<p>He’s 20. He’s a senior if you go by credits. He just can’t get the courses to graduate this spring.</p>
<p>Matthew’s Whole Wheat is normally $3 to $4 but it’s on special for $2 on Monday nights (I guess most families shop on the weekends which means a lot of specials on Monday). McDonalds offers a lot of premium foods now for premium prices. They have been doing quite well on earnings. My guess is that they are taking share from the Applebees and Chilis of the world with people wanting nicer than burgers without sitdown.</p>
<p>The rice and veggie was something that I had a lot growing up. Sometimes we had some meat too.</p>
<p>I’m not too high on Applebees or Chili’s either. lol</p>
<p>I guess I’m not getting your son’s college search. He’s looking for a college to go to for 1 year?
Or is there another kid you are talking about when it comes to the college search?</p>
<p>Do these cuts,which are sometimes very deep cuts, mean that folks should seek reputable private schools for a more quality educational experience?</p>
<p>Not always, but in many cases, yes. Emphatically yes. </p>
<p>The problem is cost. It’d be hard to argue for an IS student to turn down a public option for a private of similar repute, but much higher cost. But I think only the die-hard public fans don’t accept that the publics will be under financial (and thus operating) pressure for years to come. So will some privates and smoking that out is a new part of the college search process.</p>
<p>Part of the article I’ve found interesting was when I read that some Rutgers students live in a hotel and take a shuttle to campus ( not sure if it was written in the article but notice the statement listed beside with a picture).</p>
<p>Is placing students in hotels cheaper overall or will the school eventually start to lose money vs. owning a building and paying for upkeeps etc… and no extra routes and additional buses?</p>
<p>LakeSuperior, I’m pretty sure that’s only if you look at out-of-state tuition. In that regard, Minnesota is very inexpensive compared to better publics which can “get away with” charging out of state students so much.</p>
<p>I still think publics should be evaluated based on in-state tuition, in which case, if your flagship U is top 10 for your intended area of study (which several top publics are), then it simply doesn’t make sense to pay so much more to go out of state.</p>
<p>As for saying a $200,000 degree is manageable for an average family, this is quite untrue and I can only assume you’ve spent your entire life in a massive bubble.</p>
<p>Let’s say your family made $130k (which might be puny in your eyes, but would be very basic for two parents in their 50s) and with savings for a sibling’s education (which the average family would have) retirement as well as savings and accumulated wealth from at least 20-30 years in the workforce (which they probably also have) had an EFC of $50k/year.
After federal income tax, your family has 93k. Let’s say your family has a home and is smart enough to pay your state and local taxes, insure it and maintain it costing them at least 25k/year (and that’s with relatively low taxes; not somewhere like NYC). Let’s say that means they also have to commute to work. 2 cars with insurance for each driver in the family, gas and maintenance would easily cost about 8k/year. Subtract 28k from 93k and you’re left with 60k.
Now let’s say your bills (utilities, basic cable, hoa, etc.) cost $6k a year and you have a pretty basic family phone plan that costs $2k/year. Let’s also say your family spends $150/week on food (I know college students who manage that alone!) for the four of you and ends up spending $8k/year on food. Well, now we’re left with 44k/year to spend on college for two children.
Assuming your family saved nothing while you were in college and made no non-essential purchases (new anything, vacation, even movies or clothes) your EFC is higher than your family can manage by 6k and you’ve got a sibling entering college and your parents were hoping to retire pretty soon.</p>
<p>Bottom line; 200k degrees are NOT manageable for an average family, unless your idea of “manageable” involves 60%+ in loans.</p>
I disagree. Most students do not get to choose their state of residence. As such, it is a factor that cannot be controlled during the college search process. Comparing publics in different states based on IS tuition is ridiculous because the student either lives in that state or doesn’t. IS tuition and fees at UMN comes out to $11,542, while the IS tuition/fees at Ohio State are ~$8,706. But OSU is not really cheaper unless one actually lives in Ohio, something that the student cannot control.</p>
<p>I agree. Many kids want to go OOS, so it’s important to know/consider which state publics have reasonable OOS costs - especially since publics can rarely meet need for OOS students. </p>
<p>It’s also nice to know which publics will give merit to strong OOS students to help reduce/eliminate those OOS costs.</p>
<p>Knowledge of regional programs are important too.</p>
<p>BTW, a friend’s son was accepted to UMass Amherst Honors with about a decent scholarship to get the costs down to a bit more than in-state costs. The budget crises than hit and my guess is that he will be hit with $1,500 increases for the next few years. He also wonders if the Honors College will take funding hits too. He is somewhat questioning his choice as his son also had a very good scholarship at WPI.</p>
<p>“My kids’ high school’s German classes are full. There’s an annual trip to Germany that many kids go on. My kids’ high school offers…Spanish, Latin, German, and French. French is the least popular; it’s become a “girl language” here - no boys ever take it.”</p>
<p>That’s too bad mom2collegekids. Culturally and politically, French is the second most significant language on Earth. Economically, France is the second or third largest Economy in Europe (they swap places with the UK depending on the year and the currency conversion). Even demographically, France (and the UK) will overtake Germany as the most populous state in Europe by 2060. France is the only country in Europe with a growing homegrown population whereas Germany has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe. The UK’s population growth is more a function of immigration. In 2060, it is expected that France and the UK will have populations that will top 75 million while Germany will have a population of 70 million.</p>
<p>What scared me most when I read the article in the NYtimes this morning was the prediction that many who would have attended privates will now be looking state flagships instead to save money. I am assuming these would be in-state students vs. OOS, since as noted earlier many state schools OOS tuition is near private level. My son has only applied to OOS state schools, plus two Cal States just for safety purposes - but I really don’t want him at school in California, things being the way they are - plus we feel very strongly about going OOS for college. I am concerned that state schools are becoming unreachable for average (B/C) students…so where will they go???</p>
<p>I just finished all my college applications.</p>
<p>To me, it seems all I can do is work hard for scholarships, hope I get into my #1, and form close relationships with my professors. They may be teaching bigger classes, but that certainly doesn’t mean they are instantly worse. Besides, most of the practical knowledge I plan on gaining will be outside the lecture hall, anyway.</p>
<p>It’s time to be positive. Look at the bright side: at least the US has all these great universities to choose from, in good times and bad. It honestly could be worse.</p>
<p>According to the NY Times, “almost every year, presidential salaries have gone up faster than inflation, and faster than tuition, which rankles some people on campus.” … NO KIDDING!</p>
<p>At least public universities are theoretically more scrutinized by their contributors.</p>
<p>“that may be so, but I would think Chinese (Mandarin) might become the second most significant language on Earth.”</p>
<p>I would not dispute that. Chinese is already the second most significant language on Earth, but culturally, I don’t think it can replace French.</p>