Job market and college costs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Selective colleges still matter for alumni networks, peer effects, recruiting pipelines, signaling, and credibility in a post-AI world. Maybe getting a bad degree from somewhere like the University of Phoenix is no longer worth it, but a Harvard or Williams degree will continue to matter for longer than we will live. If some of you want to experiment with your own kids on not supporting a college degree, fine, it just creates more opportunities for those of us who still care.

Who said anything about "not supporting a college degree"? Weird non sequitur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few people spend $200,000 on college. Only the rich and the faux rich do.

I hadn't gotten this memo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lately, most of our new hires and interns have been from state schools — some even graduated in three years.

State schools can be great. The current job market is not.

State School is what smart kids from families who are not rich do who don't want to go into debt. A degree is a degree. Not being saddled with $100K+ in debt is huge...it allows you to move to a different place than you grew up as you can actually afford an apartment.

Ivy/similar schools often have lower net COA than in-state publics for anyone between 100kHHI and 240kHHI these days.

🙄 Hence the title about "doughnut families" . . .

[Anonymous]

Those expensive schools need to prove their worth. Many middle- and upper-middle-class families don’t qualify for financial aid — yet they also happen to have the most competitive kids applying to selective schools. It makes no sense for them to keep funding institutions that give them nothing in return.

[Anonymous]

In the meantime, ambitious and capable upper-middle-class and middle-class kids will do just fine wherever they go. Those so-called “values,” like alumni networks, peer effects, recruiting pipelines. You get those from any selective schools, including state flagship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very few people spend $200,000 on college. Only the rich and the faux rich do.

UVA in-state 4 years is about that price.

No. It isn’t. It’s $40,383 a year for instate. All costs included. See here. https://sfs.virginia.edu/financial-aid-new-applicants/financial-aid-basics/estimated-undergraduate-cost-attendance-2025-2026

It is NOT for material and engineering. The cost is 51K for the first year, and 52K per year after that. That's over 200K for an in-state education at UVA.

No one here cares about engineering. Only 719 entering students of 4,000 are entering UVA engineering. The rest are in college of Arts and Sciences and which exactly $40,383. What is your problem on this issue? You harangue about it on every thread! Are you bitter that your kid didn’t get in to UVA? Are you bitter your engineer kids had to pay a few thousand more at UVA for that particular major? Our kid was in UVA aerospace engineering and we were thrilled to pay whatever surcharge tacked on for engineering because it was STILL $40K less a year than Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those expensive schools need to prove their worth. Many middle- and upper-middle-class families don’t qualify for financial aid — yet they also happen to have the most competitive kids applying to selective schools. It makes no sense for them to keep funding institutions that give them nothing in return.

Top schools give need based aid of some amount all the way up to 300k household income and occasionally higher. That is well beyond upper middle class it’s top 2%! If you cannot afford full pay for one kid above that then you have serious saving and budgeting issues. There is NO middle class donut hole, only an upper class one, a first world problem no one should complain about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very few people spend $200,000 on college. Only the rich and the faux rich do.

UVA in-state 4 years is about that price.

No. It isn’t. It’s $40,383 a year for instate. All costs included. See here. https://sfs.virginia.edu/financial-aid-new-applicants/financial-aid-basics/estimated-undergraduate-cost-attendance-2025-2026

It is NOT for material and engineering. The cost is 51K for the first year, and 52K per year after that. That's over 200K for an in-state education at UVA.

No one here cares about engineering. Only 719 entering students of 4,000 are entering UVA engineering. The rest are in college of Arts and Sciences and which exactly $40,383. What is your problem on this issue? You harangue about it on every thread! Are you bitter that your kid didn’t get in to UVA? Are you bitter your engineer kids had to pay a few thousand more at UVA for that particular major? Our kid was in UVA aerospace engineering and we were thrilled to pay whatever surcharge tacked on for engineering because it was STILL $40K less a year than Ivies.

Not the PP, but let's be honest - YOU keep posting about your UVA aerospace major kid. Most people would not choose UVA for that major.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it still matters. There will be jobs AI won’t do and AI won’t want to work with troglodytes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those expensive schools need to prove their worth. Many middle- and upper-middle-class families don’t qualify for financial aid — yet they also happen to have the most competitive kids applying to selective schools. It makes no sense for them to keep funding institutions that give them nothing in return.

Top schools give need based aid of some amount all the way up to 300k household income and occasionally higher. That is well beyond upper middle class it’s top 2%! If you cannot afford full pay for one kid above that then you have serious saving and budgeting issues. There is NO middle class donut hole, only an upper class one, a first world problem no one should complain about.

They really don’t provide much if any aid to donut hole families. And if you live in a high COL area, a salary of 250k or so doesn’t go far. You also assume the parent was earning 250k+ for years and could save. The fact is that 90k a year for schools is RIDICULOUS and the schools need to fix this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the meantime, ambitious and capable upper-middle-class and middle-class kids will do just fine wherever they go. Those so-called “values,” like alumni networks, peer effects, recruiting pipelines. You get those from any selective schools, including state flagship

This is so true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the meantime, ambitious and capable upper-middle-class and middle-class kids will do just fine wherever they go. Those so-called “values,” like alumni networks, peer effects, recruiting pipelines. You get those from any selective schools, including state flagship

This is so true.

Send your kid wherever you want to send your kid. Why you so deep in other people's business? If they want to waste their money on Harvard and MIT then let them. What do you care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few people spend $200,000 on college. Only the rich and the faux rich do.

200k sounds like a bargain.

We are gearing up to prepay 320k for 4 years in one go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those expensive schools need to prove their worth. Many middle- and upper-middle-class families don’t qualify for financial aid — yet they also happen to have the most competitive kids applying to selective schools. It makes no sense for them to keep funding institutions that give them nothing in return.

Top schools give need based aid of some amount all the way up to 300k household income and occasionally higher. That is well beyond upper middle class it’s top 2%! If you cannot afford full pay for one kid above that then you have serious saving and budgeting issues. There is NO middle class donut hole, only an upper class one, a first world problem no one should complain about.

They really don’t provide much if any aid to donut hole families. And if you live in a high COL area, a salary of 250k or so doesn’t go far. You also assume the parent was earning 250k+ for years and could save. The fact is that 90k a year for schools is RIDICULOUS and the schools need to fix this.

DP: So if they were not earning 250K for 18+ years (which is most likely true), then as they went from $125K to 250K, they could have chosen to direct a good portion of that to retirement AND college savings. $20K/year saved for 10+ years and invested in stock funds would allow your kid to attend almost any school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very few people spend $200,000 on college. Only the rich and the faux rich do.

Not true. Michigan out of state is over 80k per year.. most SLAC’s arts colleges cost that much too. Out of state public’s will easily cost around 200k.

And only rich or faux rich would be willing to pay that 80k OOS at Mich.

We are not rich, but DC got great aid at a SLAC and we will not be paying 200k. It would be foolish of us to spend that much.