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Originally Posted by jdr0317
Thirdly, it's pretty much no secret that federal student aid has been a key driver to increased student debt. As recently as 1980, Harvard tuition was under $15k in 2007 dollars. Now it's probably pushing about 3x that: http://kwharbaugh.blogspot.com/2005/...costs.html?m=1
Harvard could just not charge tuition and their endowment would happily fund the entire operation. There are marketing reasons to charge a lot, but federal assistance isn't driving their costs. Agree with other places. A buddy of mine was talking about a niece who was going to Colorado School of Mines to the tune of $50k/year room, board, books, and tuition and wondering if a $200K-$250k investment would pay off. If the rate of increase doesn't slow down, it eventually won't.
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Fourthly, more anecdotal but my generation is the first generation that has significant members that really got hurt by attending college. For the next generation, the narrative is highly likely to begin shifting. Why spend 7 years getting some advanced degree in a liberal art in the hope you find a prestigious job (relative to the average person who tries to make a career from a history degree) when you can make good money as an electrician? Or maybe it's just wishful thinking for me that people will focus more heavily on their future.
At some point, college is an investment. What does the investment cost and what is the return? That's ROI, pure and simple. It is hard for a 17 year old to ask deep questions about ROI in relation to "their future", but it is we as parents who fail them to not teach the tools to make good economic decisions.
Let's look at your advanced liberal arts degree to the tune of $30k-$50k/year for 7 years -- that's more than the price of a good franchise restaurant. Your professors are semi-famous? So hanging around near celebrity for 7 years and reading lots of books... which you could actually just read on your own. Is school the only place to get commentary on those books and have in depth discussions? Can you get a good liberal arts education on your own without sinking in half a million? Let's say the total cost becomes a million. Can you draw a line and say it is only worth X?
To really have a discussion about the value of an education, you have to start with asking "what do I hope to get out of this?" If we're murky and just buying into the marketing of
- it is a better life
- my family have always been Michigan Wolverines
- I'm a legacy to Frat X or Y, and you can't put a price on it
The person selling can just make the price whatever. Add in the federally backed (can never escape via bankruptcy) loans, and the lenders don't have a reasonable skin in the game to say "Tommy, we're not loaning you half a million to study Ancient European Comparative Religiosity" or whatever degree you think has low ROI.
The whole law school thing is a perfect example. If only 25% or 30% of your graduates get a job that requires a law degree, but some much larger % take on crushing debt that can only be paid back via a high earning legal career, you have a problem.