Holy moly college is expensive!

[RiverRat1]

I knew it was going to cost $$ to send my son to A&M but had no idea it would cost this much. I thought I did good saving 30k in his college Coverdell savings account but he will have used 50% of it before he makes it to class for the first time.

I sure hope it's worth the money. He's doing aerospace engineering.


And on a side note a little rant. At the new student conference they kept talking about kids on their own now...blah blah. (I thought they babied them way too much) and gave stories about how bad it was to be in personal debt. I was looking around the room to see if anyone else was confused...as I was thinking WTH? Debt is bad but 100k in school debt isn't?

[Charles]

Yep. Mine just graduated.

Room and board is the expensive part IMO.

[txsteele]

Rush Limbaugh was saying today that colleges are about to put themselves out of business. The college degree is no longer worth the cost.

I was very fortunate that both mine received scholarships to Baylor. Without that......OMG.

[be12hunt]

Yeah. We've started saving pretty heavy already for our daughter and she's not even 2. I think it will be worth it in the end, especially for a degree like that.

[flywise]

I knew it was going to cost $$ to send my son to A&M but had no idea it would cost this much. I thought I did good saving 30k in his college Coverdell savings account but he will have used 50% of it before he makes it to class for the first time.

I sure hope it's worth the money. He's doing aerospace engineering.


And on a side note a little rant. At the new student conference they kept talking about kids on their own now...blah blah. (I thought they babied them way too much) and gave stories about how bad it was to be in personal debt. I was looking around the room to see if anyone else was confused...as I was thinking WTH? Debt is bad but 100k in school debt isn't?

They want their personal debt to be really low so they can pay for the school loann

[zero-in]

Just starting with my first one this fall.....Yikes!! Agree room and board will eat you alive.

[RiverRat1]

Yep. Mine just graduated.

Room and board is the expensive part IMO.

They got me good on that. Required to buy a meal card if they live on campus is BS. Thought they were adults now. I about fell out of my chair when I saw the 95 meal card was $1,250. What ever happened to the standard good old cheap cafeteria line?

[lakefork]

Yes it is. Fortunately for my wife and I, my son played FB at SMU. The only thing it didn't cover was $150 per year for a parking pass. Dang. I had to get a loan for that. lol.

[ColinR]

Technical school with a 2 year associates degree is way more bang for your buck in my opinion.

[flywise]

Technical school with a 2 year associates degree is way more bang for your buck in my opinion.

Yep
Or fire, police academy, flight school.
Lots of young folks have 50-100k in debt for a job that pays 30-50 k

[Mudslinger]

Too show you how old I am, I went to A&M and graduated (really do not know how) with a Health and Physical Education major with a minor in Biology and only paid $4 per semester hour with out of state only being $40 per semester hour.
MY how times have changed!

[texas shag]

Technical school with a 2 year associates degree is way more bang for your buck in my opinion.

still depends on the degree/career path, but in many cases you are correct.

[NatureBoy]

agree and agree^^

I went to college for engineering and put myself through it. Fortunately, I was able to hold down good paying internships every summer and winter break which would allow me to have the majority of tuition taken care of. I had to get loans to afford housing and living money though but those are going away slowly but surely.

Thing is, majority of parents that did not go to college told their kids, "it doesnt matter which degree, just get one"....well, thats false.

Then you have kids that dont pay a thing in college and go to school for "fluff" degrees and then get out and get mad when they get a job paying 40k a year.

College should be an investment and with investments, you have to plan ahead (that rarely happens for college kids) and so tech school or other occupations that require certifications may actually be a better investment rather than a bachelors degree.

[TxAg]

A&M is still a great deal compared to private school

[fulmer34]

I went to tstc and got a 2 year degree for $1500-2000 a semester. 10 years later I'm making a $100+ a year and don't have to put in the OT to get there. It's a good choice for kids that are burnt out on school or can't afford the big colleges. Plus I worked for a couple big companies early on that would pay for the school if you wanted to go back and get a bachelor's. Just something to keep in mind for the folks preparing.

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