Here is my dilemma: Should I go to a private university that is considered the best in the area or a state school that is fairly regular? If I go to the private school I'll graduate with $15K in student loan debt, If I go to the state school I will be able to graduate with at least $25K in my pocket.

Here's the back story for those who may care. Currently I attend a community college, but I have to transfer in the fall as it's been two years. I am majoring in economics and have narrowed my transfer options to two schools. I live in the NKY area and could transfer to either NKU or Xavier. I don't expect anyone on here to be familiar with NKU on here but it's just basically an average state school, nothing wrong with it. Xavier is a private university and while it isn't an ivy league school it is probably the most prestigious and highly looked upon college in the Cincinnati area by employers.

What I want to do with my life is real estate investing (building a portfolio of rental property). My plan has always been to work a 9 to 5 in my 20's after college and use a good portion of my paychecks to kick start a RE portfolio that I can concentrate on fully in my 30's through the rest of my life. I have a college fund of about $15K and my personal money I have made through working and investing of about $20K. I figure that if I go to the state school by the time I graduate I'll have at least $25K which is a great amount to get started with in the local market. If I go to the private school, I'll have to contribute my money in addition to my college fund (I'm getting a good scholarship from X) leaving me with $15K in debt upon graduation. I'll also have to transfer with about a semester less of credits than if I go to NKU, but I feel as though I could take extra classes and summer classes allowing me to still graduate on time at XU.

I know $15K isn't a lot of debt to graduate college and I could probably clear that in a couple years of my first job. But I don't think I would continue to pursue my RE dreams if I take that route. I don't want to look back and regret not becoming my own man and building my own business in my 20's when I'm old. At the same time, I don't want to look back and feel like an idiot for not going to the best school I could get into and being able to get a good job straight out of college.

Also, I already have a small home that I inherited so that isn't something that I will need to worry about when I get out of school either way.

I know this may seem like a privileged problem to have but I just want to make the best decision possible.

I'm not sure what I did to make the second paragraph look like that but I can't seem to fix it.

Go to the private university 15k debt is peanuts and the opportunity will be much greater as will be the contacts you'll get during your time there.

A few things to consider:

Long term wealth is all that matters, and when you start with nothing, wealth is lifetime earning power. A couple of career breaks can mean you make $4 million lifetime instead of $1 or $2 million, especially in something like economics.

For a career, prestigious private college is way better. Especially in economics. That's that settled.

So the only question left is what kind of person are you? Do you fit in with people who aren't hobos? Do you like the finer things? Do you enjoy the company of the great unwashed masses? If you have a bit of class about you and can get on well with non-hobos, then the prestigious college is way better.

Generally your life will be greatly enhanced by being friends of people with means. Means means fun, opportunity, competence, a better perspective on the world, learning how to be on top by osmosis. One of the things about about a strong meritocracy like the US is that wealth is largely stratified by competence and intelligence and work ethic. You want to be around people that have those qualities for your own education.

Neither. Just get a job in real estate investing if that's what you want to do. I know that you want to build your own portfolio, but you might as well build up your capital while learning how to get good at real estate investing, I kind of fail to see how that will be accomplished by going to school.

Take it from someone who owns a worthless econ degree, just get a job and focus on getting good at one specific thing and you will be in a much better position two years from now.

1. I know you mean well, but this is ridiculous. "LT Wealth" is just the sum of all the infinitesimal moments that make up the long term. We could say net utility, or w.e. Clearly both matter. You can argue that it is more important to maximize the LT at the expense of the ST. But so far you seem to be attempting to build a castle on a foundation of sand...

OP, school do matter when it comes to where certain firms recruit. I'll use Harvard and the University of Missouri as examples. No doubt BCP and Goldman have events and recruit from Harvard. But that doesn't mean that you can't get a job as an associate from Mizzou. If you get good grades and know your **** they won't not hire you because you didn't go ivy league.

Personally you can end up in the same spot from a good state university or an elite private university. For the most part school is what you put into it.

But your peers will be different. And 4.0 from Harvard is > 4.0 from Mizzou.

I am going to make a new post after rereading the OP.

After hearing your specifics I would suggest the state school if you are certain about what you want to do. The $25k means you could do your first deal right after you get proof of income (would not recommend this).

But if you just want to work in the Cincinnati area in like business / real estate I don't think it matters too much where go. What matters more is if you get your RE license before you apply for the job, know your finance ****, and can articulate your value to an employer.

And I am someone who in a general sense, would tend to pick the more expensive uni.

The more prestigious name giv.es you more flexibility.

Earning capacity and job opportunities matter more than minor debt. That's without the social side.

Well I'm not really sure what job I would get right now that would teach me anything about RE investing that I can't already find through online reading, learning, and studying the local market. The formula for success for single family residential real estate investing seems fairly simply and with the tax advantages for this type of business it seems a lot harder to lose money than to make it. Also most residential real estate investors are sole proprietorship that basically only utilize the investor as the only employee, a maintenance company, a lawyer on retainer, and an accountant.

The point in me going to school is that basically receiving my house in my name is contingent upon it. Getting my degree is also at least free to heavily discounted thanks to my college fund (which my parents are not going to just hand over to me if I drop out. So, I don't see the point in punting the free roll that is my $15K college fund. Also, if I drop out of school I will be responsible for all my bills without having a job that can viable pay those bills (hence my $20K I have saved will go quickly). Being that I am in college my parents are paying for practically all my bills in addition to my education. Given this is doesn't make any sense to go just drop out and start working right now when I am living on a big free roll until I graduate. This lack of bills is also basically one of the biggest contributing factors for my favorable financial status to date. Even if I go with the private school it will allow me to receive a $160K education for $35K out of my own pocket. Or a $40K state school education for $0 out of pocket.

Also, may I ask if your econ degree is more of a business one or a social science degree? I only ask because at the private college I am considering attending they offer a Bachelors in econ through the business college and one just through the college (non-business college Econ degree). If I go to that college I will be getting the econ degree through the business college, but I could see why you feel your econ degree may be worthless if it is a non-business econ degree.

Actually I already have my RE license, I got it when I turned 19. However, I have never used it as I am not really interested in being a salesperson. I want to be an investor and have the salespeople work for me.

Yeah, that is good. Sales kinda sucks IMO. But you can make good money doing it and in this case it is like running your own small business. So you can work as much or as little as you want.

It is valuable because it shows interest in RE. In general sense they are kind of silly. But programmers having AWS certs, FA having their CFA, etc. These things are valuable when it comes to employment and getting clients. Even if they only get your foot in the door.

First, get your parents to pay your college. If your parents can’t afford to give you 15k, meh that’s pretty. Ok I’m joking kinda but meh 15k doesn’t seem like a lot of debt if you don’t goof around too much in college and take your studies seriously.

I would lean toward private if the networking/ job opportunities will make a material difference. In my opinion, state school vs private school isn’t a big difference however top notch schools will make networking much easier +
The job opportunities will be much better.

Something I’ve learned in college is this: it’s not what your gpa honestly is...... did you network, did you complete a few internships to gain relevant experience before applying for real jobs, who do you know. If you can leave college with some internships completed and a solid gpa.... you should be all set. Also I would try hard to network as much as possible. The more people you know.... especially in the business world.... the more easy opportunities you will have for jobs.

Per your post, you sound like you have a solid head on your shoulders and I’m sure you will be fine. Just make sure you complete some internships as these are very nice on a resume when you apply for jobs after college.

They already are paying, they have paid the cost up until this point which has been about $10k, with the money that has been set aside by them (another $15K) that will have been a $25K contribution to my college education. My parents have already said they can't afford to put out another $15K on top of the $25K they already have for me to go to the private school and stay out of debt. It's also worth noting that they have been and will continue to pay all my bills while I am in college (and let me tell you that's not cheap lol).

Also I plan on interning as a rising senior no matter which college I choose to attend.

The value proposition is definitely murky for someone planning on going the entrepreneurial route. It's easy to say that the 160k won't mean much if you're shooting for the stars but the future value of that 160k is considerable especially if you're using it as capital for projects that you otherwise would have to work 5ish years longer to save up.


I have no idea how you'd quantify the value of networks but i'm sure even if the price tag was 2-3x what it is you'd get a lot of the same people insist it's worth it.

WTF. If your parents can't afford it then take on the debt (all of it, including what they're currently paying) as your own rather than let them pay any of it at all. Sure, let them pay your living expenses, but letting parents pay for your college fees when they don't have the money and you can get a student loan, is a bit much. It'll also focus your mind very sharply on whether the extra money for private school is worth it.

I'm against college for people who want to be entrepreneurs unless it's for advanced technical skills. The reality is that 90%+ of what you get out of a college degree is signalling value... And being an entrepreneur is about getting things done, not signalling.

I think you should look really hard at your 'I don't really want to be a salesperson' stance. You're very young still, which means your career planning should revolve first and foremost around skills. Sales skills are pretty close to the most important skill any entrepreneur can have... So getting a lot of practice selling stuff is the real world college you need.

You should be trying to figure out how to get a real job somewhere in the industry NOW, not in 2 years. Construction is good (because it helps a ton with the cost structure of real estate investing to be your own general contractor), real estate sales is good (you'll learn to sell, you'll also get paid to pay very close attention to the real estate market, you'll also be endlessly networking with people whose money you can use if you do it right, and you'll learn what sells and why), and being a mortgage broker probably isn't half bad either.

You want to make the money for your real estate investments doing work that is transferable to being a full time real estate investor. You should be willing to work INSANELY hard at any of the above jobs and do the best job you can, because essentially someone is paying to put you through much more useful classes than you could take at NKU or Xavier.

And this is an area where I really know what I'm talking about. I'm very gainfully self employed, one of my brothers went to NKU and is now an actuary for a Cinci based insurance company, I moved to northern KY for a couple of years to get my foot in the door of the transportation business, and I have all but a semester finished for a degree in econ from U of L. Basically nothing from my econ degree was transferable to running my own business. Everything that was would have been picked up by reading BRK shareholder letters and a couple of accounting textbooks.

EDIT: I also consider the loss of two years spent at college instead of in the real world getting experience in your industry to be the real cost here. The difference in choice between Xavier and NKU is pretty trivial probably. Most likely no one will care, but you're a lot more likely to meet someone important to your future career at Xavier. I sincerely think the whole go to college line is massively flawed for the career you currently want though. 15k is nothing in the long run. 2 years is worth at least 120k in the next 5 years, but adding two extra years to the end of your career might be worth millions. I just think there's way less than a 25% chance that going to college is anything but a waste of two years to a middle aged real estate investor. I'm a 33 year old freight broker and I consider almost my entire college experience to be dead weight loss.

Why don't you go to Kentucky? Xavier is nothing special. I don't think it's worth paying that much more than WKY. But the University of Kentucky is definitely the best of those three options. Assuming you have a good GPA at the JuCo, then I would think you would get accepted there.

+1 to Xavier being nothing special. Basically all private colleges are a pretty big ripoff unless they are in the top 30-maybe 50 institutions nationwide. Definitely better off going to a good public college than any mid tier private school.

Investing in low end real estate and generating rent isn't entrepreneurship though. It's no different to putting money in a CD really, once rates go back up. It has no hope of meaningful return on small capital, which means his job is really what matters until he gets enough capital to start it being worth compounding. I suppose the intention is to leverage it with mortgages. In that case, income stream is king, for how much you can borrow...at this stage everything is pretty much irrelevant for OP except his future earning power.

This isn't true for local real estate people who make a career of it. There are outsize returns to be had for people who can get construction done at wholesale prices instead of retail, and those plugged into below market opportunities from the sales side. Or the money people who can borrow cheap and make substantially higher yield hard money loans to their real estate developer friends.

It's about the furthest thing from passive income imaginable, but it's not a horrible way to make a living either.

I completely agree about everything being irrelevant for OP except future earning power. I think going to college and then becoming a local RE guy is really dumb. He just won't get anything out of college at all and could be 2 years further along by starting right now instead. Yeah he probably won't be a huge success in the next 2 years, but the lessons he learns will put him 2 years further along than he would be.

Also if he tries to make a go at real estate and fails he'll have learned a ton and can still go back to college with vastly more street smarts than he has now. I don't see how it can be anything but more +EV than college.

They do have the money. They have the money for what they have now, people have their limits! This money that they are giving me is money that has been set aside throughout my life for my college education i.e. a college fund. I'm not sure if your misunderstanding what I am writing but roughly $25K was in my college fund at 18, now there is about $15K left. Nobody is missing out on any meals but at some point there is a limit. If your child wanted another $15K beyond your $25K contribution you'd probably put your foot down too.

I was against going to college at first too, however I didn't really have the option. It was either get out and start footing all my bills immediately, find a job straight out of college that would have either been retail or manual labor paying no better than probably $25K/year, and rent an apartment, buy a car, etc. Or go to college, have everything paid for, live in a house that will become mine after college, keep the cars, etc. That's a no brainer no matter who you are and what you want to do with your life. If a college education is free or very heavily discounted you'd be stupid not to take it. I was told this and that it was fine to want to pursue my own dreams but I needed a degree to fall back on if something happened.

I agree with all that. I have a family member you was very cocky and confident making six figures from his mid thirties to mid forties. He then lost that job and given that he doesn't have a college education he has had nothing to fall back on and make him competitive in finding a new job like his own. Now the guy makes about $20/hour, has had at least eight jobs in the last two years and is visibly depressed. So, yes you can become successful in life without going to college but even that ship can sink with no lifeboats.

Getting a job in the industry now is good advice for someone who wants to be self employed in practically any industry except real estate. I got my RE license and then applied to all the different agencies in the area, this is the opposite of what usually happens. Since I already had the license everyone was trying to convince me to sign on with them. Given this was the case they were all trying to hard sell me. Every agency seemed like the movie Boiler Room promising me I could be making six figures in a couple of years, or telling me how I would be making my first sale in 45 days, etc. There's about $5000 in fees involved in becoming a realtor along with desk fees, ad fees, fee fees, etc. I was never so disgusted in my life watching all these 45 year olds promise me the whole world on a silver platter from selling $200K houses in Kentucky. Realtors don't know the first thing about RE investing. No one could even explain to me how the 1031 exchange worked (though I already knew myself), 1031 is probably the most basic reason RE investing is viable. The fact is more than 90% of real estate agents don't make it past their first year. Also, mortgage brokers, contractors, and agents only handle a small part of a real estate transaction. The people that I do know that do investing don't even really work on these things, they hire the people to do these jobs and make the investment as passive as possible. The main job of the investor is to acquire capital, buy the property, and then farm out the rest of the work. That's why so many lawyers are doing this, they aren't out there selling houses or doing construction. They make the money through practicing law and then invest it to make the income as passive as possible.

Yes, I agree most of the stuff I have learned in my college classes has been what I have already learned on my own. This is because I have genuine interest in the subjects of economics and finance. Also, RE investors don't really have an end to their career. At least not passive portfolio investors because income comes directly through your principle and all the leg work is done by a pm company. So, why sell when you can collect rents until you're dead and pass everything on to your children.

Nope. The sad truth is that anyone who has to think about college savings for their kids probably shouldn't be paying for their kids college. The price of education is comically stupidly high. To the point where it's not worth paying full sticker anywhere unless your family is quite well off.

You should prefer your parents take that money and put it towards their retirement rather than give it to you. Or you could take a construction job and learn the ropes (learn how to do every basic building task at an intermediate level) and then take the college fund money and do a flip with your parents.

Remember that your parents sound like good people who you love... Which means that any shortfall in their retirement is going to end up coming out of your (and your siblings... but if you're doing well financially I'd expect to pay for all of it) pocket. You do not want them to waste five figures on you being taught the x and y axis for 12 miscellaneous graphs.

I would like to go to UK but it's a good hour and a half away from here and that's not really viable given that I'm pretty tied down where I am. NKU is my other option, not WKU. I definitely think X is a better option if I'm planning on working in Cincinnati given XU is right there in Cincy and many of the businesses have a relationship with the college. Also, there are a lot more people in the tri-state with degrees from UK rather than XU so supply and demand. No matter if it is true or not many people in Cincinnati think XU is special including employers.

You're right, the price is stupidly high. But, rather my parents contribute or not I get charged like they do. It works this way for anyone under 24. So, if my parents aren't helping the government still expects me to contribute $18K per year.