Work Hard?

[22*43*51]

Actually, I don't know what I googled earlier, but it's lower than I first reported.

Iowa's in-state tuition is higher by a couple thousand bucks a year:

Iowa $6,678
FSU $4,640

https://www.cappex.com/colleges/University-of-Iowa/tuition-and-costs

https://www.cappex.com/colleges/Florida-State-University/tuition-and-costs

So currently you can pay 20-25K one time for an education.

In the future, you can get "free" education and pay 50K in taxes over the course of your lifetime.

Feel the Bern!

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

Of course I work hard. I'm a white male born in the fifties. It was expected.

 

[Foxclone]

Universities are to blame as well. 10% annual tuition increases for years, encouraging students to not rush and enjoy their college experience. You start to question the value of a 4 year degree that takes you 5 plus years to get to hopefully find a productive job to be saddled by lots of debt.

 

[GarryO37]

Yes, my son has earned scholarships and that has certainly played a part in him having more in savings now than when he started college. But even if you took the scholarship money out of the equation, he still would be nowhere near needing loans. I would ask that today's students do no more, but also no less, work than I did when I paid my way through college.

My son's work schedule is actually less than mine was when I was in school, but he was far ahead of me when he started in terms of savings and my wife and I also contribute more to his welfare than my parents did when I was in school. Yet, we wanted our boys to earn it for themselves and they largely have and will both be debt free when finished.

Are you sure that the fallacy of composition does not also apply to the story of the poor college student who cannot muster their way through college without heavy debt? FWIW, we don't require that he work as much as he chose to work. In fact, I was surprised when he told me 1-1/2 years ago that he took a second job so he could change his "burn rate" on his college savings account. He calculated for himself that after 1-1/2 years of college that he would use up a chunk of his savings before he got through college. Not wanting to do that, he voluntarily took a second job...which has allowed him to add to his savings while paying his way through college.

I realize that this is not the norm and yes, we are very proud of him and expect him to have great success in life due to his work ethic and habits, etc, my point is that it is very doable though to get a 4 year degree and to do it without racking up a large debt. This is not a theoretical debate in my mind, it is something that we have lived and are living.

Far too many people see themselves as disadvantaged or "trapped" or working/living in a "rigged" system, when the reality is that they need to dedicate themselves to success via hard work and effort...not getting something from someone else for free, etc.

Sorry about that. Yes your son did earn the scholarships. I didn't mean to make it seem as if he was given them. I apologize for that. I was also being a little dramatic implying that you were forcing your son to do more than you did. I didn't really believe that and apologize for that as well.

I'm not sure if your asking, but yes the fallacy of composition does apply to college and college bound students. If every would be college student and college student had the same plan as your son, then that would very much increase the labor pool at an alarming rate. Assuming your son is the average college bound student, this means little to no job openings and your son has to compete for every job he does try to get. So if your son was an average student able to go to college, he would have a hard time getting a job to even save the money in the first place, let alone get a second job.

I'm sure your already know what the fallacy states, but I'll state it for others who don't. The fallacy is in assuming what's good for one or a few is good for the whole group. This is rarely, if ever, true.

So if everyone had that plan and mindset, we would still have the same problem we have today, and possibly worse.

No I don't believe education should be free. What's good in some European country is not good for the United States. European countries don't have a population the size of the United States to support. I do however believe that tuition at a public institution can be netter regulated at the state level so we are setting up students for success by not having such a huge financial burden when they graduate. This should reduce the amount of student loan a student is able to take, should.

 

[SoDakHawk]

In 1994 tuition was only $2352 at the university of Iowa. My dad had rental property in Cedar Rapids and let me live there for free as long as I went to school. I was able to work part time and during the summer to actually pay for my tuition without loans. The reality is, that's impossible to do now.

The amount of debt a kid has to accrue now to get an education is obscene. We're creating a whole generation of debt slaves. Before somebody spouts off, I know nobody is forcing these kids to go to college and acquiring all that debt. Some way, some how tuition costs need to be reigned in. How that should be done, I don't know.

Nobody is forcing them, you are correct, but study after study shows the lifetime income of a college graduate is much higher than that of a person who did not graduate college. There is a positive relationship between higher education and higher income potential.

So while a person could decide to go to trade school instead or start a business right of high school, statistically speaking, they have a much higher chance of lower income over their lifetime. The safer play is to get your college degree, and becoming a debt slave in order to do so.