours from home. And it was a wonderful experience to be able to be on my own, one I think every kid could benefit from.

[midlifeman]

The cost of college at VA tech in 15 years will be $130,893 for 4 years. This is only tuition and fees.

Current cost of tech is : $12485 per year for tuition and fees (Cost of Attendance | Undergraduate Admissions | Virginia Tech)
Assume 6% inflation over 15 years and 4 years of college.

Check out the calculator for yourself:

https://www.aidcalc.com/CostCalc.aspx

Will you pay it? Probably. All parents are suckers and demand the best for their kids at any cost.

You can always get an online education at a cheap rate or maybe You Tube will come out with their own university. Of course your kids will turn into anti-social programming nerds with no social skills whatsoever.

[hilsmom]

like I said, for a STATE school? That's insane for a private school. And no, people cannot afford it. I know I won't pay that much. If online education is the wave of the future to combat the insane cost of college tuition and fees, so be it.

[midlifeman]

Unless the government some how gets involved the cost of education will continue to spiral out of control. Kind of like Health Care! Although the government still has to prove that they can control those costs as well.

I chose the prepayment plan for my kids. I think we paid $52,000 per kid at the time (4 years ago).

[hilsmom]

well, we only put a small band aid on health care and didn't attack the real problems. We needed to blow up the whole system and start fresh. Oh, well - I don't have a lot of faith that our politicians even care.

It's sad that I am counting on the inheritance that my parents are planning to put aside to mostly pay for our girls, but seriously, unless you have mega bucks, who the hell can afford to put that much aside?

[Carlingtonian]

There are three culprits behind rising costs: administrator salaries, the arms race for more luxurious facilities, and cuts to government subsidies. Google any of those phrases; it's been well documented that colleges have been hiring more and more administrators and paying them ever-higher salaries--while dramatically cutting full-time teaching positions.

My late godfather was the president of one campus of a large community college and retired in 1992; I found out a few years ago that he never earned over $100K/year--or $170K/year in 2015 dollars. The person in that position now I believe makes double that.

Meanwhile, colleges are building ever-nicer dorms and student centers, in hopes of luring the wealthy high school seniors whose parents will pay full fare. And the federal and state governments have cut their subsidies to colleges.

It's a travesty. There's no reason it should cost so much to operate a college. When I started college, I went to a private liberal-arts school with the jaw-dropping tuition of (in 2015 dollars) $13,000/year. I later transferred to a state university and paid I believe about half that per year. This was in the early-mid 1990s.

The Washington Post has a really excellent series on this trend:

Introducing ‘The Tuition is Too Damn High’ - The Washington Post

Part II.

Part III.

Part IV.


(I think there are 10 total parts to the series--all available online.)

How high will costs go in VA? Depends on what the market will bear. The BA/BS is the new high school diploma, so it's not like students on an academic track (versus skilled trade, etc.) will just not go to college. At the same time, we may see a lot more students take courses at community college first, take online courses, take CLEP or AP to get out of paid courses, etc.