Private University or Trade school?

[jvalentine98]

Even public 4 year Universities are expensive. I graduated with my A.A.S., with my family paying for the tuition semester by semester, thank goodness for that. Then when I decided to pursue a 4 year degree, the tuition, books and room and board were about $7,500 per semester. A far cry from the $1,200 I paid at the junior college level. I HAD to live on campus or at least in an apartment nearby, since I'm from a small town that is more than an hour from any 4 year school.

I looked into student loans, but I figured that with the average pay for the degree I wanted, figuring in the student loan payments, I would come out better to just not go to university at all, it was really more economically feasible to go straight into the work force. I couldn't even imagine paying $50k a year for an Ivy league. You'll easily be looking at a quarter million by the time you've got that piece of paper!

[samsonlonghair]

Even public 4 year Universities are expensive. I graduated with my A.A.S., with my family paying for the tuition semester by semester, thank goodness for that. Then when I decided to pursue a 4 year degree, the tuition, books and room and board were about $7,500 per semester. A far cry from the $1,200 I paid at the junior college level. I HAD to live on campus or at least in an apartment nearby, since I'm from a small town that is more than an hour from any 4 year school.

I looked into student loans, but I figured that with the average pay for the degree I wanted, figuring in the student loan payments, I would come out better to just not go to university at all, it was really more economically feasible to go straight into the work force. I couldn't even imagine paying $50k a year for an Ivy league. You'll easily be looking at a quarter million by the time you've got that piece of paper!

How to afford a bachelor's degree if you're a young adult:
1. Work until you're twenty-three. Have some fun during this time. Don't marry yet.
2. Do your taxes. Keep a second copy.
3. Fill out your FAFSA http://www.fafsa.gov.
4. Apply for a public state college.
5. Receive grant at the start of each semester.
6. each March go back to step 2 and repeat.

The fed will grant you about 2K~3K each semester. This should cover most (if not all) of your tuition. This may not cover all the costs of going to college, but it makes college reasonably accessible to folks who otherwise would never be able to go.

[jvalentine98]

Even public 4 year Universities are expensive. I graduated with my A.A.S., with my family paying for the tuition semester by semester, thank goodness for that. Then when I decided to pursue a 4 year degree, the tuition, books and room and board were about $7,500 per semester. A far cry from the $1,200 I paid at the junior college level. I HAD to live on campus or at least in an apartment nearby, since I'm from a small town that is more than an hour from any 4 year school.

I looked into student loans, but I figured that with the average pay for the degree I wanted, figuring in the student loan payments, I would come out better to just not go to university at all, it was really more economically feasible to go straight into the work force. I couldn't even imagine paying $50k a year for an Ivy league. You'll easily be looking at a quarter million by the time you've got that piece of paper!

How to afford a bachelor's degree if you're a young adult:
1. Work until you're twenty-three. Have some fun during this time. Don't marry yet.
2. Do your taxes. Keep a second copy.
3. Fill out your FAFSA http://www.fafsa.gov.
4. Apply for a public state college.
5. Receive grant at the start of each semester.
6. each March go back to step 2 and repeat.

The fed will grant you about 2K~3K each semester. This should cover most (if not all) of your tuition. This may not cover all the costs of going to college, but it makes college reasonably accessible to folks who otherwise would never be able to go.

Sounds nice but there's some major holes there. First, you're going to need a decent full time job to have health insurance during that time...good luck with only a high school diploma and no skills. Second, once most people have a decent full time job, giving that up to go back to school is hard to do for most. Why give up a sure fire job that's putting food on the table for some degree you may never finish?

Here's another big thing...Babies. Pregnancy. What do people between the ages of 18-23 do? Party. Have sex. Babies are popping up every where. Once that happens, most of your career aspirations go out the window, because you have to buy formula and diapers, and you better have a job with insurance to make sure that baby is insured. Babies go to the doctor a lot.

So it's a good plan, but for real life it will hardly work out like that.

[ZeroAX]

Here's another big thing...Babies. Pregnancy. What do people between the ages of 18-23 do? Party. Have sex. Babies are popping up every where. Once that happens, most of your career aspirations go out the window, because you have to buy formula and diapers, and you better have a job with insurance to make sure that baby is insured. Babies go to the doctor a lot.

.....seriously

[samsonlonghair]

Even public 4 year Universities are expensive. I graduated with my A.A.S., with my family paying for the tuition semester by semester, thank goodness for that. Then when I decided to pursue a 4 year degree, the tuition, books and room and board were about $7,500 per semester. A far cry from the $1,200 I paid at the junior college level. I HAD to live on campus or at least in an apartment nearby, since I'm from a small town that is more than an hour from any 4 year school.

I looked into student loans, but I figured that with the average pay for the degree I wanted, figuring in the student loan payments, I would come out better to just not go to university at all, it was really more economically feasible to go straight into the work force. I couldn't even imagine paying $50k a year for an Ivy league. You'll easily be looking at a quarter million by the time you've got that piece of paper!

How to afford a bachelor's degree if you're a young adult:
1. Work until you're twenty-three. Have some fun during this time. Don't marry yet.
2. Do your taxes. Keep a second copy.
3. Fill out your FAFSA http://www.fafsa.gov.
4. Apply for a public state college.
5. Receive grant at the start of each semester.
6. each March go back to step 2 and repeat.

The fed will grant you about 2K~3K each semester. This should cover most (if not all) of your tuition. This may not cover all the costs of going to college, but it makes college reasonably accessible to folks who otherwise would never be able to go.

Sounds nice but there's some major holes there. First, you're going to need a decent full time job to have health insurance during that time...good luck with only a high school diploma and no skills. Second, once most people have a decent full time job, giving that up to go back to school is hard to do for most. Why give up a sure fire job that's putting food on the table for some degree you may never finish?

Here's another big thing...Babies. Pregnancy. What do people between the ages of 18-23 do? Party. Have sex. Babies are popping up every where. Once that happens, most of your career aspirations go out the window, because you have to buy formula and diapers, and you better have a job with insurance to make sure that baby is insured. Babies go to the doctor a lot.

What? Young people enjoy having sex? When did this start?
Seriously though, the part where I wrote, "don't marry yet,"substitute that for "don't have a baby yet." You do have control over your own reproductive functions. If you're having a hard time with this, ask planned parenthood. They can help you prevent pregnancy until later. By the way, did you know that under the AHCA, you can get many types of birth control for free?

As for health insurance, no. I don't have any. I haven't had any in ten years. You know what I do have: a Bachelor's degree. This doesn't guarantee that I'll get a job with health insurance any time soon, but it helps. I hear that nowadays young adults can stay on their parents health insurance for longer. That helps.

So it's a good plan, but for real life it will hardly work out like that.

Except that it DOES work out. That's the exact method I used to get a college degree. I'm working on my masters in the next few years. I haven't figured out a plan for that yet, but I will.

If I can do it, you can do it too.

[Jmustang1968]

This thread makes me think if we had a REPO goes to college thread.

People are actually waiting longer and having less kids, especially among the more educated portion of the population.

Many colleges also have on campus clinics and such for students. College students also can be on their parents health insurance while they are in school.

It is good to figure out what you want to do and the expected compensation. If you are going for a career that you can get from either a trade school or a degree, then the trade school might be the best option. If you are going to borrow to go to school, and the expected income from the career wont cover the costs of school, then you may want to rethink that.

For some people, the expensive private institutions do offer rewards despite the cost. Some of those are the most highly respective institutions in their fields of study. Getting a degree from an MIT or Harvard Law can open up careers or research unattainable by other means. But to get into those, you have to be either incredibly intelligent, have a lot of money, or know the right people.

[jvalentine98]

Condoms have been around forever, doesn't really help. The number of teen pregnancies is huge, so huge and so common that they've made multiple versions of multiple shows in multiple seasons on television.

I'm 31, have no children nor a desire to have children. I have a 2 year degree and a solid FT job with health insurance. I'm thankful for what I do have, and having no family means I could try for a higher degree, still. But I'd have to make some major adjustments to my life. I wouldn't be willing to do that for the next several years in the hopes that I might make a few extra bucks down the line.

[MrPopo]

Here's another big thing...Babies. Pregnancy. What do people between the ages of 18-23 do? Party. Have sex. Babies are popping up every where. Once that happens, most of your career aspirations go out the window, because you have to buy formula and diapers, and you better have a job with insurance to make sure that baby is insured. Babies go to the doctor a lot.

If you don't have the self control and the foresight to put off babies until you've done college then it's likely you weren't college material in the first place.

[dsheinem]

Here's another big thing...Babies. Pregnancy. What do people between the ages of 18-23 do? Party. Have sex. Babies are popping up every where. Once that happens, most of your career aspirations go out the window, because you have to buy formula and diapers, and you better have a job with insurance to make sure that baby is insured. Babies go to the doctor a lot.

If you don't have the self control and the foresight to put off babies until you've done college then it's likely you weren't college material in the first place.

That's a bit harsh. People frequently change their outlook on life and grow as humans, and sometimes a significant life event (like having a child at a young age...or any age) can be a catalyst for "righting the ship" of one's life. To wit, most of my best students over the years have been "non-traditional" students who are often a good bit older than most traditional students...many of whom somewhat mindlessly jump from HS to college because it is the "thing to do". By contrast, most non-trads are there with purpose, often because they have learned (sometimes the hard way) about the value of getting an education. They tend to be the best "college material".

[ZeroAX]

Condoms have been around forever, doesn't really help. The number of teen pregnancies is huge, so huge and so common that they've made multiple versions of multiple shows in multiple seasons on television.

I don't want to be harsh, but I never understood why the US and UK are the only 2 western countries where teenagers/young adults are so stupid that they don't use condoms/pull out. And I will agree with MrPopo, if you are so stupid you think it will be funny/fun to risk pregnancy (and by risk pregnancy I don't mean having sex, I mean cumming inside her) then you are obviously not smart enough for a uni degree...and many things in life in general.