4 ms·

For reference, I plugged in my own early career (I graduated fall 2006). I went to school in the Midwest, worked 2 full years as an intern, then two years as a

For reference, I plugged in my own early career (I graduated fall 2006). I went to school in the Midwest, worked 2 full years as an intern, then two years as a full-salary employee, then moved to Maryland. So 17% of all my earnings in the Midwest + my first year in Maryland comes out to about $28k. If I cut the internship down from 2 years to 1 summer, it's around $24k. That's roughly the same as my 4-year degrees at the state university I attended from 2002-2006 (double major: BS in Computer Information Science, BA in German). edit: As cableshaft mentioned, I did not account for the cost of interest -- my ~$28k was just for tuition + books/fees.

throwawayjava 9y ago
> That's roughly the same as my 4-year degrees at the state university Tuition or total cost of attendance? Notice that the 17% for 3 years is equivalent to tuition, not full cost. > double major: BS in Computer Information Science, BA in German The way I think about this is that you got a free BA in German, some free theory/systems CS courses, and some free gen eds out of the deal.
- vollmond 9y ago
  Tuition + books/fees. No student loan interest, housing, meals, etc, accounted for. And that's probably a good way to think about it. I also came out with fewer math courses -- the specific CIS track I took had a lot of electives, as did the German major, so I just married them together. A pure CIS track would have included a math minor instead. edit: Also, assuming the 2 years for the course in the article is roughly equal to the computer science education I got, I could see being willing to pay the same amount to get out 2 years earlier and start earning graduate salaries more quickly. I certainly don't use the gen eds or German knowledge in any money-making way that I have noticed.
cableshaft 9y ago
Assuming you took out student loans, are you factoring in the interest accumulated into your total costs? There's no interest in the "17% over 3 years" model. I had about $25k of student loan debt when I graduated, but by the time I've paid it off I think I will have paid closer to $35k-40k, factoring in interest over several years.
- antisthenes 9y ago
  > There's no interest in the "17% over 3 years" model. There isn't but it's insignificant and the potential salary increases would overshadow charging interest anyway (at least in the current low interest environment in the US)
- throwawayjava 9y ago
  This is an excellent point and IMO a major benefit of the 17% model. Entirely too much money spent on higher ed in the US goes to banks.
  - learc83 9y ago
    Federal loans (90% of all student loan disbursements) are paid from the treasury. There's an argument to be made that the government shouldn't be charging students interest. But there's no banks involved.
- vollmond 9y ago
  Yeah, good point. I didn't think to factor in interest. Noted in the OP now.

throwawayjava 9y ago

> That's roughly the same as my 4-year degrees at the state university Tuition or total cost of attendance? Notice that the 17% for 3 years is equivalent to tuition, not full cost. > double major: BS in Computer Information Science, BA in German The way I think about this is that you got a free BA in German, some free theory/systems CS courses, and some free gen eds out of the deal.

vollmond 9y ago
Tuition + books/fees. No student loan interest, housing, meals, etc, accounted for. And that's probably a good way to think about it. I also came out with fewer math courses -- the specific CIS track I took had a lot of electives, as did the German major, so I just married them together. A pure CIS track would have included a math minor instead. edit: Also, assuming the 2 years for the course in the article is roughly equal to the computer science education I got, I could see being willing to pay the same amount to get out 2 years earlier and start earning graduate salaries more quickly. I certainly don't use the gen eds or German knowledge in any money-making way that I have noticed.

cableshaft 9y ago

Assuming you took out student loans, are you factoring in the interest accumulated into your total costs? There's no interest in the "17% over 3 years" model. I had about $25k of student loan debt when I graduated, but by the time I've paid it off I think I will have paid closer to $35k-40k, factoring in interest over several years.

antisthenes 9y ago
> There's no interest in the "17% over 3 years" model. There isn't but it's insignificant and the potential salary increases would overshadow charging interest anyway (at least in the current low interest environment in the US)
throwawayjava 9y ago
This is an excellent point and IMO a major benefit of the 17% model. Entirely too much money spent on higher ed in the US goes to banks.
- learc83 9y ago
  Federal loans (90% of all student loan disbursements) are paid from the treasury. There's an argument to be made that the government shouldn't be charging students interest. But there's no banks involved.
vollmond 9y ago
Yeah, good point. I didn't think to factor in interest. Noted in the OP now.