Do you feel like the cost of going to a college or university is too expensive?

[Flower7]

Yes

No

[Cherry234]

Yes, definitely. I think going to college for certain degrees is worth it, especially if you'll be making a high salary like a financial analyst, doctor, engineer, etc. But if you're going for something that doesn't have any relevance to the work force like gender studies or ethnic studies then it's a scam and definitely not worth it. Also, if you want to go into a career or field that doesn't require a college degree then you shouldn't go. in my opinion the only people who should be in college are the ones who really know what they want

[Cherry234]

*In my opinion. Damn I hate that stupid autocorrect

[Flower7]

Yes, that's true. So many people just go because it's expected. And they don't even know what they want to major in so just end up picking anything.

[Cherry234]

Exactly

[lovedejj_xo]

Yes between undergrad and grad school I racked up 70k worth of debt …I’ve been lucky enough to pay it off with a decent job but 🙄

[lovedejj_xo]

And I didn’t stay on campus soooo some of my friends are in like 100k worth of debt

[Flower7]

I’m in the 6-figure club myself lol.

[Flower7]

Good job on paying of your loans so soon! That’s very impressive, especially for age 25!

[lovedejj_xo]

Oh no thats hard!!! And thank I thankfully have connections within my field since we’re all in the same field lol so I take advantage of it

[lovedejj_xo]

You*

[Flower7]

Does your field have a bit of loan forgiveness or discounts on loans? I know in the medical field, people who work for non-profit companies get some help with their loans.

[lovedejj_xo]

I’m in social work and they do if you want to work for pennies at non profit for a couple years to hope they forgive your loans. Its pretty crappy the arrangements of forgiveness they have

[MTC29]

College was expensive even when I was in school. Private universities were out of the question, so I went to a state college and a state university. Even so, I amassed a pile of student debt which Buckshot Joe Biden (yes, old Joe was politicking even way back in the 1970s) wasn't talking about paying off.

If you decide to go to college, ensure that the degree you pursue will lead to a job which makes the time, effort, and money invested in your education pay off.

[Flower7]

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to predict beforehand which degrees will be worth it and which ones won’t. Everyone seems to start off being very optimistic that they will be successful after getting their degree.

[MTC29]

BS, civil engineering, structural engineer.
Master of Engineering, materials science.

Worth it? YES!

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Yep. A major rip off scam here in the U. S. If your career choice doesn't absolutely demands a college degree i. e. doctor, lawyer etc then you better think hard before you go to college because it will drown you in debt for the rest of your life.

[Flower7]

Yes, and it’s a shame that people are taught from such a young age that going to college is a necessity to get by in life. A teenager doesn’t have enough knowledge about finances or the workforce to make a good decision about that.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Brainwashing works best when young and naive.

[DizzyDesii]

Yes. Junior college had the most reasonable price of less than $5k. Unis are like $15k-75k yearly. Just not worth it unless you're guaranteed a goodpaying job after and usually you're not

[Flower7]

Nope, most people don’t get as good of a job as they thought they would.

[Joshua0213]

I went to junior college and I profited over 1000 last year after paying for books and classes which is crazy to me cause got 1700 or so in aid

[DizzyDesii]

@Joshua0213 i can relate. I got a full tuition acholarship and gave up my dorm day 1. I made $7k a year back off a refund cause of that

[sunshineglow]

There are prosperous and rich and free spirited countries (not crazy or dictatorship but mild and mature politic leadership) in this world, that provide FREE universities.

I'd like those 7% from the poll that said the high cost is okay, to give a thought about that.

[horsenrhinounicorn]

Private colleges are usually overpriced and their loan interest is higher, however if the college has opportunities for scholarships then that changes a lot of factors. Going to a college out of state will often double the costs or more. It depends if the college has something that stands up from the rest. Ones success in college prepares for the success in the real world. After college one has to be diligent in getting high interest loans paid off early.

[exitseven]

I just got my last kid through college. It was expensive but we shopped around to see what kind of packages colleges would offer and built a new bedroom and another bath onto my house. Fortunately we live within driving distance to many good colleges. We got 3 kids through college in 7 years. They all graduated with no debt and are all working and making more money than I am so it looks like the plan worked.

[Avicenna]

Yeah, it's crazy in the US. There should be some skin in the game so it shouldn't be completely free, but the tuition and cost of books is insane in most cases.

[Flower7]

The sad part is that getting a good job afterward isn’t even guaranteed.

[Avicenna]

Quite true, which means a lot of people should pass. If you can't handle STEM majors or accounting/finance/marketing, you shouldn't bother attending college.

[dustybiker]

People shouldn’t have to miss out on healthcare or education due to cost.

[Flower7]

Yes and it's really strange because education is forced throughout childhood and teens. During that time, it's illegal NOT to go. But after that, it costs an arm and a leg. I don't get the reason for the drastic change.

[dustybiker]

They charge at that point because they can. They can only charge what people will pay. If everyone refused maybe that would collapse the current system and give cause to create a better one. That probably has bad angles too though.

[Jamie05rhs]

@dustybiker Unfortunately, I don't think it would collapse the system. They'd just bring in students from overseas.

[dustybiker]

@Jamie05rhs Good point.

[Jamie05rhs]

@dustybiker Thanks

[BoobMan]

It really, REALLY depends on:
1) where you're going
2) what you're studying, and
3) how much you ACTUALLY have to pay

But yeah--if you're studying something with no career prospects at a private university that isn't a top 25 school AND if you're paying full freight and borrowing to do so, you're making an absolutely terrible life choice.

[PAcc92]

Yes, I got a degree in Computer Science.

The quality of the classes has been terrible, I continue to wonder if I'd have been better off self-teaching instead of wasting my time and money although admittedly my costs are much lower than many others.

[Apple1996]

Yes and it is a waste of time. I'm pushing my kids to have more realistic dreams for careers so they don't waste any money or time on college.

[Flower7]

That’s great because most parents give their kids that they’ll be nothing without a college education.

[Flower7]

tell their kids*

[Flower7]

Did you go to college yourself?

[Apple1996]

No I didn't go to college and neither did my husband

[Apple1996]

We both can get college for free from his job but choose not to since it's not something we want to do

[Flower7]

It often end up being a big waste of time, so that’s probably the best decision.

[Rachel794]

Try Wondrium, formerly The Great Courses. They have a wide variety of interesting courses to choose from and seem to be very affordable so far.

[Flower7]

I’ve already gone now. I have both a bachelor’s degree and a graduate school degree. Thanks for the tip though.

[Wiredone]

It's ridiculous. You will spend all that money to get a degree then you are in debt for years. It's less expensive to go to a trade school and you won't be in so much debt

[exitseven]

It is possible to fund a college education without breaking the bank. i did it 3 times. It was a struggle but we all got it done. I have no regret.

[Wiredone]

@exitseven you should teach kids how to pay for college without going into debt

[exitseven]

I could do it in ten minutes, It's called living within your means and college is not supposed to be a 4 year party.

[Flower7]

@exitseven Where I live, a 4-year degree would be about $100,000. Is it different in your area?

[Wiredone]

That's about the cost in my area too

[exitseven]

@flower 7Regular sticker price would be over 100K but my kids got packages from their respective colleges. It ended up being a little more than half. They commuted and I added on a 4th bedroom and another bathroom. I bought them good cars. We got them everything they needed to succeed. When things went sideways we worked to fix the problem. I knew a lot of the things that can go wrong from my own past experiences.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, going to college or university in the USA is way too expensive

[Flower7]

I agree!

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

@Flower7 Let's hope President Biden helps to save those people who
have student loan debt real high

[Flower7]

Hopefully!

[genericname85]

i think a country that wants any sort of future should heavily invest in their education system, so it's available to more people.

[Flower7]

Very true! Many careers are necessary for society to be able to function.

[genericname85]

yeah. and americas failure to do so is the reason for their constant decline. they overinvest in it's war machinery without waging any wars. litterally throwing their money out the window.

[Flower7]

I hate when money gets put into space exploration also. That money could be better used on Earth!

[genericname85]

i mean space exploration is quite a good investment, casue a lot of progress in all sorts of sciences comes form that. i mean on earth we profit from the science we've been doing in the ISS a lot. is see that as part of education. but "killing people" isn't what makes our lifes better.

[Kabluie]

Even though I went on a free ride, it is much more expensive now.

However since you can't work in certain fields without a degree, the cost ends up being worth it for those, as being able slide up the scale into more monetary wealth overrules the cost, and being able to pay back low-interest student loan (s) if you need to take any.

[Flower7]

That’s IF the person is actually able to get a job in the field they went to school for.

[Kabluie]

It's a job-seeker's market right now in most demand fields. There is also always jobs for those that require degrees for such as teaching, accounting, healthcare, etc. There is just too many people without a degree that the specializations always has openings.

[JenniferStar]

It's not cheap, but the problem with a lot of people's outlook is they expect it to be "free" which just means everyone will have to pay more in taxes to pay for their education. Nothing is ever really free.

[Flower7]

I didn’t say it needs to be free but it shouldn’t be a price that only a very small percentage of people can afford. So many people spend the rest of their lives paying off student loans. That seems very excessive.

[Jamie05rhs]

It doesn't take a college degree to figure THAT out!

[Flower7]

Did you go to college?

[Jamie05rhs]

Not real college. Community college lol.

[Flower7]

Do you feel like it was worth it? And if you graduated, do you use that degree?

[Jamie05rhs]

@Flower7 I definitely wasn't worth it. I should have done trade school.

[exitseven]

@Jamie05rhs I teach at a community college and the program I teach which is computer science is geared towards what skills employers are looking for in recent graduates. It also a path to a 4 year degree. You need to go into it with a goal in mind just like most things.

[Bricealan]

Yes. While at Pepperdine University in Malibu, graduate school the cost per credit hour was $2500.00 several years ago. It is now probably double that.

[tatianamay]

It is pretty expensive. Where I live, only medical schools cost a shit ton of money

[AllThatSweetJazz]

As with anything, it scales with the product you’re buying. For what we pay for, no I don’t feel like it’s worth it considering a lot of it is reviewing lectures and self study. What we need is like 6 students per teacher in a mentor style education.

[Joshua0213]

Yeah thats why I didn't go cause fuck taking over 100k in loans