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I got my Master's degree in Computer Science at UT Austin while working an entry-level tech job full time. My company paid my tuition, but it was only $13,000 f

I got my Master's degree in Computer Science at UT Austin while working an entry-level tech job full time. My company paid my tuition, but it was only $13,000 for the 3 years it took me to finish it, so it wouldn't have broken the bank to pay that myself if I had to. In spite of having no grants, I incurred zero debt and ended up with a degree from a distinguished program where one of the faculty members received a Turing award while I was attending. I currently work at a recognizable big tech company side-by-side with people who have degrees from Stanford, MIT, CMU, and so forth. Many of them wracked up significant student debt to go to their schools, and my career seems to have been at absolutely no disadvantage from having gone to a much cheaper school.

ladberg 7y ago
Going to school now is MUCH more expensive that it was when you were there. Students now are expected to pay ~3x what you paid to go to an in-state university. If there isn't an in-state one that's good enough though (not everyone has a UT Austin), then they have to pay many times that to go to a public school in another state or a private school.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  What are you talking about? UT Texas resident graduate tuition for the school of engineering is $5277 per semester for 9 hours. The degree requires 30. That works out to ~18k for the entire course of study. Play with the calculator yourself if you don't believe me: https://tuition.utexas.edu/ https://tuition.utexas.edu/
  - ladberg 7y ago
    So someone who takes classes for 3 years now has to pay $31,662 dollars, which is still significantly more than 13k. Also, I'm now realizing I misread your earlier post and you were completing your masters, not undergrad. I feel like the people racking up debt today are mostly doing it in undergrad, as graduate students usually pay little to no tuition and get a stipend.
    - vonmoltke 7y ago
      If you take 9 credits per semester for three years you end up with 54 credits. You only need 30 for a Master's. Why would you do that? > I feel like the people racking up debt today are mostly doing it in undergrad, as graduate students usually pay little to no tuition and get a stipend. The person you were responding to specifically said their Master's degree cost $13,000 in tuition. How is undergrad relevant?
sushid 7y ago
Honestly, that’s great for you and I’m sure your skills and future earning potentials don’t differ as it’s all about work performance once you’re in. But I’m sure you’ve noticed that you’re the exception from your school whereas that’s the norm for HYPS et al. That’s why people strive to go to those schools.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  Do you have evidence to back up it being an exception?
gist 7y ago
> and my career seems to have been at absolutely no disadvantage from having gone to a much cheaper school. Because you are in an 'in demand' field. Same is true for most people who graduate from medical school. It's a ticket to a well paying job where you attend isn't of that much significance for the 'average' position. And with that 'average' position you can often catapult yourself into something better since demand for what you do is always growing and labor is typically short and constrained in some way.

ladberg 7y ago

Going to school now is MUCH more expensive that it was when you were there. Students now are expected to pay ~3x what you paid to go to an in-state university. If there isn't an in-state one that's good enough though (not everyone has a UT Austin), then they have to pay many times that to go to a public school in another state or a private school.

vonmoltke 7y ago
What are you talking about? UT Texas resident graduate tuition for the school of engineering is $5277 per semester for 9 hours. The degree requires 30. That works out to ~18k for the entire course of study. Play with the calculator yourself if you don't believe me: https://tuition.utexas.edu/ https://tuition.utexas.edu/
- ladberg 7y ago
  So someone who takes classes for 3 years now has to pay $31,662 dollars, which is still significantly more than 13k. Also, I'm now realizing I misread your earlier post and you were completing your masters, not undergrad. I feel like the people racking up debt today are mostly doing it in undergrad, as graduate students usually pay little to no tuition and get a stipend.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    If you take 9 credits per semester for three years you end up with 54 credits. You only need 30 for a Master's. Why would you do that? > I feel like the people racking up debt today are mostly doing it in undergrad, as graduate students usually pay little to no tuition and get a stipend. The person you were responding to specifically said their Master's degree cost $13,000 in tuition. How is undergrad relevant?

sushid 7y ago

Honestly, that’s great for you and I’m sure your skills and future earning potentials don’t differ as it’s all about work performance once you’re in. But I’m sure you’ve noticed that you’re the exception from your school whereas that’s the norm for HYPS et al. That’s why people strive to go to those schools.

vonmoltke 7y ago
Do you have evidence to back up it being an exception?

gist 7y ago

> and my career seems to have been at absolutely no disadvantage from having gone to a much cheaper school. Because you are in an 'in demand' field. Same is true for most people who graduate from medical school. It's a ticket to a well paying job where you attend isn't of that much significance for the 'average' position. And with that 'average' position you can often catapult yourself into something better since demand for what you do is always growing and labor is typically short and constrained in some way.