[grey_whiskers]

Great article.

The below sums it up -- one of the few times I've *ever* agreed with Doonesbury:

Cheers!

[svcw]

Hog wash, go to a state college or university...they are cheep.

[dila813]

Send him to India, 4k for 4 years, Food and Roof

We continue to import workers from the third world, and companies have been hiring these workers for executive positions, nothing wrong with it anymore.

[Post Toasties]

Nothing wrong with junior college for the first couple of years. The credits are usually fully transferable to finish undergraduate and graduate work elsewhere with a overall great savings of money.

[Post Toasties]

Nothing wrong with junior college for the first couple of years. The credits are usually fully transferable to finish undergraduate and graduate work elsewhere with a overall great savings of money.

[O6ret]

So what's your point? is it:

a) That college is not affordable or

b) Students are not ready?

[Honeybunch]

Even though many won’t have the funds to pay “up front”, unless things are tremendously different from now (and of course they could be), most students who really want to attend college are eligible for student loans and/or work study. Really good students qualify for scholarships.

That said, as a part time college instructor, I’m amazed at how the learners’ attitudes have changed over the past decade. On my recent instructor evaluations, some students stated they thought it was unfair to have to take notes in class. They claimed doing so was distracting and “boring”. So, basically, they wanted the PowerPoint handouts given to them, but not really discussed/reviewed, and then to be entertained during class time.

I think many educators have caved in to the demands for watered-down curriculum and expectations. Some may fear negative student ratings. Not sure if we’re past the point of no return, but some days it seems like it.

p.s. Watch “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”

[DTogo]

How many Ivy League MBA’s does it take to run a Wall Street firm into the ground?

[Clemenza]

The 100-lb. gorilla in the room in terms of American educational statistics is immigration from Mexico and Central America. That being said, certain ethnic groups (Koreans, East Indians, Persians, even Pakistanis) far outperform their white counterparts, especially in public schools.

The large Mexican/Central American youth population, combined with the plateauing and lower middle class whites and the continued academic underachievement of American blacks are the keys to understanding why so many schools are failing. It has nothing to do with "liberal" versus "conservative' (as the lib families in my area push their kids to be academic overachievers) or "religious" versus "secular." Its a question of culture and the importance of achievement in the academic sphere.

[ArchAngel1983]

”from 1982 to 2007 in the U.S., the cost of college tuition and fees has soared 439 percent."

Liberals will never attack ‘Big Education’ with the same enthusiasm in which they attack ‘Big’ everything else. Stink’n hypocrites!

[2ndDivisionVet]

He could join the military, get the G.I. Bill and go to college for free, but his mother would probably rather he shave his head and join Hiri Krishna. Also, there’s a college in the Missouri Ozarks where all students have to work for their tuition: http://www.cofo.edu/future.asp

[ottbmare]

This is ludicrous. Yes, if you’re determined for some reason to send your child to Harvard, you may have a problem. But if you have serious financial issues, then send him to a junior college for two years and then on to State U. Believe me, five years down the road his employers are not going to care where he got his undergraduate degree. It’s really only important where he goes to graduate school, not undergrad. To finance the undergraduate education he can get grants, scholarships, and loans to pay for it, live in the dorm, and hold one or two part-time jobs.

To finance grad school he will probably have to do a TAship or research assistantship and scramble around for some additional money, but so what. Kids are young and energetic and most of ‘em need to spend less time drinking and partying anyway.

Trust me, if our one-parent family can do it, anybody can do it. People need to stop whining.

[SECURE AMERICA]

One study reported that less than half of college seniors knew that Yorktown was the battle that ended the American Revolution. A similar number could name the reason NATO was formed.

I knew these things by 10th grade high school.
The problems stems from the last 20-30 years of liberal agenda in the Government controlled school system that has de-emphasized reading writing and arithmetic and heavily emphasized the spreading of the homosexual agenda, the environmental agenda and the socialism agenda. At the same time the government controlled schools have removed God, discipline, morals, patriotism and duty from the schools.

[jimbo123]

Maybe if the author had a real job instead of writing for a newspaper, she’d be able to afford to send her boy to college.

Given the fact that the kid is only 7 years old, she’s got enough time to make a career change instead of going hysterical and whining like a typical liberal.

[PUGACHEV]

You suck it up and deal with it. 25K off the top, plus incidentals: that's what it cost me each year for four years to send my daughter to Elon University. For four years with no new cars, fix everything that breaks yourself, somehow, buy almost nothing new, no vacations, no luxury, pinch pennies: you can do it if you have the will. She did well, and now has a secure career with a good income for life. Four years, it was worth it.

[Jaxter]

"..college may be out of the question for him.."

"Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too."

[motherof 3]

I'm a victim “nothing I could ever amass will dent what it will cost to send him to college” whine, whine. Go in state, get a part-time job, get a student loan like most people do. If her child is seven she has time to save money and figure this out.

[M203M4]

Get your undergrad in state, work after classes and during summers, and however else you fund the remainder, stay away from credit cards while in school. You should be able to stay under $10k in debt for 4 years of education (depending on the summer work you can get - and whether you can live with your parents during school/summers).

As for a “pedigree”, the bang-for-buck is much greater if you go to a tier-one school for a 2-year MA/MSc instead of the 4-year undergrad. During your Masters, you may have your tuition fully or partially waved (contingent upon 10-20 hrs a week of teaching/marking).

[rbg81]

I am a college professor. We started our new semester last week. Here is a summary of an actual conversation I had with a student who asked to drop my class (after the 2nd day):

Student: Can you sign my drop card?
Me: Okay. Can I ask why you decided to drop?
Student: Yeah, I think you are unfairly putting your students on the spot.
Me: I don’t know if I agree with that. I’m just asking them questions about the reading I assigned on the first day.
Student: Well, in my other classes, the professors just lecture and let us take notes in peace.
Me: That’s fine, but that’s not how I run my class. I like to see if the students actually read the material, rather than assuming they did. Peppering them with questions also keeps them on their toes. Don’t you think?
Student: Whatever, can you just sign my card?

I sign his card. As he walks away, he turns around, grins and calls me an A$$shole.

I just hope this young man’s parents aren’t sacrificing too much to send him to college. But they probably are.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I’m very fortunate! The only cost of my squid’s education has been some higher taxes to pay on some of the grants she’s gotten. State school.