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A college degree is a lousy investment

Coach O said:
Research in state tuition requirements VERY carefully. Many states have closed the various loopholes such as the one Brasky describes. They often have a requirement that the money used to pay tuition come from in state source. This prevents kids from "establishing" residency for a year when it is their parents (who live elsewhere) paying the tuition.

My son went to KU, and we looked at this from all angles. We even bought a house there (as an investment). Still couldn't qualify.
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Maryland has a pretty sweet deal where you can in-state tuition at an out-of-state school that if MD doesn't offer the major that you obtain. It seems to work pretty well, and I know many families that have taken advantage and saved tens of thousands of dollars.
 
AMCDeac said:
Blistering article in the WSJ.

My summary: Ivy League school screws some grad students just as bad as for profit schools.

“Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000. Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year. Recent Columbia film alumni had the highest debt compared with earnings among graduates of any major university master’s program in the U.S. The New York City university is among the world’s most prestigious schools, and its $11.3 billion endowment ranks it the nation’s eighth wealthiest private school."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financ...Zyhee27Q52QNx8ohJERK4qM3kujnqaxTTU49T1BGaZusU

For most with a paywall, here's a detailed summary you might be able to reach: https://www.facebook.com/1169996983...to-conceal-it-especially-on/4473365926006849/
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Is that really the grad school screwing the students or the students screwing themselves ?
 
So people are taking out high six figure loans well into $200K for two years of grad school? Something doesn’t add up.
 
PhDeac said:
So people are taking out high six figure loans well into $200K for two years of grad school? Something doesn’t add up.
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https://www.sfs.columbia.edu/sfp-arts

MFA First & Second Year Full Residency Students - 12-18 credits per semester:
(Estimated costs based on an eight-month academic year.)

Item Cost
Tuition $ 65,116
Fees** $ 6,178 - $6,598
Living $ 22,440
Books $ 2,874
Commute $ 1,016
Personal $ 5,400
Loan Origination $ 216
TOTAL $ 103,240 - $103,660

I mean at least Colombia owns it. It costs over $100K/year to get your MFA at their university.
 
And when you graduate you'll make less than a Blockbuster Video manager-trainee in 1995.
 
Oh yeah I blame the idiot students just as much as the gauging universities. I just want universities to admit what they've become, predatory financial and real estate institutions.

No college can charge $50-75K/year for undergraduates or most advanced degree programs, and pretend that they give a fuck about their students. Particularly when they don't pay a majority of their employees a living wage.
 
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in the case of Columbia, it's paradoxical. They claim to only educate the best and brightest, but the best and brightest would never pay that much.
 
deacondamo said:
Maryland has a pretty sweet deal where you can in-state tuition at an out-of-state school that if MD doesn't offer the major that you obtain. It seems to work pretty well, and I know many families that have taken advantage and saved tens of thousands of dollars.
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It’s the Academic Common Market. I got that deal for my LLM at UF since Virginia schools no longer offer that program.
 
The tuition there is pretty much in line with other private, peer universities, right? The killer is $23k in housing costs.
 
wakephan09 said:
The tuition there is pretty much in line with other private, peer universities, right? The killer is $23k in housing costs.
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Yeah. People shouldn’t be going into a program like that unless they have a job that’s paying their bills like housing costs.

There are too many MA programs that are just money makers.
 
PhDeac said:
There are too many MA programs that are just money makers.
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Yes, and Columbia is infamous, though not sure that's exactly the right word, for their "cash cow" MA programs. Chicago too.

But if the prestige of the institution on the diploma (as opposed to the degree and training itself) still gets people jobs, people are going to keep paying and the schools are going to keep taking the money.
 
Every few years, the Provost’s office tries to get us to start an online MA program with an optional thesis and we politely say no way.
 
deacondamo said:
Maryland has a pretty sweet deal where you can in-state tuition at an out-of-state school that if MD doesn't offer the major that you obtain. It seems to work pretty well, and I know many families that have taken advantage and saved tens of thousands of dollars.
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downside: you have to deal with MARYLAND, the OHIO of the mid-atlantic
 
BillBrasky said:
Oh yeah I blame the idiot students just as much as the gauging universities. I just want universities to admit what they've become, predatory financial and real estate institutions.

No college can charge $50-75K/year for undergraduates or most advanced degree programs, and pretend that they give a fuck about their students. Particularly when they don't pay a majority of their employees a living wage.
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Wake makes that claim. Pro Humanitate.
 
Just hear to bump the thread and remind everyone I hate Hatch and HIS $58K Wake tuition (before fees, costs, room and meal plan).

Fuck Hatch. Just fuck that guy to Holy Hell. Good riddance.

But then we hire someone from Vandy, another money vacuum....things aren't going to get better.
 
Agreed. The government is paying off college educations at institution prices. This only encourages more student debt for students and institutions. This is not sustainable. One of two things will happen: government will set what it will pay similar how it determines Medicare rates. Or, it will revert law that exempted student debt from bankruptcy. If lenders get hair cut, they will need higher interest rates to compensate for risk. Higher rates mean less can be loaned, putting downward pressure on tuition. Lenders may enforce market pressure on certain majors, forcing kids to make wiser decisions earlier. I.e. art history majors may not get loans, but STEM majors may have easier time.
 
Wiser decisions? I bet there are more unemployed STEM majors than art history majors
 
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