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With risk of being deemed survivorship bias, I went to a community college for the first 2 years in the US at a whopping $698 a semester, got my associates in s

by jimmy1 9y ago

With risk of being deemed survivorship bias, I went to a community college for the first 2 years in the US at a whopping $698 a semester, got my associates in science which transferred to a prominent a state college and counted for my Gen Ed requirements in my Computer Science degree so I was able to jump straight into CS courses. With tuition assistance (everyone qualifies at a certain level, unless you are uber rich), I ended up with around 10k in debt (mostly because I took some out to live a little more comfortably in school). That was about 5 years ago and that debt is essentially paid off. My wife did almost the exact same thing. She has a small amount of debt, (15k) but that's mostly because she has 3 degrees, including a masters. We've both been happily employed since. Long story short: I think the "American University Debt Crisis" is largely overstated. I relate it to the housing crisis in 2008. Yes it was shitty for mortgage lenders to be giving out those loans to those people, but at the same time, you as an individual have to stop and think at some point and say "OK, I am a strawberry farmer that makes 30k a year, what business do I have buying a 500k house?" You as an individual need to use some critical thinking and say, "OK my family / I make only X amount a year, what businesses do I have racking up 40-50k in student debt every year? Are there alternatives?" The answer to the question "are there quality alternatives to simply racking up debt I will never be able to pay back and still be able to get an education?" is yes. I should edit this to say: the debt crisis is real now because a large majority of these students did in fact take the loans and now have the debt. What I mean, however, is this "fact" that you must go into lifelong crippling debt to get a quality education is overstated.

TheForumTroll 9y ago
No matter how cheap you got your degree (which doens't seem to include any university?), who do you think gets the most knowledge out of it: A: that works 25 hours+ while studying at a school chosen because of its price or B: that study at a school that fits what is best for B and gets money from the school? Now you might believe the system A uses is fine, but which country do you think will be ahead in 10 or even 50 years?
- jimmy1 9y ago
  There are so many variables here I couldn't even begin to answer but I will take a stab and say A because that student is most likely fiscally responsible and proven they can juggle multiple responsibilities and still make progress towards a goal. These typically tend to be very productive members of society. In B's case, this also may be true, but I am less prone to have the same expectations since your university schooling offers you entirely what you decide to get out of it: meaning you can slack off and only study for the test, and forget it as soon as you step outside in the real world, or you can remember it all and excel. Now I am not saying with A you can't also slack off in school and not get anything, but on average I would say a working student values their education more than a non-working student since they have a larger motivator and a early reality check of what life is really like.
kmonsen 9y ago
This is clearly the way to go, even private universities let you transfer some credits from community college and everyone with any care for their money should do this. The problem is that it is a bit hidden and young people get guided to do it the expensive way. It also makes almost zero difference at the end, no one will care if your electives comes from a community college if they care about your degree at all.
- jimmy1 9y ago
  And honestly, my courses at the community college were much tougher but also much more rewarding than at university. It was almost as if the community college professors had a chip on their shoulder and had to prove they were "real" professors, while your university professors just cared about getting back to their research and were barely invested (most, not all). Just my observation. In a country-side suburb here in my state, we have one of the (to my surprise) largest clusters of aerospace engineering companies (I believe over 20+) -- they receive over 80% of their candidates from the regional community college nearby. If you think about it it makes sense for the employer: they get to work with the college to basically create a curriculum that will ensure their future prospects have the highest chance of being the best workers for them.

by jimmy1 9y ago

TheForumTroll 9y ago

No matter how cheap you got your degree (which doens't seem to include any university?), who do you think gets the most knowledge out of it: A: that works 25 hours+ while studying at a school chosen because of its price or B: that study at a school that fits what is best for B and gets money from the school? Now you might believe the system A uses is fine, but which country do you think will be ahead in 10 or even 50 years?

jimmy1 9y ago
There are so many variables here I couldn't even begin to answer but I will take a stab and say A because that student is most likely fiscally responsible and proven they can juggle multiple responsibilities and still make progress towards a goal. These typically tend to be very productive members of society. In B's case, this also may be true, but I am less prone to have the same expectations since your university schooling offers you entirely what you decide to get out of it: meaning you can slack off and only study for the test, and forget it as soon as you step outside in the real world, or you can remember it all and excel. Now I am not saying with A you can't also slack off in school and not get anything, but on average I would say a working student values their education more than a non-working student since they have a larger motivator and a early reality check of what life is really like.

kmonsen 9y ago

This is clearly the way to go, even private universities let you transfer some credits from community college and everyone with any care for their money should do this. The problem is that it is a bit hidden and young people get guided to do it the expensive way. It also makes almost zero difference at the end, no one will care if your electives comes from a community college if they care about your degree at all.

jimmy1 9y ago
And honestly, my courses at the community college were much tougher but also much more rewarding than at university. It was almost as if the community college professors had a chip on their shoulder and had to prove they were "real" professors, while your university professors just cared about getting back to their research and were barely invested (most, not all). Just my observation. In a country-side suburb here in my state, we have one of the (to my surprise) largest clusters of aerospace engineering companies (I believe over 20+) -- they receive over 80% of their candidates from the regional community college nearby. If you think about it it makes sense for the employer: they get to work with the college to basically create a curriculum that will ensure their future prospects have the highest chance of being the best workers for them.