Current Events > Gen Z really got screwed with the cost of education.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Everyone discusses the absurd increases in housing... but education may be even worse.

Out of bored curiosity, I did some digging and found the cost of my bachelors degree tuition: just over 11k total. This covered four complete years of in-state tuition at a public university in California, and without one dollar of assistance from scholarships or financial aid. It also wasn't THAT long ago (2004-2008).

Today, a four-year degree from the same school (with the same in-state status) would cost about 27k in tuition, or 2.5x what it cost me about 15 years ago. Not even the cost of housing in the region has increased by that much during this timeframe.

So yeah, I feel really bad for people who are dealing with the cost of college now.

Also, if that 11k I paid (or even the 27k cost of today) seem oddly low, I attended what is generally considered one of the most affordable public universities in the country (CSULB).

College is overpriced. The costs need to come down or people are going to just stop going

It makes me feel sad thinking about it

*weeps in 100k debt*

We could just say Gen Z really got screwed.

step 1: be rich
step 2: don't be poor

Tell me about it ._.

Im actually doing okay at a projected ~$40,000 for up to my masters. Im $5k in so far and just about finished with my associates, but Ill need to transfer to a university to finish out the rest of my degree. $10k a year. And this is the cheapest university around too

The big public university around here is $15k a year. Thats $60k minimum for a bachelors. God forbid you take an extra year or have to pay for housing too. Dont even get me started on private unis.

Zikten posted...

College is overpriced. The costs need to come down or people are going to just stop going

The powers that be probably don't want the blue collar work force getting educated anyway. Someone has to stock shelves and clean bathrooms

I make about ~56000 without a college degree.

MI4 REAL posted...

I make about ~56000 without a college degree.

Really not relevant to the topic at hand

I was fortunate to graduate without debt, but I almost certainly would be in debt if I had pursued my Masters. As it stands, Im not really in my preferred field, and Im only making okay-ish money, for my area, not what someone with my degree should be making.

It didnt really feel like a choice though, going into debt knowing I could easily not be able to get a job for a while.

They said textbooks were a scam but really, the whole thing is.

Easy loans since 1992 or so bloated the costs more than anything else.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/prestoncooper2/2017/02/22/how-unlimited-student-loans-drive-up-tuition/

BTH_Phoenix posted...

They said textbooks were a scam but really, the whole thing is.

Text books are super fucking scammy tho.

Especially math.

Like holy fuck Calculus 1 hasn't changed in like 300 years why is there a new textbook for it every other year

I graduated in '15 and I remember it being 375 a credit hour. Just looked up what the rate is today, 7 years later, and $440 for this year and $453 next year.

I only did 60 credits at this school because I went to community college for the first 60 credits.

College at the public universities in NYC was only 4k a year for me when I graduated a couple of years ago. And theres a scholarship they give out called Excelsior that lets you go to school tuition free but I didnt qualify for it

Questionmarktarius posted...

Easy loans since 1992 or so bloated the costs more than anything else.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/prestoncooper2/2017/02/22/how-unlimited-student-loans-drive-up-tuition/

Clearly the answer isn't to reduce loan availability, though.

It's definitely approaching or even surpassed the point of all of it being worth it. Heck, you can get pretty far just through free online resources and consulting those in the field for what to prioritize.

Unfortunately, your school and connections trump what you actually learned.