I personally love the fact that Xavier's undergraduate classes have increased by over 50% every year since my Freshman year, and yet tuition still increases 6% like clockwork.

dlazz;560930 wrote:Solution: don't have kids

+ 1 fucking billion.

Something has to be done.

and the gov't is basically telling schools get ready to see cuts in your funding

I had this conversation recent with some parents of students who will be attending college in the near future that college has almost outpriced itself. While it may not have totally outpriced itself it's value is diminishing. I talked with someone who graduated from the same collage I went to in 1990. Back then tuition was around $12,000 a year. When I started college there it was $23,500 a year and when I finished four years later in 2008 it was $28,000 a year. It's now over $30,000 a year and headed quickly to $35,000. The problem then is that the average starting salary for a college grad hasn't gone up much in the past 20 years since my friend graduated, yet the cost of college has more than doubled. The return that you get for a college education isn't what it used to be. At this point I think it makes more financial sense to get into a JVS in high school and then apprentice for a year or two as an electrician after graduation. You enter the work force several years before everyone that goes to college and once you're certified you'll probably make more money annual than your colleagues who are fresh out of college in the corporate world, and you won't have major debt like most of them will.

I work in a university...which I hope to continue so that I can get some nice rates for my kids' education.

That's how I plan on helping my kids with their education. My parents helped me big time with my expenses, not all of them, but they have helped more than I could ever ask. I graduated with a large debt that will be hanging over my head for many years. Fortunately, my wife doesn't have any debt. So, when these little ones come around and grow old, they have their decision to come to the school I work for (and get a good discount) OR choosing their own institution and paying their own way (with a little help from their mom and I -- just like my parents did and my wife's parents did).

I am really into higher education administration/alumni relations so I hope to one day possibly helping curb some of these costs at a specific institution (if possible). Private schools are really going to be popular for the next several years with the way state schools are raising tuition (especially California and its 33% tuition hike in the Cal State system). To me, the biggest problem institutions face is being relevant to today's society; every institution has to have the BEST stuff, the BEST buildings, the BEST everything in order for little Jack or little Jill to get a "quality" education -- mommy and daddy are buying the "educational experience" for their kids. This drives up the costs of overhead, capital expenses, and not to mention the costs of staff/faculty benefits and salaries.

OSH;561228 wrote:I work in a university...which I hope to continue so that I can get some nice rates for my kids' education.

Yeah, my wife currently works in admissions at UC.

The plan is for her to stay in higher education and we can give our kids two options:
1. Go to school for free at the institution your mother works for.
2. Go to school wherever you want and pay for it yourself.

justincredible:

That's what is best for my career path I believe.

I work at a smaller institution, and many times these smaller institutions are part of a consortium where a child can go to any number of institutions for the same tuition break.

Another plus, which I never knew about before I went to college, is the ROTC program that many institutions offer. I would push any prospective military members to go that rout. Go to college for free (no tuition and no room & board), get a stipend for books, AND get a monthly stipend (many times around $300 for a freshman and increasing every year to around $500 for a senior)...sounds like an excellent deal. Graduate school and go into the service as an E4, you can then either go enlisted or into Officer Training School. Great deal.

OSH;561243 wrote:justincredible:

That's what is best for my career path I believe.

I work at a smaller institution, and many times these smaller institutions are part of a consortium where a child can go to any number of institutions for the same tuition break.

Yeah, she was hoping to get a job with Xavier which is part of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

OSH;561243 wrote:I work at a smaller institution, and many times these smaller institutions are part of a consortium where a child can go to any number of institutions for the same tuition break.

I went to a Christian college and I know that children of our professors could go to any school that was a member of the CCCU (Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities) for the same rate as they could go to my school.