Posted on 04/30/2011 7:47:27 PM PDT by Captain Peter Blood
Today I had lunch with my sister and nice to discuss college plans. She will be graduating next month and we haven’t finalized plans on where she is going.
She is a very good student with 3.5 GPA but is not a good standardized test taker, in that she takes after her uncle.
Her first choice for school is the University of Arkansas in our home state. Main problem has been that the university requires a minimum of 19 on the ACT and her best score of the several she has taken has been 18.
So we have been exploring other options on where to go, mainly schools that have a lower Act requirement.
My Sister and niece have been looking at out of state schools, which is fine, but you then have to factor in out of state tuition costs.
So today I get an idea of the costs involved in going to college and sticker shock hit me.
Today’s college costs bear no resemblance to those I experienced when I was an undergrad. Costs have been going up but it’s obvious that the rises in costs outstrip even those of medical or inflation.
I find out today that to go to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, carrying a full load, 18 hours, will cost approximately $20,000 a year. To go to ,say the University of Mississippi at Oxford, about $30,000 a year.
As some of you might know the only growth in loan activity, which has exploded, is student loans. Sallie Mae loans are now totally controlled by the Federal Government thanks to bill passed within the last two years and signed by Mr. Obama.
The fact of the matter is that unless you have a college fund started when a child is born or very wealthy parents the cost of going to college are out of reach for the majority of those that want to go.
Ergo the only choice you really have is student loans, which you become saddled with for the rest of your life, unless you pay them off in a timely manner.
The average kid is probably looking at about $100,000 or more of student loans when they leave school. Of course they give wonderful easy payment options as I found out when I checked the Sallie Mae website. Also they make very easy to apply and get those loans.
As far as I am concerned it’s an insidious plot designed to put these kids on the hook. The Federal Government has become the local loan shark of last and only resort.
It’s not possible for a kid to work and put themselves through school in this day and age without having financial help in some aspect.
Because of the easy loans and the mantra being bandied about that everyone should be able to go to college it’s an easy trap to fall into, or rather shoved into.
Still have to sort all this out but I would say that in the end it’s like Las Vegas, the odds are with the house i.i. The Federal Government, we may have to consider those student loans if my niece wants to go and have that opportunity for a college education.
1) False premise in the main article. Student loans are NOT the only route
2) The military is still giving ROTC scholarships
3) The military still offers the GI bill
4) Some companies offer tuition assistance
5) Community colleges offer lower costs
6) There is always the work and save program
7) And there are scholarships
Student loans are the ONLY debt you cannot escape through personal bankruptcy. Since the loans come from the federal government, people who take out student loans are making themselves indentured slaves to the federal government.
Discourage your niece from taking out ANY loans. Go to community college, take a couple extra years, whatever it takes, but DON'T go into debt.
A good way to cut costs is to attend community college for the first 2 years. There are agreements with the community colleges with 4 year schools to accept their graduates and their credits.
Find a good community college to send your kid to. She will get just as good an education at less than $5,000 a year. At your big name state or private colleges you are paying for professors that don’t teach, a bloated administrative staff, and generally a poor education in a liberal biased setting.
You make some excellent points and I did mention the National Guard and military but she wasn’t interested.
I am exploring some of the other options you mentioned but looking at the real costs involved for the most part some type of student loan is just about where you are.
2) The military is still giving ROTC scholarships
3) The military still offers the GI bill
4) Some companies offer tuition assistance
5) Community colleges offer lower costs
6) There is always the work and save program
7) And there are scholarships."
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1) Student loans are, for some people, one of the few options available
2) Not everyone wants to go into the military
3) Not everyone wants to go into the military
4) Most companies don't. Not an easy thing for most people to tap in to
5) Community colleges are an option
6) Potentially an option
7) Scholarships are hard to get these days. Even really good students are struggling to get money. As money gets tighter, colleges are economizing on good students so as to shell out more cash to minorities
Make no mistake, its hard these days. My brother is really struggling to pay for a private college, and he has a $13,000 scholarship.
I would not recommend student loans for undergraduate work especially for someone with an 18 ACT—unless its very minimal ie. would have payments of 100-200 per month. Unfortunately, there’s an oversupply of college graduates and there is no longer an expectation that a degree will parlay into a middle-class lifestyle. I would only suggest loans for law school, med school, a good MBA program or undergrad engineering ect.
I have one in college and one going next year. The first one worked for a scholarship to a trade program at our community college. He saves on room and board by living with us.
The other will be going to a community college mostly paid for by scholarships also. We will have to help a bit with her but neither will have debt when they graduate. Both are also working part-time to help pay their way.
Post # 4 by Abby4116 says it all. We put our child through this way. Never even considered letting the kid take on debt. No debt for any parties involved. Child is now working in field of study. Has the job that was dreamt of.
My Son is just graduating number 1 out of 500 with a 33 ACT. We are waiting for the financial "package" from Notre Dame where he wants to go and has been accepted. I know it's going to require me to borrow more money. I hate it but can't tell my son who has worked very hard, never less than an A including 2 years of AP credits, lettered in hockey and baseball, worked in the summer, that he cant go to the top college he earned a spot at.
I haven't been much help but I can commiserate with your dilemma.
Don’t go into debt for a college degree.
It’s not worth it now and it definitely won’t be worth it in a few years.
One caveat, Obama/Dems could forgive student loan debt.
But that would crush the banks so I don’t think they’d do that.
Banks are out of it. All Student Loans are now handled by the government. I checked the Sallie Mae website and the conduit for the loans, the only bank dealing with them is CitiBank, big surprise.
Agreed. Doing that with daughter, now. Son went to a top school in Oklahoma with honors and departmental scholarships. He still came out with around $40K in debt and so did I. At least half the time he couldn't even understand the professors, many of them foreign - quite a few from India, if I recall correctly. At least he got a decent job and is doing well.
My son refused to wait for an opening in a community college, and went to a private school that arranged private financing. He now is in the Army Guard in Afghanistan, trying to pay off $30,000 in student loans. And no, he didn’t get a degree of any kind.
I think the student loan ^#$% is like a legalized loan shark, supported by the government.
Your niece should look into a community college. They are often the choice of students and their families. Costs are considerably lower, they get 2 years under their belts, learn how to handle college vs high school courses, then can transfer to a 4 year school to complete the degree.
I don’t know about AR, but in VA, a student who gets an AA degree from at a community college can transfer to the state university colleges. Those 4 year colleges have varying GPA requirements that have to have been achieved from the community college, with William & Mary and UVA having higher GPA requirements than others, but among the state schools, there are those that will accept GPAs down into the 2’s.
I also am an advocate of the British system of taking a ‘gap year’ to travel or work before entering college. I don’t think much of the pressure put on American kids to go right to college, ready or not. It isn’t for everybody, and a year to have some maturing through real world experiences can’t hurt.
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