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You certainly don't need to be drowning in student loan debt to reach that. You could go to a state school and get an excellent job. That's just poor financial

You certainly don't need to be drowning in student loan debt to reach that. You could go to a state school and get an excellent job. That's just poor financial decision making. Where I live you could go to UVa, VT, or maybe VCU.

Yhippa 7y ago
Don't forget the highly underrated community college systems in VA.
- rwmurrayVT 7y ago
  I hear community colleges put out there as an option to move into a 4 year state school often. I can't help but think it applies to many more states than I expected initially.
  - brixon 7y ago
    A lot of states have this, but follow the plan. Don't take random CC classes, only take ones that will transfer to schools they have agreements with. I did CC for a year and they marked the classes with an * which would transfer to the closest university.
  - Yhippa 7y ago
    Yep, in the state of VA you go to community college for 2 years and then can transfer to any 4-year school in the state. An amazing deal.
mrlase 7y ago
PA, for example where I went to school, was still nearly $20k/year for tuition at the flagship state schools. I know a lot of people in-state that ended up with over $100k debt.
- rwmurrayVT 7y ago
  $100k in student loans @ 4% and a 10 year pay off period. That's over $70k net pay in Philadelphia. I'd imagine you could certainly afford to buy a home after a short period of time saving for a down payment. If the dual income household is over $200k gross then it's just poor financial decision making.
AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
You realize that out-of-state tuition for UVA is about $65k a year, right? https://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/19-20 https://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/19-20
- rwmurrayVT 7y ago
  I thought it was implied by "state school" that I meant you should attend a school in your particular state. In-state tuition for UVa is half of that. Additionally it's easy VA to get guaranteed acceptance to a state school after two years of community college.
  - downrightmike 7y ago
    So probably closer to $30k/yr
brixon 7y ago
You also have to factor consumerism and entitlement into the issue. I make white collar money, but live in a blue collar neighborhood. This makes housing more affordable and there is no temptation for "Keeping up with the Joneses".
- rhombocombus 7y ago
  It's easy to finger wag at supposed entitlement and consumerism when you completely ignore all the other factors that lead someone to decide where to live and work. As the breadwinner in my family I made the decision to live closer to where I work and pay a larger share of my income towards housing so I can spend more time with my kids and less in my car. There are plenty of other considerations far beyond your cynical take that would lead a family to live in an expensive ares: schools, services, healthcare, ability/desire to drive, child care, the list goes on. It is difficult to avoid getting rankled at this kind of imperious mindset, particularly because if you actually took the time to meet any of these so called materialists you would likely find that they just want to have a nice life with their families like everyone else. Calling it consumerism or entitlement is a cheap shot, reductionist, and in most cases doesn't reflect reality.

Yhippa 7y ago

Don't forget the highly underrated community college systems in VA.

rwmurrayVT 7y ago
I hear community colleges put out there as an option to move into a 4 year state school often. I can't help but think it applies to many more states than I expected initially.
- brixon 7y ago
  A lot of states have this, but follow the plan. Don't take random CC classes, only take ones that will transfer to schools they have agreements with. I did CC for a year and they marked the classes with an * which would transfer to the closest university.
- Yhippa 7y ago
  Yep, in the state of VA you go to community college for 2 years and then can transfer to any 4-year school in the state. An amazing deal.

mrlase 7y ago

PA, for example where I went to school, was still nearly $20k/year for tuition at the flagship state schools. I know a lot of people in-state that ended up with over $100k debt.

rwmurrayVT 7y ago
$100k in student loans @ 4% and a 10 year pay off period. That's over $70k net pay in Philadelphia. I'd imagine you could certainly afford to buy a home after a short period of time saving for a down payment. If the dual income household is over $200k gross then it's just poor financial decision making.

AdmiralAsshat 7y ago

You realize that out-of-state tuition for UVA is about $65k a year, right? https://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/19-20 https://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/19-20

rwmurrayVT 7y ago
I thought it was implied by "state school" that I meant you should attend a school in your particular state. In-state tuition for UVa is half of that. Additionally it's easy VA to get guaranteed acceptance to a state school after two years of community college.
- downrightmike 7y ago
  So probably closer to $30k/yr

brixon 7y ago

You also have to factor consumerism and entitlement into the issue. I make white collar money, but live in a blue collar neighborhood. This makes housing more affordable and there is no temptation for "Keeping up with the Joneses".

rhombocombus 7y ago
It's easy to finger wag at supposed entitlement and consumerism when you completely ignore all the other factors that lead someone to decide where to live and work. As the breadwinner in my family I made the decision to live closer to where I work and pay a larger share of my income towards housing so I can spend more time with my kids and less in my car. There are plenty of other considerations far beyond your cynical take that would lead a family to live in an expensive ares: schools, services, healthcare, ability/desire to drive, child care, the list goes on. It is difficult to avoid getting rankled at this kind of imperious mindset, particularly because if you actually took the time to meet any of these so called materialists you would likely find that they just want to have a nice life with their families like everyone else. Calling it consumerism or entitlement is a cheap shot, reductionist, and in most cases doesn't reflect reality.