Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It already is. In theory, we could "afford" to send our kids anywhere. In practice, DC1 chose to stay instate (where we get a tuition break on top of lower tuition anyway, due to one parent's job). Total for DC1 for 4 years should be around $100K, which is about what it was for me to go to an expensive private college back in the early 90's.

It's truly hard to imagine how it would be "worth" $300K more for an undergraduate education. We're already seeing more and more great students choosing public colleges and universities, and that helps to make those schools better. I think the tipping point will eventually be that if costs of private keep rising, the best students will be choosing public, and then the whole system will implode.

There will always be wealthy smart students who can afford the elite schools. Just look at the elite HS in NYC where people pay $50K+/year. Same for all the elite boarding schools in the Northeast. People paying $75 k+ for a year of HS will have the money for college

^This.

There is a long waiting list of wealthy people who are willing to pay 50K+/year for their kids to attend Potomac School here in the DMV. They can easily afford 95K/year at USC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It already is. In theory, we could "afford" to send our kids anywhere. In practice, DC1 chose to stay instate (where we get a tuition break on top of lower tuition anyway, due to one parent's job). Total for DC1 for 4 years should be around $100K, which is about what it was for me to go to an expensive private college back in the early 90's.

It's truly hard to imagine how it would be "worth" $300K more for an undergraduate education. We're already seeing more and more great students choosing public colleges and universities, and that helps to make those schools better. I think the tipping point will eventually be that if costs of private keep rising, the best students will be choosing public, and then the whole system will implode.

There will always be wealthy smart students who can afford the elite schools. Just look at the elite HS in NYC where people pay $50K+/year. Same for all the elite boarding schools in the Northeast. People paying $75 k+ for a year of HS will have the money for college

Yeah, but this pool of people is not that large. OP here and my kids go to a $50K private (on aid) in DC. There are about 500 kids in DC who attend $50K schools and at least 1/3 are on aid. So say 300 kids in DC who are paying $50K for high school (many of whom live in MD and VA).
That's not a whole lot of kids. It's only one city but ultimately there aren't that many boarding schools and other $50K high schools (plus the top boarding schools (Andover, Exeter, etc) have 50% of the kids on aid).
Yes, there are a lot of rich people out there but the pool is not endless.

The threshold for aid at a private high school is very different from the thresholds colleges have. Private high school choose to spread out their aid to as many people as possible. Private colleges choose to give 40% of their class full rides (rarely do private hs give full rides) and have the rest be full pay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

What? Why would schools be "on the hook when people default on loans?" Schools do NOT take the loans. Plenty of people go to these schools withOUT PPL.
If parents are dumb enough to take PPL, then they need to deal with the repayment. Nobody is forcing you to do this. There are literally hundreds of schools you can attend that will be affordable and not require more than regular student loans that max out at 27K for 4 years

How can the PPL even work? If you assume that most of these parents are 50+ years old at the time of signing the loan (and don't have cash in hand at the time) how the heck are they going to pay back $200-300K by the time
they retire at age 65? And yes, they can work until they're 80 but realistically not a huge percentage of people have significant earning power over the age of 65 (or are even employable!!)
And not to be too macabre but some (not an insignificant number) will be dead by 65.

I can't imagine 95% of these loans are paid back in full (and many go completely unpaid).
Does the school eat this cost or the federal government?

The schools have NOTHING to do with these loans. These loans are between the people who take them out (Parents/Aunts/Uncles/Adults) and the government/whomever gives them the loan.
I agree, how will most people pay these huge amounts back. The entities giving these loans are responsible for that (and if its the govt they need to stop as I don't need to pay for what stupid people do). I think it is STUPID to take these loans. No school is worth it.

Find a school you can AFFORD---it's not that difficult to do. Search merit awards, go to a state school, make your kid work breaks and summer and earn $10-12K/year. Start at CC if you can't afford 4 year directly. Take Dual entry classes in HS and graduate with your AA and then will likely only need 2-3 years in a 4 year college (3 years if engineering, many can finish in 2 if you planned HS dual entry courses well). Go outside of the T50 schools and get an education you can afford. The T50 is not worth it if you need to take out 200+ in loans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

Why would they do that? They have no control over the outcome. That will not happen.

Well, of course they wouldn't want to. But right now, colleges have ZERO skin in the game when it comes to tuition. They risk nothing if kids don't graduate or if they produce unemployable graduates. If we want to make college affordable, make them accountable as well.

Colleges are there to provide your kid an education. If your kid cannot manage to graduate, that's on your kid, not the school. Your kid needs to use the resources to ensure they graduate---and most school charging $75K+ have excellent resources for both assistance while in college and for job hunting. However, they cannot magically make a job appear for an Russian Lit major who did not take any minors to help make them marketable, who didn't do any internships, and wants a job using just their Russian Lit major.

The education sector is in bed with the Democratic Party. It will never support institutional cost-cutting or higher-ed reform, because that would mean colleges would no longer have more admins than students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It already is. In theory, we could "afford" to send our kids anywhere. In practice, DC1 chose to stay instate (where we get a tuition break on top of lower tuition anyway, due to one parent's job). Total for DC1 for 4 years should be around $100K, which is about what it was for me to go to an expensive private college back in the early 90's.

It's truly hard to imagine how it would be "worth" $300K more for an undergraduate education. We're already seeing more and more great students choosing public colleges and universities, and that helps to make those schools better. I think the tipping point will eventually be that if costs of private keep rising, the best students will be choosing public, and then the whole system will implode.

There will always be wealthy smart students who can afford the elite schools. Just look at the elite HS in NYC where people pay $50K+/year. Same for all the elite boarding schools in the Northeast. People paying $75 k+ for a year of HS will have the money for college

Yeah, but this pool of people is not that large. OP here and my kids go to a $50K private (on aid) in DC. There are about 500 kids in DC who attend $50K schools and at least 1/3 are on aid. So say 300 kids in DC who are paying $50K for high school (many of whom live in MD and VA).
That's not a whole lot of kids. It's only one city but ultimately there aren't that many boarding schools and other $50K high schools (plus the top boarding schools (Andover, Exeter, etc) have 50% of the kids on aid).
Yes, there are a lot of rich people out there but the pool is not endless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

Why would they do that? They have no control over the outcome. That will not happen.

Well, of course they wouldn't want to. But right now, colleges have ZERO skin in the game when it comes to tuition. They risk nothing if kids don't graduate or if they produce unemployable graduates. If we want to make college affordable, make them accountable as well.

Colleges are there to provide your kid an education. If your kid cannot manage to graduate, that's on your kid, not the school. Your kid needs to use the resources to ensure they graduate---and most school charging $75K+ have excellent resources for both assistance while in college and for job hunting. However, they cannot magically make a job appear for an Russian Lit major who did not take any minors to help make them marketable, who didn't do any internships, and wants a job using just their Russian Lit major.

Why should the school get $100k/year of federal government parent plus loan money per student that will never get paid back in full?

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think it hasn’t already? Look at the stats of cheaper publics and they are way higher than they used to be

This. UMD used to be a joke if you went to private high school. Now, it’s coveted. Our admissions department was embarrassed that kids went to Clemson or uga. Those were for the bottom 1/4 of the class. Now, they are very difficult to get into.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

What? Why would schools be "on the hook when people default on loans?" Schools do NOT take the loans. Plenty of people go to these schools withOUT PPL.
If parents are dumb enough to take PPL, then they need to deal with the repayment. Nobody is forcing you to do this. There are literally hundreds of schools you can attend that will be affordable and not require more than regular student loans that max out at 27K for 4 years

How can the PPL even work? If you assume that most of these parents are 50+ years old at the time of signing the loan (and don't have cash in hand at the time) how the heck are they going to pay back $200-300K by the time
they retire at age 65? And yes, they can work until they're 80 but realistically not a huge percentage of people have significant earning power over the age of 65 (or are even employable!!)
And not to be too macabre but some (not an insignificant number) will be dead by 65.

I can't imagine 95% of these loans are paid back in full (and many go completely unpaid).
Does the school eat this cost or the federal government?

The federal government. The school gets off scot-free.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

Why would they do that? They have no control over the outcome. That will not happen.

Well, of course they wouldn't want to. But right now, colleges have ZERO skin in the game when it comes to tuition. They risk nothing if kids don't graduate or if they produce unemployable graduates. If we want to make college affordable, make them accountable as well.

Colleges are there to provide your kid an education. If your kid cannot manage to graduate, that's on your kid, not the school. Your kid needs to use the resources to ensure they graduate---and most school charging $75K+ have excellent resources for both assistance while in college and for job hunting. However, they cannot magically make a job appear for an Russian Lit major who did not take any minors to help make them marketable, who didn't do any internships, and wants a job using just their Russian Lit major.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

What? Why would schools be "on the hook when people default on loans?" Schools do NOT take the loans. Plenty of people go to these schools withOUT PPL.
If parents are dumb enough to take PPL, then they need to deal with the repayment. Nobody is forcing you to do this. There are literally hundreds of schools you can attend that will be affordable and not require more than regular student loans that max out at 27K for 4 years

You do realize that allowing exorbitant PPL inflated the cost for people paying in cash? It’s like if you allowed people to take out mortgages from the federal government up to the cost of any house they want. What could go wrong?

Ppls allow colleges to pretend that anyone can afford to attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

What? Why would schools be "on the hook when people default on loans?" Schools do NOT take the loans. Plenty of people go to these schools withOUT PPL.
If parents are dumb enough to take PPL, then they need to deal with the repayment. Nobody is forcing you to do this. There are literally hundreds of schools you can attend that will be affordable and not require more than regular student loans that max out at 27K for 4 years

You do realize that allowing exorbitant PPL inflated the cost for people paying in cash? It’s like if you allowed people to take out mortgages from the federal government up to the cost of any house they want. What could go wrong?

Anonymous wrote:It already is. In theory, we could "afford" to send our kids anywhere. In practice, DC1 chose to stay instate (where we get a tuition break on top of lower tuition anyway, due to one parent's job). Total for DC1 for 4 years should be around $100K, which is about what it was for me to go to an expensive private college back in the early 90's.

It's truly hard to imagine how it would be "worth" $300K more for an undergraduate education. We're already seeing more and more great students choosing public colleges and universities, and that helps to make those schools better. I think the tipping point will eventually be that if costs of private keep rising, the best students will be choosing public, and then the whole system will implode.

There will always be wealthy smart students who can afford the elite schools. Just look at the elite HS in NYC where people pay $50K+/year. Same for all the elite boarding schools in the Northeast. People paying $75 k+ for a year of HS will have the money for college

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

What? Why would schools be "on the hook when people default on loans?" Schools do NOT take the loans. Plenty of people go to these schools withOUT PPL.
If parents are dumb enough to take PPL, then they need to deal with the repayment. Nobody is forcing you to do this. There are literally hundreds of schools you can attend that will be affordable and not require more than regular student loans that max out at 27K for 4 years

How can the PPL even work? If you assume that most of these parents are 50+ years old at the time of signing the loan (and don't have cash in hand at the time) how the heck are they going to pay back $200-300K by the time
they retire at age 65? And yes, they can work until they're 80 but realistically not a huge percentage of people have significant earning power over the age of 65 (or are even employable!!)
And not to be too macabre but some (not an insignificant number) will be dead by 65.

I can't imagine 95% of these loans are paid back in full (and many go completely unpaid).
Does the school eat this cost or the federal government?

They’re not. I recall that 20% of borrowers default.

The international pool is nearly infinite. But I’m already seeing the true UMC (referred to erroneously as MC on DCUM) increasingly headed to, of course, in state flagships (especially kids aiming for med school) but also international universities (Uk, Canada, Netherlands in particular). If you took $400K and skipped college and invested it for your child at 18, would they ever even need to work? Probably not much. Or they’d at least be set for retirement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read on another post that someone is paying $95K/year for USC.
Several kids from my kids' schools are starting there this fall.

I know most on DCUM can pony up $400K for 4 years but how many people like this are really out there?
I also know these schools have 40% (or whatnot) that pay $0/year.
At what point will the price of some of these schools begin to effect the size of their applicant pool?
Either because people don't have the cash or say "that is insane--screw it".

When you’re no longer allowed to take out Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance. NYU & USC graduates are #1 for PPL debt.

Or how about when the schools are on the hook when people default on loans? At the moment, the schools risk nothing when they jack up costs.

What? Why would schools be "on the hook when people default on loans?" Schools do NOT take the loans. Plenty of people go to these schools withOUT PPL.
If parents are dumb enough to take PPL, then they need to deal with the repayment. Nobody is forcing you to do this. There are literally hundreds of schools you can attend that will be affordable and not require more than regular student loans that max out at 27K for 4 years

How can the PPL even work? If you assume that most of these parents are 50+ years old at the time of signing the loan (and don't have cash in hand at the time) how the heck are they going to pay back $200-300K by the time
they retire at age 65? And yes, they can work until they're 80 but realistically not a huge percentage of people have significant earning power over the age of 65 (or are even employable!!)
And not to be too macabre but some (not an insignificant number) will be dead by 65.

I can't imagine 95% of these loans are paid back in full (and many go completely unpaid).
Does the school eat this cost or the federal government?