U of Pitt raises tuition AGAIN! (sales, appliances, credit card)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by quaymorris

I second this. I had a number of friends who went that route and it backfired in their faces. If you choose to do so, you need to plan far ahead and make sure for the classes you are taking that those credits will transfer and actually count for something.

UCF actually had a program with one of the local CC's, Valencia, where their graduates who had certain GPAs and tests scores would automatically be accepted into UCF without having to worry about transferring credits and what not. I don't know how widespread a program like that is.

The University of Colorado has a list of courses they will accept from any CC in the state. They are all academic courses, not remedial stuff or vocational courses. And while they accept these courses, they may accept some/all for elective credit only.

[ex-burgher]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

The key word is terminal. That's why I said Pitt is the more financially sound choice if his son is fairly certain he wants to go to grad school. If he wanted to work as an engineer or consultant straight out of UG, CMU would be worth the $60k.

Yes grad school in a hard science followed by probable years of low-paying post docs followed hopefully by an academic job. Not an ideal situation to be paying back loans.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by ex-burgher

Yes grad school in a hard science followed by probable years of low-paying post docs followed hopefully by an academic job. Not an ideal situation to be paying back loans.

My freshman year roommate was a physics major who is now enrolled in a PhD program at Harvard. Your son wouldn't really lose much by going to Pitt.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

There still wasn't debt then that's anything like today. Notice I said ot really got started in the 80's, not that it never happened before then.

Go back and read your history books. The national debt was a hot topic during the 1980 presidential campaign.

[gg]

Originally Posted by ram2

Go back and read your history books. The national debt was a hot topic during the 1980 presidential campaign.

"National debt" yes. This isn't the same thing. This is going after kids with their greed. I mean, $100K debt to start out your working career? That is sick! This bubble WILL burst and you WILL see a reduction of student enrollment. When will it happen? When they turn the so-called cheap interest easy access money flow off. It needs to be done to purge this mess. It sure would rock the university world that is for sure. The money train would end. The greedy sickos like that nordenberg would have to find a different line of work to go after adult's money instead.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

Don't a fair number of American universities force students to live at least their first year in the dorms (unless they are married/have kids)? I'm not sure of how common that is, it's a foreign concept to me as a Canadian, but I've read about it numerous times in the past. I was thankful that my Canadian university wasn't like that because had it been, I simply would not have gone at all.

Edited to add: It also seems to me that some states have universities in really stupid locations, special university-centered cities away from the real urban areas. Like Oregon State being in Corvallis in the middle of frigging nowhere instead of in Portland.

The university I attended required all non-married, non-commuting students to live on campus for the first two years. That said, at the university I attended anyway, the housing costs have not risen substantially quicker than inflation. Tuition and fees on the other hand have nearly quadrupled in the 20 years since my freshman year while inflation has has only gone up 50% in the same time period -- and yet it's still considered one of the cheapest public universities in the state. It's absolutely outrageous.

[EveKendall]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

"National debt" yes. This isn't the same thing. This is going after kids with their greed. I mean, $100K debt to start out your working career? That is sick! This bubble WILL burst and you WILL see a reduction of student enrollment. When will it happen? When they turn the so-called cheap interest easy access money flow off. It needs to be done to purge this mess. It sure would rock the university world that is for sure. The money train would end. The greedy sickos like that nordenberg would have to find a different line of work to go after adult's money instead.

May I ask why you keep referring to "$100K debt"? The average student loan debt across the U.S. is $25,000. Pennsylvania is $28,000, which is higher than the average but far from $100,000.

[Copanut]

Damn, I'm old. I went to college in the 70's and made enough money in the Summer to get out with no debt. Those were the good old days.

[gg]

Originally Posted by raffy71

May I ask why you keep referring to "$100K debt"? The average student loan debt across the U.S. is $25,000. Pennsylvania is $28,000, which is higher than the average but far from $100,000.

Academic Year: 2009-10

Estimated total price of attendance: $36,698
a. Estimated tuition and fees $23,852
b. Estimated room and board $8,900
c. Estimated books and supplies $1,050
d. Estimated other expenses
(Personal expenses, transportation, etc.) $2,896
Estimated total grant aid:
(Includes both merit and need based aid) $10,500
Estimated net price:
(Price of attendance minus grant aid) $26,198

Below is a comparison to Penn State. Pitt is close:

Pennsylvania State University had the highest in-state tuition for a four-year public university at $15,250 during the 2010-11 school year. When the costs of room, board and other expenses are factored in, the total rises to $19,816, the fourth highest net price nationwide.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

I've heard those $25k numbers around 2006-2007. I believe they have changed a bit by now.

From an anecdotal perspective, the lowest my friends debt has been was $40k (which is considered good). I had around $70k myself and actually do know people with over $100k in debt. I jokingly told them to fake their own death and become a pig farmer in Ecuador.