<p>Unless you’re going on to an Ivy League or an equivalent, don’t bother considerig it. My dad went to an expensive and well-known private as an international student. He got in because of a full-ride for sports. After his scholarship ended, he had to drop out of graduate school because his dad unexpectedly died and he had no source of income. He had to wear the same clothes everyday, work at a pizzaria, etc. Now, my dad makes millions BUT THAT WAS BECAUSE he decided to work instead of suffer huge amounts of debt later on. Even if it is a top school, there’s no guarantee you’ll make it all off. With less debt, and more motivation, you could end up with no debt in a few years’ time. Sometimes it’s not worth the risk when your life could be on the line. It’s not necessarily the college that makes you, but you that make the college. Don’t feel prestige is such a priority that you’re overlooking the pricetag. All that glitters is not gold.
And this isn’t a matter of right wing vs. left wing; it’s common sense.</p>
<p>EDIT: Also, why invest so much for undergraduate school? Are you looking for a job immediately after? Many who want to earn big bucks like you, and are in a financially tight situation, go to a cheaper undergraduate school, do well, and go to a GREAT graduate school. Just some food for thought.</p>
<p>It is astonishing to me that the OP seems to be a dad, not a high-school kid. And this question has been asked and answered on another thread he participated in, the one about “how do middle class parents afford $60K a year for college?”</p>
<p>There is a huge amount of room between living at home and going to CC and having your parents co-sign 100K of loans to attend Big Bucks U. I don’t understand why the OP feels that those are the only two options.</p>
<p>Frankly, a debt-free 22-year-old “burger flipper” (OP’s phrase) with take-home pay is a better financial bet than a 22-year-old in debt up to his eyeballs with no income to pay off his loans.</p>
<p>When calculating the cost of public vs. private, don’t forget
to factor in the graduation rate, not just the long term salaries.
For the two flagship state schools in Texas, 50% will graduate on time
(less in high paying majors like engineering and science), despite most
students coming in with AP or IB credit. A typical private school of
the same caliber and with similar students as the two flagship state
schools would graduate 1/4 more of its students (75% or higher,
vs. 50% at the two best public schools in the state) in 4 years,
and graduate a much higher percentage of its students overall.
Factoring in an extra year of tuition/fees/room and a year of lost salary
(may be other indirect costs too) for 1/4 of the students would add
(1/4 of more than $80,000) $20,000 to the cost for each extra year
(likely more). If you factor in higher salaries long term, then a similar
level private school would only have to be within $10,000 (after
financial aid) of those two flagship public schools to be a better
investment (given the terrible graduation rates at these
elite public universities).</p>
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<p>Going to community college doesn’t doom career prospects, but before
you choose community college it is important to do the financial
calculations. Not all community college courses will transfer
to 4 year college, and especially for engineering, community
college students often will not be able to take the more specialized freshman
requirements, and even fewer of their sophomore requirements,
while at community college (although 3 core courses: Physics and
Calculus and Chemistry are usually offered and transfer). The students
who chose community college that I have met that have done two
years of community college, were able to graduate in 5 or 6 years (total)
but not in 4 years like many of their classmates who chose to go straight to
4 year colleges. Sequencing engineering courses during the first year at 4 year
after transferring from community college, to work around missing prereq
courses was difficult. For a motivated student (less motivated
students may have other problems at community college where advising
is often less helpful, and many more students are part time),
the cost savings of community college have to
be weighed against the extra year of college, and lost earnings,
especially for aspiring engineering students (where the total lost
could be more than $60,000).</p>
<p>1 year of community college for an engineering or science student
is less of a problem than taking two years at the community college,
but even if only one year, graduating in 4 years (total) is going to be tough,
and that financial indirect cost needs to be weighed in making the
decision.</p>