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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The donut hole is a myth that poor savers tell themselves.   Decisions have consequences. Buying a larger house or nicer car - spending more for vacations and fancy summer camps are all decisions.

[b]College costs are not unexpected.  You have nearly two decades to save. [/b]

Plus, you don’t have to save for the most expensive college.  All of you who consider yourselves middle class- that means kids stay at home and go to college or they go to an instate college. That is what middle class parents have done for generations. Paying the full amount for high end tuitions for private schools are for rich families not yours.

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But that's the problem, college expenses have become [b]exploitative[/b] for most family budgets. As PP suggests, your entire adult life you're now supposed to be either saving for college or paying off your loans. It's basically become a third layer of taxation in addition to state and federal.[/quote]

College costs are INDEFENSIBLE here in the US. No other country in the world has such expensive university education, and yet many have excellent institutions. It IS exploitative.

It's like the cost of healthcare in this country. It does not need to be that high! Other wealthy nations do it for much less.

But here capitalism rules, the federal government has very little regulatory control compared to other countries... and we are left with this. Very little upward mobility in an erstwhile upwardly mobile country.

So you're all right where universities want you, suckers: bickering amongst yourselves, and forgetting that you are all being exploited BY THEM.

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Only in the US would people compare a university education with a luxury car.[/quote]

Because only in the US do people feel entitled to the tippy top ranked universities for their kids, no matter what.  
Most of Europe is not attending Cambridge or Oxford for undergrad.  They are attending a nearby local university.  Their kid was "tracked for college" sometime around 12/13 yo and if they do well on the testing that day, they may not be eligible for a STEM major 5 years later.  Nobody is saying you can't get an education.  We literally have hundreds of great choices, many offering merit.  There are ways to attend college for minimal costs, you just wont attend a Top tier university.  Just like much of Europe does not attend a Top tier university for their undergrad.

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Wait a sec here. Most of the UK doesn't go to Oxbridge because they can't get in, not because they can't pay! We are talking about getting in to schools you can't pay for. [b]In France for example, if you get into Polytechnique (the top engineering school), your tuition bill can be covered by military service following your studies,[/b] or in most cases, your first employer pays off your bill as part of the job offer. You rarely hear about someone in France qualifying for one of these schools and not going because they can't afford it.[/quote]

The bolded is true in the US too.  That's what ROTC is.  [/quote]

As a spouse of retired Enlisted, there is no way I'd let my kids do ROTC or anything else military related in college.  They go to state schools that we can afford to pay for and if they want military afterward, they can go in as an Officer not oweing anything.

Donut Families can afford state schools.  They can afford a lot more if they budgeted right.  If you choose to pay for expensive housing, etc. that is your choice but then don't complain you cannot afford college.  We live in a sh@t shack that is in a "lesser" neighborhood so we can afford college.  No one cares where your kids go to high school.  In all reality for many professions now, they don't care if you go to a private or public.  The degree is what is important.[/quote]

It’s easier for donut families to afford state schools in certain states more than others, because not all state systems are funded equally or give out appreciable scholarships/need based aid.  MD and VA are actually pretty expensive as state schools go.  I was shocked by how little my FL cousins, who were above average students but not valedictorian or anything, had to pay to attend the public universities there. Say what you will about FL but they do a better job on the college affordability front.[/quote]

UMD is not that expensive.  Not sure about VA, but MD is $10K without room and board.  So, yes, it was easy for us to save when we did it at birth and put our priority into college savings vs. an expensive house or vacations or other things.[/quote]

Most people can’t afford an expensive house, fancy vacations, or 4 years of college…..it’s not either/or, it’s none of the above. Some of you are so out of touch it’s scary.[/quote]

The people who can’t afford those things aren’t the ones screaming OMG WE’RE IN THE DONUT HOLE on DCUM.[/quote]

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