5 ms·

Fine. I'd be comfortable paying $2400 a year for a 4 year degree. That's my final offer. I won't go over that. If that's not possible then I don't think I'm the

Fine. I'd be comfortable paying $2400 a year for a 4 year degree. That's my final offer. I won't go over that. If that's not possible then I don't think I'm the target audience! Which is a shame, because I'd really love the legitimacy that a degree would give. To be very honest, I've always dreamed about going further than that and getting a PhD, then contributing to a scientific field. It's honestly been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. But it's stayed a dream. Real life is harder than your $40k sales-pitch. I absolutely think that's it's possible to pay it off and it's a lot more reasonable than some tuition rates. I'm just saying that if I can't get it for less than $2400 a year, I'm not interested.

oneplane 7y ago
You can, but not in the USA.
- dodobirdlord 7y ago
  Of course you can. An unfunded PhD program in any technical field is a soft rejection.
dahart 7y ago
There are several ways to pay $0 for a 4 year degree, including grants, loans and scholarships. Campus jobs like being a TA or undergrad research assistant can help too. If you want an advanced degree in a science field, it’s common for your tuition to be paid for in full, and receive a yearly stipend on top of that that’ll cover room & board.
- dillonmckay 7y ago
  If you get a loan, you are not paying $0.
  - dahart 7y ago
    Of course, you’re obviously right. But you’re also not paying anything up front. I took loans for my schooling, and I paid $0 out of pocket. You get to defer your payment until later when you aren’t in school and do have an income, presumably. Getting a loan and paying $2400 a year is not at all the same thing as having a part time job and paying $2400 a year.
jessehorne 7y ago
> If you want an advanced degree in a science field, it’s common for your tuition to be paid for in full, and receive a yearly stipend on top of that that’ll cover room & board. Tell me how and I'll sign up tonight.
- cbsks 7y ago
  For engineering advanced degrees, and I believe for the sciences as well, usually the professor you are working with will have grant money to pay for grad students which will go towards your tuition and stipend. If you aren’t working with a professor doing research, you may have the option of being a TA, which would cover your tuition and stipend. I never went to grad school, so others may be able to provide more detail.
  - michaelt 7y ago
    This is correct, there are a lot more funded PhD places in engineering and science than there are in the arts and social sciences. Of course, an economist would point to the 'opportunity cost' [1] - if you leave a job paying £30,000 after tax to take a PhD with a tax-free stipend of £15,009 the 'opportunity cost' of doing a PhD is £14,991 a year. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost [2] https://www.ukri.org/skills/funding-for-research-training/ https://www.ukri.org/skills/funding-for-research-training/
- oivey 7y ago
  1. Receive a bachelors degree while doing the same sort of things you would need to do to get a good job at the end - reasonable GPA, internships and/or research. 2. Apply to PhD programs.
- madengr 7y ago
  For my MSEE, my RA position paid (not a lot, but enough for food and rent), and gave in-state tuition. I also TA’d one class which gave me free tuition. So essentially I was paid to go to grad school.
topkai22 7y ago
You are right that you aren’t the target market, $2400/year isn’t anywhere near the cost to provide the education- most states spend more than $10k/year on elementary school students. The cheapest working professional option I know of is Western Governors University (WGU). They do “competency based education” which I guess means letting you test out of a bunch of stuff and cost roughly $6700/year. Since you a presumably a practitioner already, you’d finish the program in 2-3 years, getting closer to that $2400/year target.
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  > $2400/year isn’t anywhere near the cost to provide the education- most states spend more than $10k/year on elementary school students. That's not evidence. States spend that much, but not because that's what it costs.
  - Proziam 7y ago
    Once you add up the cost of the staff, building (and maintaining it), utilities for a huge building, insurance (I don't even want to imagine), supplies like books, and the extra-curricular (band, sports, etc) that the locals clamor for and make a big fuss about if there's ever any cuts - I think you'd be very hard-pressed to provide reasonable quality of education for less than 10k/yr. Keep in mind that in many school districts the parents themselves are an enemy of education. In the district I grew up in there was a tremendous push to spend tons of money on sports. While we weren't struggling much academically there was definitely better uses of funds that were overlooked due to the pressure. I've often wondered how that could be improved, but in reality, it's likely that improving the education system will cost more money, not less. I truly hope that it improves and that I'm proven wrong about the costs though. *Just a side-note. Online education can be cheaper, but I've seen zero evidence it provides any significant improvement in quality of education. Every person I know that was 'homeschooled,' typically through some form of cyber-charter school, had massive gaps in their education. Most notably in math and science.
    - roenxi 7y ago
wasdfff 7y ago
$2400 is a lower tuition than a catholic elementary school... If you are in state and get a scholarship, you can go for cheap or nearly free though. Work part time and you can cover Your rent and food

oneplane 7y ago

You can, but not in the USA.

dodobirdlord 7y ago
Of course you can. An unfunded PhD program in any technical field is a soft rejection.

dahart 7y ago

There are several ways to pay $0 for a 4 year degree, including grants, loans and scholarships. Campus jobs like being a TA or undergrad research assistant can help too. If you want an advanced degree in a science field, it’s common for your tuition to be paid for in full, and receive a yearly stipend on top of that that’ll cover room & board.

dillonmckay 7y ago
If you get a loan, you are not paying $0.
- dahart 7y ago
  Of course, you’re obviously right. But you’re also not paying anything up front. I took loans for my schooling, and I paid $0 out of pocket. You get to defer your payment until later when you aren’t in school and do have an income, presumably. Getting a loan and paying $2400 a year is not at all the same thing as having a part time job and paying $2400 a year.

jessehorne 7y ago

> If you want an advanced degree in a science field, it’s common for your tuition to be paid for in full, and receive a yearly stipend on top of that that’ll cover room & board. Tell me how and I'll sign up tonight.

cbsks 7y ago
For engineering advanced degrees, and I believe for the sciences as well, usually the professor you are working with will have grant money to pay for grad students which will go towards your tuition and stipend. If you aren’t working with a professor doing research, you may have the option of being a TA, which would cover your tuition and stipend. I never went to grad school, so others may be able to provide more detail.
- michaelt 7y ago
  This is correct, there are a lot more funded PhD places in engineering and science than there are in the arts and social sciences. Of course, an economist would point to the 'opportunity cost' [1] - if you leave a job paying £30,000 after tax to take a PhD with a tax-free stipend of £15,009 the 'opportunity cost' of doing a PhD is £14,991 a year. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost [2] https://www.ukri.org/skills/funding-for-research-training/ https://www.ukri.org/skills/funding-for-research-training/
oivey 7y ago
1. Receive a bachelors degree while doing the same sort of things you would need to do to get a good job at the end - reasonable GPA, internships and/or research. 2. Apply to PhD programs.
madengr 7y ago
For my MSEE, my RA position paid (not a lot, but enough for food and rent), and gave in-state tuition. I also TA’d one class which gave me free tuition. So essentially I was paid to go to grad school.

topkai22 7y ago

You are right that you aren’t the target market, $2400/year isn’t anywhere near the cost to provide the education- most states spend more than $10k/year on elementary school students. The cheapest working professional option I know of is Western Governors University (WGU). They do “competency based education” which I guess means letting you test out of a bunch of stuff and cost roughly $6700/year. Since you a presumably a practitioner already, you’d finish the program in 2-3 years, getting closer to that $2400/year target.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
> $2400/year isn’t anywhere near the cost to provide the education- most states spend more than $10k/year on elementary school students. That's not evidence. States spend that much, but not because that's what it costs.
- Proziam 7y ago
  Once you add up the cost of the staff, building (and maintaining it), utilities for a huge building, insurance (I don't even want to imagine), supplies like books, and the extra-curricular (band, sports, etc) that the locals clamor for and make a big fuss about if there's ever any cuts - I think you'd be very hard-pressed to provide reasonable quality of education for less than 10k/yr. Keep in mind that in many school districts the parents themselves are an enemy of education. In the district I grew up in there was a tremendous push to spend tons of money on sports. While we weren't struggling much academically there was definitely better uses of funds that were overlooked due to the pressure. I've often wondered how that could be improved, but in reality, it's likely that improving the education system will cost more money, not less. I truly hope that it improves and that I'm proven wrong about the costs though. *Just a side-note. Online education can be cheaper, but I've seen zero evidence it provides any significant improvement in quality of education. Every person I know that was 'homeschooled,' typically through some form of cyber-charter school, had massive gaps in their education. Most notably in math and science.
  - roenxi 7y ago

wasdfff 7y ago

$2400 is a lower tuition than a catholic elementary school... If you are in state and get a scholarship, you can go for cheap or nearly free though. Work part time and you can cover Your rent and food