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For the sake of argument let's say college triples your income potential. To make the math easy, let's say instead of earning $1M over your life you'll now earn

by pc86 3y ago

For the sake of argument let's say college triples your income potential. To make the math easy, let's say instead of earning $1M over your life you'll now earn $3M. We shouldn't look at a school charging $400k and say "well you'll make more than that so it's a good deal." We should look at what you're actually getting. A cinder block dorm, mass-produced assembly line food, a professor making $80k a year telling you to write a paper on a book that's in the public domain. None of that is worth $400k.

aleph_minus_one 3y ago
> We shouldn't look at a school charging $400k and say "well you'll make more than that so it's a good deal." We should look at what you're actually getting. A cinder block dorm, mass-produced assembly line food, a professor making $80k a year telling you to write a paper on a book that's in the public domain. None of that is worth $400k. If passing this exercise in docility gives you the mentioned 2 million USD over life: why not?
bandrami 3y ago
> None of that is worth $400k Huh? You just said it gives you $2M over your life. That's obviously worth $400K.
- pc86 3y ago
  Why just $400K why not $800K? Why not $1.6M? $1.99M? Why not just a contract that you pay the college 95% of whatever you make above the median HS graduate salary every year? I mean they're letting you keep 5% of the earnings you're only getting because of them, you should be happy with that, right? Just because $2M > $400K doesn't mean it's objectively worth that amount of money.
TeaBrain 3y ago
Neither my brother nor most of his friends at Vanderbilt were burdened by student loans. Most came from reasonable wealthy families that were able to pay the cost up front. Reasonably well-off families send their kids to Vanderbilt and other top schools because of the connections that can form and the reputation of the school. Everything else you mentioned comes second.
- pc86 3y ago
  I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here tbh. Nobody is arguing that wealthy and connected individuals in part maintain those wealth and connections by going to elite schools. Legacy admissions all but guarantee that once you're a couple generations deep you'll be able to at least maintain your family's status. The question is whether a college charging $400K for what is probably closer to $70-80K of services is right.
  - TeaBrain 3y ago
    The point is that the parents who are paying for their kids to go to these schools have already put aside the money in a 529 or other account, and if their kids get admitted, there is no question of cost to put their kids a step ahead. Given this, exclusive universities know that they can charge prices that are relatively extreme, as they don't have any financial, moral or legal obligation to not do so. The question of cost compared to earnings that you raised is immaterial for these students, as the students will bear none of the cost.

by pc86 3y ago

aleph_minus_one 3y ago

> We shouldn't look at a school charging $400k and say "well you'll make more than that so it's a good deal." We should look at what you're actually getting. A cinder block dorm, mass-produced assembly line food, a professor making $80k a year telling you to write a paper on a book that's in the public domain. None of that is worth $400k. If passing this exercise in docility gives you the mentioned 2 million USD over life: why not?

bandrami 3y ago

> None of that is worth $400k Huh? You just said it gives you $2M over your life. That's obviously worth $400K.

pc86 3y ago
Why just $400K why not $800K? Why not $1.6M? $1.99M? Why not just a contract that you pay the college 95% of whatever you make above the median HS graduate salary every year? I mean they're letting you keep 5% of the earnings you're only getting because of them, you should be happy with that, right? Just because $2M > $400K doesn't mean it's objectively worth that amount of money.

TeaBrain 3y ago

Neither my brother nor most of his friends at Vanderbilt were burdened by student loans. Most came from reasonable wealthy families that were able to pay the cost up front. Reasonably well-off families send their kids to Vanderbilt and other top schools because of the connections that can form and the reputation of the school. Everything else you mentioned comes second.

pc86 3y ago
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here tbh. Nobody is arguing that wealthy and connected individuals in part maintain those wealth and connections by going to elite schools. Legacy admissions all but guarantee that once you're a couple generations deep you'll be able to at least maintain your family's status. The question is whether a college charging $400K for what is probably closer to $70-80K of services is right.
- TeaBrain 3y ago
  The point is that the parents who are paying for their kids to go to these schools have already put aside the money in a 529 or other account, and if their kids get admitted, there is no question of cost to put their kids a step ahead. Given this, exclusive universities know that they can charge prices that are relatively extreme, as they don't have any financial, moral or legal obligation to not do so. The question of cost compared to earnings that you raised is immaterial for these students, as the students will bear none of the cost.