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I saw that article in the news yesterday. The problem is getting worse. I graduated in 1996 with a student loan debt of $40,000. I had a degree in a field that paid pretty well so I was able to pay down my loan and now have it almost paid off. I'm considering going back to school for my master's. I checked the tuition at CU where I got my BS and tuition is now almost twice what it was in '96. Add to that the cost of housing which has also doubled since then and college is no longer affordable for many people.

I'm in college too. I have been trying to study for my AA for years now. I have to take classes in a part-time basis now, so that I can look for work so I can pay for housing and living expenses. My student loan is not anywhere near as high as some other's. And I qualify for a fee waiver and grants. I am also in my school's EOPS program. But paying for college is very hard.

But I really love school

Scrat, while I appreciate and understand the sentiment, advocating selling drugs as opposed to getting an education is dangerous, and ill-advised. If my son were to see this, I sure wouldn't want him getting the wrong idea.

Just one mom's opinion.

Scrat wrote:



We need to do something about this.


I absolutely agree! I've spent literally seconds of my life researching this very subject, and found a few resources for our impoverished masses to gain access to higher education for little or no money.



We need to get this information to the parents and kids early, because there is preparation involved, such as studying and getting good grades, then possibly writing gruelling essays and such.



IEFA International Education Financial Aid



How To Go To College Almost Free



Financial Aid Resource Center

Saffron wrote: I'm in college too. I have been trying to study for my AA for years now. I have to take classes in a part-time basis now, so that I can look for work so I can pay for housing and living expenses. My student loan is not anywhere near as high as some other's. And I qualify for a fee waiver and grants. I am also in my school's EOPS program. But paying for college is very hard.

But I really love school
Aren't community colleges free out in California? Living expenses were my biggest expense while in school and where most of my student loans went. I was able to get scholarships and grants to pay for most of the tuition, but just paying rent was the hardest part, even though I was working part time.

Benjamin wrote: Aren't community colleges free out in California? Living expenses were my biggest expense while in school and where most of my student loans went. I was able to get scholarships and grants to pay for most of the tuition, but just paying rent was the hardest part, even though I was working part time.
They used to be free. When I was there in the mid 90's it was really cheap for residents and military......... oh yeh, illegal aliens get the discount too.

Scrat wrote: My fiance wants to go back to school for mathematics, demographics and a few other things to add to her resume but the cost is staggering, she is looking at almost $5000 a semester for her studies. We are well established in life with a solid foundation to work from, she could quit her current job and go to school full time and I could support her without many worries.



Young people (unless they are part of the wealthy upperclass) don't have these options. This is what is going to kill this country in the end.



The concept of a free market economy is a good thing, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
How did you become well-established? Where did the solid foundation come from?



Young people have infinite options. All it takes is work, imagination, and people to stop telling them it's too hard so they may as well not try.

Scrat wrote: I think your son will see this as he grows if things do not change. When I walk through the U-district I see 3 kinds of young people.



The rich kid ratpackers in their Beemers and Mercs, the drug dealers in their SUVs flashing gang signs and guns out the windows, and the vast majority of regular young people scrabbling to hold down 2 jobs and go to school while living in a hovel somewhere on 56th street and 12th ave.



I don't know where you live but I live in the Seattle area. Here crime pays very well, very well indeed.



You can make millions selling drugs on the streets, if you go to school you end up with a lifelong debt. What is to be said?
Actually, I have been saving for school for him for a while now, so have my parents. He can get grants, AND my husband works for The General so they help pay for college, too. Between that and him working, he has a huge variety of choices.

This article came out a little while ago.

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford University, worried about losing talented students to sticker shock, is eliminating tuition for undergraduates from the some of the lowest-income families.

Under a new program announced Wednesday, students from families with annual incomes of less than $45,000 won't pay tuition. Those with incomes up to $60,000 will pay about $3,800, the school estimates.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060316/ap_ ... no_tuition

That’s the way it should be. Financial aid should be need based, not race based like a lot of the programs are.

Scrat wrote: . Go to school you will be a slave for the rest of your life. That is all but a certainty.


I think not. I worked my way through college, not once, but three times. I took classes, as I could afford them, during the day. Then I worked a job at night.

I have an Associates' Degree in Engineering Technology from San Juan College, and a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University. I have a Bachelor's in Education from the University of New Mexico.

It took me four years for the first two, then it took me seven years to get the last one, but at the end of all those degrees my grand total of student loans?

Zero point zero.

I am currently working on my Master's of Education. Loans? None. I saved up the money over the last ten years.

All it takes is time and hard work to get an education, not massive student loans.

Scrat wrote: [...]

As for me, I never set foot on a college campus for educational purposes. I have a talent for being able to get things done in adverse situations and correcting problems in the most daunting of circumstances. When I deal with people at work or in business I do not try to be nice about it. I have a job to do, I know how to do it, I will compete with you and I WILL DEFEAT YOU.



I can place myself in a situation with a person in Hawaii who can find no reason why the indicator lights are on when the very laws of physics say they should not be.

I can pull up a world map, ask the guy what time it is and tell him the reason the lights are "on" is because of the angle of the suns rays shining through them.



I can think out of the box.


Then do so. For someone that thinks outside the box, you certainly have a dim view of your fellow man. I, however, am not saddled with such arrogance.



I believe everyone can think outside the box. The problem is that so many people look at successful people like you and say "I can't do that," and get your response, "That's right, you can't."



They need your mentorship, not your pity.

Accountable wrote: Then do so. For someone that thinks outside the box, you certainly have a dim view of your fellow man. I, however, am not saddled with such arrogance.



I believe everyone can think outside the box. The problem is that so many people look at successful people like you and say "I can't do that," and get your response, "That's right, you can't."



They need your mentorship, not your pity.
Anyone keeping score here? It's Accountable - 1, Scrat - 0.

(Sorry Scrat, I just happen to agree here.)

Jives wrote: I think not. I worked my way through college, not once, but three times. I took classes, as I could afford them, during the day. Then I worked a job at night.

I have an Associates' Degree in Engineering Technology from San Juan College, and a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University. I have a Bachelor's in Education from the University of New Mexico.

It took me four years for the first two, then it took me seven years to get the last one, but at the end of all those degrees my grand total of student loans?


How'd you get both an associates degree and a bachelor's degree in engineering in only four years, plus work evenings? Generally, not many credits transfer from an AAS program to a BS.

Scrat wrote: I

You can make millions selling drugs on the streets, if you go to school you end up with a lifelong debt. What is to be said?


Well, for one thing, selling drugs could get you dead or incarcerated, lifelong debt won't kill ya.

Scrat, to suggest that an education makes you a slave is irresponsible, at best. We have a plan to pay for my son's college, and it will work, and we won't be drowning in debt. We actually do know what we're doing, believe it or not. We are not so illusioned as to think it won't cost us some money, but I stand by my belief that a college education is VERY important. I should dig up some numbers on the difference in yearly income between a high school only graduate and a college graduate.....

By the way, Mr. "college is slavery and I didn't need it".... a lot is 2 words, not one.

Scrat, do you honestly think teachers are overpaid?? I think they may be underdisciplined at the university level, but overpaid? Not on your life.

You contradict yourself

Scrat wrote: BR. I consider debt a form of enslavement. A good education is a matter of survival in todays world so there is little choice in the matter.



[...]



As for your question AC I am fast beginning to think the best solution is to

just start over or do away with the school sytem entirely. Here it is a disaster, I don't know about Texas. I imagine it is better.



I think teachers are paid enough, the problem is they are overwhelmed. Once again it's petty selfish adults that mess everything up.



Tear everything down and start over. Use the internet?


Our choices are infinite. Imagination and perseverance make it so.

Scrat wrote: BR. I consider debt a form of enslavement. A good education is a matter of survival in todays world so there is little choice in the matter.


Then you are a slave to your home, as well. You need a home, there is no choice in the matter, so you are enslaved by your home.

I guess you're also a slave to the heating company. You need heat in the winter to survive, there is no choice in the matter.

We're all slaves to the gas company too. I need to get back and forth to work, and to do that I need a car that runs on gas. There is no choice in that matter either.

Hmmm....I need water. I must be a slave to the water department, too.



If you look at it as a form of enslavement, then I guess it is. If you look at it as an opportunity to better yourself, that comes with a price tag, then it's not so bad. Nothing is free, unfortunately.

Scrat wrote: [...]

Our system burdens people, its out of balance. AC says everyone should be responsible for themselves. Why not stop picking the pockets of people and let them take care of themselves? Give them the opportunity to invest instead of going into debt at a young age?
I'm in full agreement with you here, Scrat. The only entity that's picking our pockets is the government. I'm all for cutting extraneous government programs that are better handled by charitable organizations (many of which have atrophied because gov't is doing their jobs for them) and cutting taxes.



No one is forced to go to UW. If we stop the artificial help, people would not be able to pay such high tuitions. = low demand. UW would be forced to lower their tuition or close its doors. With the proper shopping around (homework) one can find private organizations with money people have voluntarily given to help with education. Many colleges are cheaper than UW. The name of the college on the diploma is far less important than the character of the person holding it.



The gov't is picking our pockets and keeping these expensive universities artificially funded. It's the same equation with medical costs and insurance. Nobody has to earn all the money required so they don't mind paying higher prices.



Along with the value of education, we need to teach our kids the value of budgeting, investing, and paying their own way.