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To: cuban leaf

RE: I’ll be blunt. It’s not worth it.

So, where does one go to for college?

Did you look at the list?

The schools Barack Obama went to as an undergraduate are on the most expensive list -— Columbia and Occidental.


4 posted on 10/11/2011 8:35:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (u)
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To: SeekAndFind

No. I mean that unless you go to college to actually learn a tangible skill like accounting, engineering, brain surgery, etc., it’s not worth the investment. The higher ed bubble is about to burst. One can get all the education they need other than hard skills as mentioned above for a LOT cheaper than what most universities charge.

Sure, no degree will cause some bumps in the road at first, but the same four years spent at actual jobs will give you as much or more education, in many areas that MATTER, than a four year degree. And once you reach 30, decent employers are gonna want to know what you’ve done with your education, as opposed to the color and size of your shingle.

IOW, they care what you have DONE with your adult life as opposed to what school attempted to cram into your scull.

Jobs was a college dropout. Gates was a college drop out. A friend of mine who is CIO of a MAJOR us corporation (household word) never even bothered with college. And I am a college drop out.

College is WAY over rated unless you REALLY need that crutch. ‘Nuff said.


8 posted on 10/11/2011 8:44:06 AM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: SeekAndFind
So, where does one go to for college?

My Daughter was accepted at three of the colleges (Drexel, Hopkins, CMU) on the list. She had scholarship offers, but came back with a rational decision. For her engineering degree she looked at the ranking and size of the alumni association. She decided to go to Penn State because it was cheaper even without scholarship dollars and was highly ranked in her major.

We were proud with her on investigating the best choice overall for college. It is still very expensive at 30K a year, but nothing like the other three. The worst of the three was CMU. Her acceptance letter came in the form of "this is what it will cost you to come here". We laughed at first, but became very angry after it sank in. Colleges are not about education. Colleges are subsidized business monopolies. This bubble is also beginning to burst.

The total cost for her engineering degree (biomedical) will be 120K. That is one of the cheaper colleges. She also wants to continue on to med school. We pretty much know where she will go. That will cost over 220K. Imagine in nine years her education (one of the more economical choices) is going to run 340K. She will not be actively practicing until she finishes her residency-fellowship. She will be at least 32 by the time this happens.

The college education system in the US is not sustainable. Our Daughter will have a professional degree when she finishes. I estimate at least 90% will not. We are paying for (earn too much) it. That was our promise if she maintained a 3.5 or higher. Even with the professional degrees it would take at least a decade to pay it off if it were loan based. She would have been 42 before she could move on with her life. Imagine the other students.

Our economy is going to be mired in a very long depression. The college debt burden will prevent them from buying houses and cars. The debt will also prevent them from raising families. Who are going to buy the houses on the market now as well as ten years from now when my generation begins to retire?

A college education is now nothing but the next bubble to burst. The common thread in all the bubbles has been our government.
50 posted on 10/11/2011 10:56:27 AM PDT by PA Engineer (Time to beat the swords of government tyranny into the plowshares of freedom.)
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