Cost of college - Wow! (a bit wordy - sorry)

[gamecockcat]

My brother talked with our cousin whose daughter is graduating HS in Louisville. She's narrowed her choices down to Notre Dame and Wake Forest. She's leaning, right now, towards Wake. From their website, expected cost of attendance (before aid) - that's tuition, books, room & board, fees, etc. - is a bit more than $87k. Notre Dame's expected cost is $83+k. I looked up Stanford, Harvard, Dartmouth, Univ of Richmond - all >$80k first year.

While Notre Dame has a nationwide recognition factor, outside of the the old Confederacy, would a degree from Wake be significant for an employer west of the Mississippi River and/or north of the Mason-Dixon line? $87k + inevitable escalation each year and you're looking at >$350k for a 4-year degree. That's criminal, imo.

Even after aid, according to Wake's site, the avg first year cost is about $30k. So, figure about $125-130k for a 4-year degree and who knows how many 10s of 1,000s in student loans. My cousin does pretty well, but that's a lot to ask of almost anyone.

I know the statistics that say college graduates make so much more and end up so much better financially than non-graduates. I believe the ease of obtaining federal loan money has allowed universities to just about charge anything they want as they know they'll get it and, if their graduates eventually drown under the tsunami of debt, who cares? Underwriting student loans would be the first change I'd make. If your kid attends a university as expensive as Wake and many others and doesn't get a degree that prepares them for a very well paying career, the federal government should not underwrite that loan. $350k for an undergrad in History is an invitation to defaulting on the loan and sticking the taxpayers with the bad debt. Allowing an individual who let's say majors in social work to borrow $200+k is predatory lending, imo. No way that individual will be able to pay back that loan - so why make it?

There is no such thing as 'free' college and, if the federal government does go through with 'free' college, then a bachelor's degree will mean very little. 50 years ago a HS diploma was valuable. Now, it's negligible. If everyone can go to college and get a bachelor's degree, the same will happen to them.

The cost of higher education has completely gotten out of control. Universities are overstaffed, bloated bureaucracies. Surely there is a huge, untapped market for higher education that trains specifically for a particular career that might take only 2.5 years. I'm thinking Accounting, Engineering, Pre-Med/Law, sciences/mathematics, finance, etc. When I attended UK and received a BS in Elec Engineering, I took a few English Lit classes, a Music Appreciation class, a Psych 101, Anthropology, etc. Why? Because I had to. Was I interested in any of those (besides music, which I didn't learn much of anything in that class I didn't already know)? Not one bit. At least 1-2 semesters of classes that had nothing to do with Engineering. At today's rates at some of these colleges, cutting out that much superfluous coursework could save nearly $100k. When college was reasonably priced, having a 'well rounded' education might be defensible. Not anymore, in my book. You want to be an accountant? Don't waste your time on Humanities that you're only taking because of the requirement. If you're interested in Anthropology, the library is full of books that you can read on your own for free.

 

[MegaBlue05]

As someone who’s gotten through life just fine with a degree from WKU, I couldn’t imagine paying $87K to attend an out of state college without a full/partial ride.

My folks straight up told me if I wanted to go out of state, I better earn a full ride or get a good paying job as a high school sophomore. I am 45. My generation had it drilled into us by boomers that if we didn’t go to college, we were failures. I know a lot of people my age who graduated 20+ years ago and are still paying off their loans. It’s probably 5x worse today.

College isn’t for everyone just like welding or working any kind of trade isn’t for everyone. I suck at manual labor and am not handy in the slightest, but always did well academically. College was for me. Trade school was not.

My best friend growing up could rebuild a car engine with his eyes closed but couldn’t construct a legible sentence. Trade school would’ve been right for him, college not so much.

Personally, I enjoyed my college experience and liked humanities courses more than English, math, etc., because they were interesting, whereas the other stuff felt like hard ass high school. I am the type of learner where if something interests me, I want to know everything about a subject. But if a subject doesn’t interest me, I don’t care and won’t be as engaged.

I just hope high school grads are given more options than “you must go to college.”

Lastly, in my experiences, employers care more about the piece of paper than the institution that issued it. I have held the same jobs for the same pay with a WKU degree as coworkers who went to power conference schools or fancy pants private universities.

 

[BigBlueDave]

The big name privates all start at $85k+ and then magically end up $25-30k.


Think of it as a sale at Kohls.


The small d3 privates are hanging by a thread and fill their student body with athletic scholarships. I had three nephews(two different schools) that had close to 100 on the baseball team. The schools will give you $25-30k off of a $55-60k for playing the sport.

The parents get the satisfaction that the travel ball is finally paying off when they could have gone to a state school and not have had any obligation to play ball for the same out of pocket money.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

Don’t go to college until you KNOW you need a degree to succeed in your desired field.

I’m sitting on a ton debt for literally nothing because I went in thinking ‘4 years then I’m rich!’ When I had no real direction in life

 

[KYExtemper]

The inflation for tuition/cost in higher education has become criminal. When I went to WKU in the early 2000s I think tuition doubled in the time I was there. Yet I nothing about the degree's value or the experience doubled. It's out of control but there's been few steps by anyone to try to rein it in.

 

[Ron Mehico]

Making student loans bankruptable would help. That way the loan isn’t guaranteed for the government so there would need to be some sort of vetting process to approve the loan and result in some being denied forcing the universities to react accordingly. Right now it’s one giant predatory lending scheme by the university since it has a guaranteed loan from the government. It’s a horrible and corrupt situation where both the government and university profit off of the public.

 

[rick64]

I live in Louisville and I remember a TV ad they had back in the 1970s I think stating that it's only $285 a semester. 😱

 

[gamecockcat]

My first semester at UK in 1981 cost, IIRC, $378 and I took a full load of 14 hours. 4 years later I believe it was nearly double that (still a bargain compared to today, of course).

 

[rick64]

In state school sure sounds like a better financial option. Take your required electives at a local city junior college then transfer.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I live in Louisville and I remember a TV ad they had back in the 1970s I think stating that it's only $285 a semester. 😱

My mom was a freshman at uk in 1970. It was $250 or so a semester. When she said that I was like ‘well yeah but that was a LOT of money back then!’ And she just went ‘no not really’

 

[JumperJack]

The federal bureaucracy feeds the academic bureaucracy with “assistance” programs.

Nobody seems to have the guts to attack the whole rotten system, and young people who have been misled (ok, lied to) about the actual value of a degree carry the brunt of it all.

I’d be for any politician that attacked this issue and also attacked the issues that are keeping younger people from being able to get a decent starter home.

 

[gamecockcat]

My mom was a freshman at uk in 1970. It was $250 or so a semester. When she said that I was like ‘well yeah but that was a LOT of money back then!’ And she just went ‘no not really’

Yeah, I worked all year (more hours in the summer) at Winn Dixie on Richmond Road and Fontaine and then at Foodtown near the Lexington Mall at $4.50-$5.00/hour and pretty easily paid my way through most of college. Even with financial aid, no way a college-age kid can make $25+k/year unless they're a unicorn. Of course, that assumes that college-age kids nowadays actually have a job and will work, which is a whole 'nother issue.

 

[KYExtemper]

The federal bureaucracy feeds the academic bureaucracy with “assistance” programs.

Nobody seems to have the guts to attack the whole rotten system, and young people who have been misled (ok, lied to) about the actual value of a degree carry the brunt of it all.

I’d be for any politician that attacked this issue and also attacked the issues that are keeping younger people from being able to get a decent starter home.

Yeah, I've become quite populist about this and would vote for anyone regardless of party label that wanted to address these concerns.

 

[ukalumni00]

Believe during my time in college in-state for UK was around $7k per year. I work with several people whose parents spent a fortune on private HS education along with expensive college degrees and I make as much or more with my poor ole UK degree. Have done just fine.

 

[wildcatadam6]

Fall of 1999, tuition was $1825/semester at uk. My daughter starts this fall at UK and it’ll be nowhere near that v

 

[FtWorthCat]

It's $20k per year to send your kid to a decent high school here in Fort Worth. The public schools in the FWISD are severely underfunded, but the public schools in the rich suburbs all have "aquatic centers" and $60 million football stadiums. The Governor's proposal to fix it is to give everyone a $7k voucher, further limiting funding for public schools.

 

[Dore95]

To answer the OP's question - who knows if Wake is worth that type of money. I think Notre Dame might be though. The best schools offer so much more than an education - connections, access to highly driven people, etc. Going to undergrad is often not enough these days, though. You have to do well enough there to get into a good grad school.

 

[Creed Bratton]

As a parent who has put one daughter through college, one currently in college and one to still to go it ticks me off to hear someone like Matt Jones say that these student athletes were being victimized prior to NIL because they got nothing for playing sports. My daughters would gladly played a sport at UK to get a 4 year degree including room, board, meals and all their UK swag paid for.

 

[PTI (pti)]

I will absolutely never understand some people’s logic in how much they’re willing to burden themselves financially in order to pay for a college education. My brothers oldest is also likely to end up at Notre Dame, but could easily go in state nearly for free.

I think it’s a weird toxic mix of hopelessly chasing prestige, and the inmates running the asylum that really causes financial catastrophe. When I was a senior, my parents made it very simple. They paid for the cost of tuition ONLY, and then gave me a few hundred bucks a month for rent/bills/etc. I worked (a lot) to pay the rest.

Even with the drastically inflated cost of education, this formula still works. It’s “only” about $14k/year for tuition at UK. Way less if you do BCTCS for the first two years. Nearly everyone on this board can swing that with relative ease.

If you’ve got a ton of money, then by all means go spend it to spoil your kids. But man, I just know way too many people who make a shit ton of money with a non Ivy League education to ever get duped into this nonsense.

On that thought: I just picked up a couple of clients in the tugboat business. Nobody in either business even went to college. Their captains go thru a training and apprenticeship program then make $200k/year. Don’t believe tidbits like this ever appear in the marketing materials for Notre Dame.

 

[Ron Mehico]

I will absolutely never understand some people’s logic in how much they’re willing to burden themselves financially in order to pay for a college education. My brothers oldest is also likely to end up at Notre Dame, but could easily go in state nearly for free.

I think it’s a weird toxic mix of hopelessly chasing prestige, and the inmates running the asylum that really causes financial catastrophe. When I was a senior, my parents made it very simple. They paid for the cost of tuition ONLY, and then gave me a few hundred bucks a month for rent/bills/etc. I worked (a lot) to pay the rest.

Even with the drastically inflated cost of education, this formula still works. It’s “only” about $14k/year for tuition at UK. Way less if you do BCTCS for the first two years. Nearly everyone on this board can swing that with relative ease.

If you’ve got a ton of money, then by all means go spend it to spoil your kids. But man, I just know way too many people who make a shit ton of money with a non Ivy League education to ever get duped into this nonsense.

On that thought: I just picked up a couple of clients in the tugboat business. Nobody in either business even went to college. Their captains go thru a training and apprenticeship program then make $200k/year. Don’t believe tidbits like this ever appear in the marketing materials for Notre Dame.

The only way to get into the tugboat boat business is to have your dad or family member pass down the license to you though. There are only a set amount and it’s pretty much impossible to get a license to operate a tugboat unless it’s passed down to you. Don’t ask me why I know that.

And to the point of the “prestigious” school I think it’s a tremendous waste of money 90% of the time. One of my roommates at UK went to Wake Forest law school, and other than not being particularly bright, he also was in 5x less debt than several classmates who went to wake forest law. Two of my best friends in grad school went to Boston University and were in ridiculous amount of debt compared to me and we ended at the same place. I think it makes a difference in some fields (Law for example they seem to make a big deal about where you go to school for whatever reason) but in most it’s really up to the individual.

 

[Creed Bratton]

The town I live in it's nearly impossible to get a plumber, electrician or HVAC person to get to your house because they are so far behind. Kids would rather pay ridiculous tuition to get a agribusiness degree that they will never benefit from financially just because they think it will be an easier job than a manual labor career.

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

As a parent who has put one daughter through college, one currently in college and one to still to go it ticks me off to hear someone like Matt Jones say that these student athletes were being victimized prior to NIL because they got nothing for playing sports. My daughters would gladly played a sport at UK to get a 4 year degree including room, board, meals and all their UK swag paid for.

Your daughter isn’t generating tens of billions of dollars.

 

[Creed Bratton]

Your daughter isn’t generating tens of billions of dollars.

First, I didn't say she was. Second, no one player generates "tens of billions of dollars". Third, they weren't victims and getting nothing like Jones said. A free degree may not be as much as they deserve but it is something they might not get if not for sports.

 

[MegaBlue05]

My first semester at UK in 1981 cost, IIRC, $378 and I took a full load of 14 hours. 4 years later I believe it was nearly double that (still a bargain compared to today, of course).

To add perspective almost 20 years later, my first semester at WKU in 1998 was $1000 for tuition and another $900 for room and board. By the time I graduated, tuition had crept up to about $2500 a semester.

Today, WKU is $11,000 per semester. What a steal!

 

[80 Proof]

Two things...

Government subsidies have an inverse effect of their intentions. Low cost loans didn't make school more affordable for poor kids, it made tuition higher.

Be careful what degree you (or your kid) choose. AI is going to change everything over the next couple of decades.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

It's absolutely insane and unsustainable. I don't know how kids today and kids down the road can afford this. Something has to give. Because even 40k/year college (for when I went) really only made sense for jobs in business, engineering, ComSci, medical and some others.. what degree is going to be worth a 90k/year college loan?

 

[gamecockcat]

To answer the OP's question - who knows if Wake is worth that type of money. I think Notre Dame might be though. The best schools offer so much more than an education - connections, access to highly driven people, etc. Going to undergrad is often not enough these days, though. You have to do well enough there to get into a good grad school.

Certainly the connections you make at college, whichever one you end up at, can be a huge boost to your future financial well-being. And, on the whole, kids at Stanford, Ivy League, etc. have parents with more connections than kids at UK. But, don't kid yourself. There are plenty of wealthy parents whose kids attend UK, IU, et al. Maybe not the top 1% of wealth/connections but still major connections.

And the thought of 'you have to do well enough' in some $80+k/year undergrad program in order to go to grad school (at ridiculously overinflated prices, of course) amplifies the insanity of the current system, in my opinion. The main reason we have a huge shortage of GP physicians is that graduates know they're going to accumulate $300k of debt or more to get through med school. In order to have a chance to pay that debt off and create financial security, you almost are forced to specialize as the numbers don't work if you're a GP making $150k/yr.

 

[Ron Mehico]

Certainly the connections you make at college, whichever one you end up at, can be a huge boost to your future financial well-being. And, on the whole, kids at Stanford, Ivy League, etc. have parents with more connections than kids at UK. But, don't kid yourself. There are plenty of wealthy parents whose kids attend UK, IU, et al. Maybe not the top 1% of wealth/connections but still major connections.

And the thought of 'you have to do well enough' in some $80+k/year undergrad program in order to go to grad school (at ridiculously overinflated prices, of course) amplifies the insanity of the current system, in my opinion. The main reason we have a huge shortage of GP physicians is that graduates know they're going to accumulate $300k of debt or more to get through med school. In order to have a chance to pay that debt off and create financial security, you almost are forced to specialize as the numbers don't work if you're a GP making $150k/yr.

That’s another Segway to me, your last paragraph. Does it make sense for us as a society to have people that are supposed to help the populace with healthcare drowning in debt when they graduate? Does that incentivize health care providers to want to operate needlessly, be more easily bribed by a pharmaceutical company rep, cut corners to make more money etc? That made no sense to me. Why are you charging people that are a huge net benefit to society hundreds of thousands of dollars just to graduate? It’s ridiculous really and ends up with a net harm to society. I mean f*ck the greedy universities they don’t need more money.

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

First, I didn't say she was. Second, no one player generates "tens of billions of dollars". Third, they weren't victims and getting nothing like Jones said. A free degree may not be as much as they deserve but it is something they might not get if not for sports.

Ohio State’s Athletics Department brought in something like 280 million dollars in
Revenue last year and has a valuation of over 1 billion dollars.

You cannot ask people to play for free and then claim it’s an “opportunity” when you have billions and billions of dollars being made in media contracts, merchandise and ticket sales.

How would you like it if your boss came to you and said “ your hard work made us 20 million dollars this year but we’re only going to pay you 50k because we’re giving you an opportunity to work here”

You don’t like it? That’s perfectly fine but let’s at least acknowledge the elephant in the room.

 

[WayneDougan]

Pre-AI response:

I think there are a handful of schools who are worth $80K+ per year. For example, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Princeton and Duke.

Then there is another tranche of schools that I'd say are worth like $50K per year. They are similar to Michigan, Virginia, UNC, Vandy, UCLA, Florida, Texas, Northwestern, Chicago, Notre Dame and Cal.

Right below that is where I'd put Wake and several more regional known schools like Rice, Washington University, etc. These schools have the same rigor as the ones above, but are just less well known.

Then there's another tier which are less prestigious state schools like UK, Bama, Auburn, Tennessee, KU, Missouri, etc. Then there's the directional state U's after that.

Finally, there's the for profit schools. Lol.

Post AI answer:

Who the f knows. Perhaps none of them are worth it.

 

[Creed Bratton]

Ohio State’s Athletics Department brought in something like 280 million dollars in
Revenue last year and has a valuation of over 1 billion dollars.

You cannot ask people to play for free and then claim it’s an “opportunity” when you have billions and billions of dollars being made in media contracts, merchandise and ticket sales.

How would you like it if your boss came to you and said “ your hard work made us 20 million dollars this year but we’re only going to pay you 50k because we’re giving you an opportunity to work here”

You don’t like it? That’s perfectly fine but let’s at least acknowledge the elephant in the room.

Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit is it?

 

[UKGrad93]

Classes outside your major are to help you be well-rounded. Given what I see in much of society today, we could use more of that, not less. Yes, colleges and universities are large bureaucracies and have inefficiencies, but that is true of any large organization.

I have a fair amount of experience with a state funded university (I worked at one for 28 years). My benefits were good, but pay was a lot lower than private industry. Since leaving 3 years ago, my pay has nearly doubled and my benefits aren't that much less than I had at the U. In the health sciences, professors were responsible usually for bringing in anywhere from 50-100% of their salary through grant funding. They usually also had to bring in grant funding to support lab staff and they paid a fee from their grant that covered ancillary services. I saw a lot of building/construction during my time there. Some wasteful, some useful. The thing is, you can't keep rehabbing 100+ year old buildings, its just not efficient. Also since my time as an undergrad, campuses have had to add internet capability to everywhere on campus. This created IT departments that didn't exist before the mid 1990s. Also around the early 1990s, health and safety regulations started getting applied to colleges. Researchers could no longer dump chemicals down the drains. Health and safety departments grew from 5-6 people up to 30-50 for a large university research campus (30k student campus).

I can't account for all of the increased costs, but for state colleges, the lack of state funding plus the addition of modern services has driven a lot of the increase.

To the worth of a degree, my degree has been useful and I still refer to some of my textbooks for things at work. Part of the goal IMO is to show that you can learn, complete goals and timelines, work with others, and hopefully learn a skill that sets you apart from the any other Joe on the street. I'm still a firm believer in learning something that is required for entry into a specific career. Doctor, nurse, engineer, accountant, architect. Find a career that requires a certification or specific credentials then work towards obtaining those. For fields of study like English or history, there better be a plan to go to law school or something that adds a work related skill.

 

[gamecockcat]

Ohio State’s Athletics Department brought in something like 280 million dollars in
Revenue last year and has a valuation of over 1 billion dollars.

You cannot ask people to play for free and then claim it’s an “opportunity” when you have billions and billions of dollars being made in media contracts, merchandise and ticket sales.

How would you like it if your boss came to you and said “ your hard work made us 20 million dollars this year but we’re only going to pay you 50k because we’re giving you an opportunity to work here”

You don’t like it? That’s perfectly fine but let’s at least acknowledge the elephant in the room.

Isn't your 3rd paragraph a perfect description of pretty much every corporation EVER? I mean, I worked for an investment advisory firm managing $250M dollars and 140 clients. My revenue stream was ~$2M and my pay, in a good year, was maybe $220k. That's how the world works.

As for athletes, sure, a great QB will make a difference for a team. But, by himself, he's not 1) making the difference (see: Pat Mahomes running for his life on every play in the most recent SB), and 2) there is no way to determine the incremental increase in revenue to the athletic department because of that one player. Jersey sales, Coke cups with his name/jersey number, etc. - absolutely. But, there are gonna be 100s of thousands of people who watch AL vs. AU regardless of who is the QB, especially if the winner, let's say goes to the SECC game.

I wish they would just pay all athletes on the team as work/study students. $12/hr for 20 hours while the team is active or whatever the going rate is. The few 'stars' can negotiate their own deals but the current NIL form is awful for the sport, has to create resentment within a team, puts coaches in an awkward situation and dulls fans' enthusiasm. I don't believe it's a model that will survive another 5 years.

And, since almost all other sports lose money, do any of those athletes deserve any NIL?

Play for 'free'? Did you not read the above posts about how much college costs? On the low end, probably $100+k for 4 years and >$300k on the high end. If these scholarship athletes receive that much in college (along with tutors, study partners, etc. so they stay eligible) education expenses, how are they 'working for free' again?

 

[PTI (pti)]

I truly believe in the value of education. Just like I believe in the value of owning a house. Or a car. Or taking a vacation. Or going out to a nice dinner every now and again. But, like everything else in the world, it just seems like the logical step is to figure out what you can afford, then go buy the "best" education you can find. If that means you have to suffer thru a 4-year education at a directional state school, instead of bragging to your country club bros about matriculating to SMU or wherever, then so be it. There's famous and rich and powerful people who have graduated from every university in this country, so I'm sure you can still do just fine.

Ron Mexico --> I'm talking about a different type of captain. Riverboat pilots/captains fall under the category you just described. The *average* salary for those guys down here is more like $5 or $600k. And you aren't getting in the door unless it's handed down from family. The ones I'm dealing with aren't at that level. These are just a bunch of down the bayou coon asses who "only" make $200k.

Final thought: just the notion that a child can tell their parent where they'll be going to school, and how much of the parents money they'll be spending........shew wee. That did NOT work like that in my parents house. Nor did it fly in any of yours, I'm guessing.

 

[vhcat70]

UK tuition 1969-70 was $140/semester.

GD’s oos Purdue tuition is $30K/yr.

 

[gamecockcat]

Classes outside your major are to help you be well-rounded. Given what I see in much of society today, we could use more of that, not less. Yes, colleges and universities are large bureaucracies and have inefficiencies, but that is true of any large organization.

I have a fair amount of experience with a state funded university (I worked at one for 28 years). My benefits were good, but pay was a lot lower than private industry. Since leaving 3 years ago, my pay has nearly doubled and my benefits aren't that much less than I had at the U. In the health sciences, professors were responsible usually for bringing in anywhere from 50-100% of their salary through grant funding. They usually also had to bring in grant funding to support lab staff and they paid a fee from their grant that covered ancillary services. I saw a lot of building/construction during my time there. Some wasteful, some useful. The thing is, you can't keep rehabbing 100+ year old buildings, its just not efficient. Also since my time as an undergrad, campuses have had to add internet capability to everywhere on campus. This created IT departments that didn't exist before the mid 1990s. Also around the early 1990s, health and safety regulations started getting applied to colleges. Researchers could no longer dump chemicals down the drains. Health and safety departments grew from 5-6 people up to 30-50 for a large university research campus (30k student campus).

I can't account for all of the increased costs, but for state colleges, the lack of state funding plus the addition of modern services has driven a lot of the increase.

To the worth of a degree, my degree has been useful and I still refer to some of my textbooks for things at work. Part of the goal IMO is to show that you can learn, complete goals and timelines, work with others, and hopefully learn a skill that sets you apart from the any other Joe on the street. I'm still a firm believer in learning something that is required for entry into a specific career. Doctor, nurse, engineer, accountant, architect. Find a career that requires a certification or specific credentials then work towards obtaining those. For fields of study like English or history, there better be a plan to go to law school or something that adds a work related skill.

Agree with a lot of your post. But, well-rounded is so subjective. And should colleges force 'well-roundedness' on every student? What about the student that just wants to fiddle with computers and doesn't give a damn about Sociology or Music Appreciation or Intro to Business? Is the $40+k spend each semester at some of these schools the correct price for being forced to 'learn' crap you care nothing about and will never remember? Shouldn't that student be allowed to just study what he or she wants?

Instead of loading college students up with 'bunny' courses that they only take for the grade and quickly forget anything 'learned', why not require courses that may be applicable to real-life - personal finance, basic carpentry/electrical/plumbing/drywall installation/etc., debate/discourse/negotiation/communication, basic 'home' IT skills (to protect your data, to install a new HD, etc.), and others? How many universities have added dozens of employees in DEI who do what, exactly? Professors that have to publish-or-perish and/or whore for grant money (which DOGE has revealed that there is a great deal of cash for absolute nonsense 'studies') - are they spending much time in the classroom actually teaching? Many professors that I've known teach maybe two classes a semester and many have TAs do their grading. They spend a lot more time on research and fund raising than actually teaching.

From what I've heard from multiple parents whose kid went to an Ivy League school, all the hotshot professors with distinguished honors basically only teach grad students. So, your little Johnny or Susie is spending $85k/year to be taught by a TA or associate professor at Harvard. Hard for me to believe that's worth the money.

 

[VibratingDryer]

I would encourage all to go the OnlyFans route and skip college altogether.

Start with feet pics and work your way up to the full kielbasa.

 

[gamecockcat]

UK tuition 1969-70 was $140/semester.

GD’s oos Purdue tuition is $30K/yr.

That's pretty surprising to me. Total cost (some of their majors have different costs) is about $45k/yr with R&B, fees, included. In light of what we've already posted in this thread, that looks like a bargain. And Purdue is a very good school. Still a lot of money but only slightly more than half of what other schools charge. Good for them.

I did not realize it was a public university. I always thought it was private. Learn something new every day. Now it makes sense that it's so much more affordable than other schools mentioned, which are pretty much all private.

One other tidbit I'll add: Harvard's endowment fund is >$50B. To maintain their tax exempt status they MUST spend at least 5% of their endowment every year or, in this case, >$2.5B. Why does ANY student have to pay tuition? They could cover the cost for every one of their 21,500 students and still be left with several hundred million dollars to spend on new equipment, buildings, etc. And that's assuming the tuition and other costs normally charged to students is the ACTUAL cost of everything and not a number that's higher than actual costs to cover the budget. Or, the students should probably have some skin in the game - charge $25k all-in and let the endowment pick up the rest. Would still have almost $2B to spend after that.

 

[d2atTech]

Don’t go to college until you KNOW you need a degree to succeed in your desired field.

I’m sitting on a ton debt for literally nothing because I went in thinking ‘4 years then I’m rich!’ When I had no real direction in life

this is the right advice.

 

[d2atTech]

Pre-AI response:

I think there are a handful of schools who are worth $80K+ per year. For example, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Princeton and Duke.

Then there is another tranche of schools that I'd say are worth like $50K per year. They are similar to Michigan, Virginia, UNC, Vandy, UCLA, Florida, Texas, Northwestern, Chicago, Notre Dame and Cal.

Right below that is where I'd put Wake and several more regional known schools like Rice, Washington University, etc. These schools have the same rigor as the ones above, but are just less well known.

Then there's another tier which are less prestigious state schools like UK, Bama, Auburn, Tennessee, KU, Missouri, etc. Then there's the directional state U's after that.

Finally, there's the for profit schools. Lol.

Post AI answer:

Who the f knows. Perhaps none of them are worth it.

Dude, even pre-AI they weren't worth it. People can get rigor at community colleges and even just with wikipedia. information access, which schools used to monopolize, has been truly democratized. I think it's on employers to look past the school as the credential to hire folks.