Degree not worth the cost

The moral of the story is not to take out alternative loans. At least with the federal program, there is income-based repayment available. I dig the guy in the John Deere shirt. You would think he'd have a pic with him dressed up a little bit.

There is also a profile of a journalist who took out $80,000 in loans for his bachelor's.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/news/economy/1106/gallery.student_debt/?hpt=hp_t2

 

I'm sure "Full Sale" University will appreciate the plug.

I need to start saving my son's college. My goal for him is to get a degree with as little debt as possible.

If a degree is going to be considered essential to the workforce, then we'll probably see more companies offer education assistance. Let them help pay for the degree if they want you to have it.

 

A friend of mine from HS, went to Cal, got his degree and couldn't get a journalism job. (Probably, because the dumbass had next to no clips...)

He takes out $40K in loans and gets a Masters from Stanford. Does he freelance as he does this? Of course not, that would make too much sense...

His first journalism job? Doing agate for $11 an hour.

He's teaching journalism now. The guy had fewer clips during his career than most of us would get in a month and he's teaching at a decent J-School.

 

Well honestly, it's not like there are a ton of freelance opportunities in the bay area. And if there were, being a Cal journalism student certainly does not make someone a shoe-in for at least a few stories. [/Blue font].

 

Companies will only offer educational assistance if they can't get people to work for them without it. With unemployment so high and many people having been out of work for months, if not over a year, what incentive do companies have to offer a perk like that?

 

I'm in the same boat as you. With the rising cost of higher ed, if I start saving now, I might have a chance to pay for my son's college, or at least a year or two of it.

PS -- I don't have any kids yet.

 

When undertaken in an educated fashion, and then taken seriously (and that includes things like strong internships, etc.), a good education is one of the best investments you can make. My children will attend the best schools they can get into and want to attend. We will figure out how to finance it from there. Not the other way around.

 

The best school try to meet need, especially for lower-income students. But it is up to a high schooler to earn the grades and have a good resume so they'd be a great addition to those top schools.

If you go for a Ph.D, there isn't any circumstance where you should foot the bill for tuition. If you are at that level, you should be getting assistantships or fellowships. Master's degrees are a different story, because it is hard to get funding for terminal degree, but not impossible, as in my case.

 

Doctors are laughing at this thread.

 

Get your kid a good AAU coach. Then send him to Kentucky because he can be done with college in a year.

I mean, have a plan people.

 

and journalist are nodding in agreement

 

Those who can not do, teach. Those who really can not do, get their Masters and teach.