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My advice: go somewhere cheap, and get a practical degree. I went to CCU for most of my college career (back when it had just become a standalone university).

My advice: go somewhere cheap, and get a practical degree. I went to CCU for most of my college career (back when it had just become a standalone university). Wasn't (still isn't) prestigious, but with scholarships, was entirely free for me, and it had the added benefit of attracting some decent professors who had retired to the beach and still wanted to teach part time. Today, for in-state tuition, it's around $47K for a 4-year degree. That's about double what it was when I attended, IIRC, which isn't too bad given how long ago that was. Maybe I'm in a bubble, but ~$12K per year seems doable for just about anyone who can manage to work a part time job and / or get scholarships. If you go through their business school, comp-sci program, marine-biology, or other practical degree programs, my guess is you'll probably come out ahead in the end. [0] https://www.coastal.edu/admissionsaid/tuitionfees/ https://www.coastal.edu/admissionsaid/tuitionfees/

TimPC 5y ago
$47K for the degree itself leads to much larger debt if you're in the sizeable contingent of students that also needs to pay for things like a place to live and meals rather than relying on parents. You're paying $12K/year for the degree and likely $18K/year for rent and another $18K or so for other expenses. If you're making $30K/year from a part time job and paying $4K of that to taxes. you end up with a $22K/year shortfall which after interest is likely to be $100K of college debt.
- tomrod 5y ago
  Is $1,500 /month rent with roommates common? I'd think that can be reduced somewhat, if needed? I'll admit, I don't watch the college town apartment cost trends.
  - ac29 5y ago
    I'd assume $1500/month is to live alone. With a roommate that would imply a $3k/month 2 bedroom apartment, which certainly exist, but only in the most expensive cities.
- sologoub 5y ago
  Those numbers seem off based on what CUNY calculated for 2021-2022: https://www.cuny.edu/financial-aid/tuition-and-college-costs/student-budgets/ https://www.cuny.edu/financial-aid/tuition-and-college-costs... They put highest total at $27,091, or basically right within your 30k projection. That said, 30k is basically full time at $15/hr, so that’s probably too high of an assumption if the hypothetical student is to graduate in 4 years. Though it is doable (I worked full time through college).
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
awillen 5y ago
I wish people would push vocational schools like they did college. We are going to need thousands and thousands of nurses in the next several decades. They're well-paying jobs that aren't going to be automated away in our lifetimes (a lot of doctors, on the other hand, can probably be replaced by AI). We need nurses, not people with sociology degrees (I say this as someone with a sociology degree).
- the_only_law 5y ago
  > We are going to need thousands and thousands of nurses in the next several decades. They're well-paying jobs that aren't going to be automated away in our lifetimes (a lot of doctors, on the other hand, can probably be replaced by AI). We need nurses, not people with sociology degrees (I say this as someone with a sociology degree). FWIW a lot of the nurses I know are desperate to get out. One person in particular I know makes ok money but the schedule absolutely destroys them.
  - awillen 5y ago
    Oh yeah, it's an incredibly taxing job, but part of the reason they're so overworked is because we're already short on nurses (and for obvious reasons many are incredibly burned out from the last couple of years). That's why the government should be promoting nursing training in order to get a pipeline of nurses going quickly.
- sct202 5y ago
  Just wanted to put it out there that there are multiple levels of nurses and each requires different levels of education, like a licensed practical nurse (LPN) needs a certificate and is the lowest paid, registered nurses (RN) is either an associates degree or bachelors degree these people are usually what people think a nurse is, and a nurse practitioner (NP) bachelors degree + graduate school.
  - awillen 5y ago
    That's one of the things that makes nursing so ideal as a profession - you can start as a CNA and move up, but even at that level you can do things like work as a home health care aide (of which we are going to need so, so many as folks want to age at home). You don't have to commit to education (and debt) in the same way that doctors do to attend medical school to see if it's a career for you.
the_only_law 5y ago
> Today, for in-state tuition, it's around $47K for a 4-year degree. Fucking Christ this is cheap? > marine-biology I don’t think this is a very useful degree. Don’t most biologists have to go through the PhD/PostDoc trying before they can find a job in the field paying more than $30k.
- christophilus 5y ago
  It’s not cheap, but for 4 years, with scholarships and a part time job, isn’t some terrible life-changing burden. I graduated with a compsci degree with no debt. It’s totally still doable, and pays very well on the other side of it. Marine biology was a bad choice of example, I’ll grant you.

TimPC 5y ago

$47K for the degree itself leads to much larger debt if you're in the sizeable contingent of students that also needs to pay for things like a place to live and meals rather than relying on parents. You're paying $12K/year for the degree and likely $18K/year for rent and another $18K or so for other expenses. If you're making $30K/year from a part time job and paying $4K of that to taxes. you end up with a $22K/year shortfall which after interest is likely to be $100K of college debt.

tomrod 5y ago
Is $1,500 /month rent with roommates common? I'd think that can be reduced somewhat, if needed? I'll admit, I don't watch the college town apartment cost trends.
- ac29 5y ago
  I'd assume $1500/month is to live alone. With a roommate that would imply a $3k/month 2 bedroom apartment, which certainly exist, but only in the most expensive cities.
sologoub 5y ago
Those numbers seem off based on what CUNY calculated for 2021-2022: https://www.cuny.edu/financial-aid/tuition-and-college-costs/student-budgets/ https://www.cuny.edu/financial-aid/tuition-and-college-costs... They put highest total at $27,091, or basically right within your 30k projection. That said, 30k is basically full time at $15/hr, so that’s probably too high of an assumption if the hypothetical student is to graduate in 4 years. Though it is doable (I worked full time through college).
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

awillen 5y ago

I wish people would push vocational schools like they did college. We are going to need thousands and thousands of nurses in the next several decades. They're well-paying jobs that aren't going to be automated away in our lifetimes (a lot of doctors, on the other hand, can probably be replaced by AI). We need nurses, not people with sociology degrees (I say this as someone with a sociology degree).

the_only_law 5y ago
> We are going to need thousands and thousands of nurses in the next several decades. They're well-paying jobs that aren't going to be automated away in our lifetimes (a lot of doctors, on the other hand, can probably be replaced by AI). We need nurses, not people with sociology degrees (I say this as someone with a sociology degree). FWIW a lot of the nurses I know are desperate to get out. One person in particular I know makes ok money but the schedule absolutely destroys them.
- awillen 5y ago
  Oh yeah, it's an incredibly taxing job, but part of the reason they're so overworked is because we're already short on nurses (and for obvious reasons many are incredibly burned out from the last couple of years). That's why the government should be promoting nursing training in order to get a pipeline of nurses going quickly.
sct202 5y ago
Just wanted to put it out there that there are multiple levels of nurses and each requires different levels of education, like a licensed practical nurse (LPN) needs a certificate and is the lowest paid, registered nurses (RN) is either an associates degree or bachelors degree these people are usually what people think a nurse is, and a nurse practitioner (NP) bachelors degree + graduate school.
- awillen 5y ago
  That's one of the things that makes nursing so ideal as a profession - you can start as a CNA and move up, but even at that level you can do things like work as a home health care aide (of which we are going to need so, so many as folks want to age at home). You don't have to commit to education (and debt) in the same way that doctors do to attend medical school to see if it's a career for you.

the_only_law 5y ago

> Today, for in-state tuition, it's around $47K for a 4-year degree. Fucking Christ this is cheap? > marine-biology I don’t think this is a very useful degree. Don’t most biologists have to go through the PhD/PostDoc trying before they can find a job in the field paying more than $30k.

christophilus 5y ago
It’s not cheap, but for 4 years, with scholarships and a part time job, isn’t some terrible life-changing burden. I graduated with a compsci degree with no debt. It’s totally still doable, and pays very well on the other side of it. Marine biology was a bad choice of example, I’ll grant you.