College Aid (+!!!)

JWG223 · May 16, 2012

PPBart said:
+1 !!! I was lucky to grow up on a farm with a dad who really hated to pay someone else to do anything he thought he should be able to do, and even as a little kid I was expected to help when we built/maintained a house or barn, repaired machinery and vehicles, cared for livestock, etc. We had a well-equipped workshop which I was taught to use (safely!), and those manual trade skills have served me well all my life.

As for the real value of a college degree today, I have to agree. Back in the late '60s when I started at Southeastern LA College my tuition was (I think) about $100 per semester, books were available for cheap rental, and the state even provided bus transportation to school. I lived at home, worked part time, went to school full-time and graduated with a BS four years later. I think my final semester tuition was still less than $200. I was one of the first to sign up for Army ROTC, which provided a monthly stipend of $50 and a guaranteed job upon graduation. No student loans -- never even thought about borrowing money for that. Later, my wife and I drummed into our two daughters the importance of education and getting into a good field -- both are in medical fields and quite successful. They worked hard at school and part-time jobs, and we helped get them thru advanced degrees with no debt. Now I'm hoping to help my grandson do the same.

And I have to credit the Livingston Parish school system for providing my kids with a good education and foundation for advanced learning! And Ascension Parish for doing the same for my grandson.

I started in late 2005 at LSUS, each 13 hour semester ran me around $1500 or so. Books averaged $80 a piece. I went for 5 semesters because it was cheaper than doing fully booked semesters as I had a 8 semester scholarship, and wasn't going to need all of it.

I finished at NSUS in 2010. Tuition ran me $2200 for my final semester, licensure and all that jazz ran me $2-300 + the $20 for fingerprint cards and then some $$ for a background check, etc. I forget all the stuff I had to pay for, it was a blur at that point, but it sucked. Books averaged $100.

They bought them back for half or less what you paid, if they didn't have another book with 2 pages in different locations which invalidated yours and made it not eligible. We were forced to buy electronic test-taking devices ($50 or so), and STRONGLY encouraged to buy smart phones or iPad type devices. Now, I think it is a requirement.

BigNick73 · May 16, 2012

Emperor said:
I am questioning college as an advantage for future financial success (unless you are specialized, eg MD's, Eng., et.).

Maybe it's just me but I see intelligence levels in college graduates declining across the board, while indoctrination into stupidity is at an all time high!

You new age college guys better know how to at least drive a nail, do basic electrical wiring, run some plumbing, or be able to fix something when you leave there, cause 4 years of sociology, business, or general studies may only get you top spot at the local restaruant if you can't.

It's the new highschool diploma. With the master's being the new bachelor's. I probably have a higher salary than 90% of the people I graduated with. I credit that more to not being scared of manual labor more than the degree as my job doesn't require more than a ged education wise. I've seen people graduate college that I'd question their ability to read. I'm not sure where this everyone deserves a college degree mentality came from.

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JWG223 · May 16, 2012

BigNick73 said:
It's the new highschool diploma. With the master's being the new bachelor's. I probably have a higher salary than 90% of the people I graduated with. I credit that more to not being scared of manual labor more than the degree as my job doesn't require more than a ged education wise. I've seen people graduate college that I'd question their ability to read. I'm not sure where this everyone deserves a college degree mentality came from.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

+1, now days, a 2-year degree is barely considered "college". As I understand, the ANA does not even consider the 2-year degree a professional degree, and there is a push for everyone in my field to have at least a 4-year degree.

king4456 · May 16, 2012

topgunz1 said:
It is out there, you just have to work for it. If it had not been for the TOPS Program there is no way my family could have afforded college. Thanks to my parents pushing me, I was able to be the first one in my family with a college degree.

Then I pissed it all away and became a cop!

At least you learned your social security number.

asianpersuasion · May 16, 2012

JWG223 said:
HOLY CRAP!

How much do you owe? Is that the minimum, or are you trying to get rid of it before term?

Minimum is $480 I pay all my 30 yr loans back asap

JWG223 · May 16, 2012

asianpersuasion said:
Minimum is $480 I pay all my 30 yr loans back asap

Ah, okay, gotcha. I was wondering.

wfarrell1 · May 17, 2012

You would of **** yourself had you gone to Fountainbleu high school graduation.... I **** you not 1 kid alone had $1,250,000 worth of offers.... and combined with 400ish kids overall had over 12mill...... :eek3:

Charles1959 · May 17, 2012

wfarrell1 said:
You would of **** yourself had you gone to Fountainbleu high school graduation.... I **** you not 1 kid alone had $1,250,000 worth of offers.... and combined with 400ish kids overall had over 12mill......

I was there. He speaks the truth. That one kid had a Perfect ACT of 36 and an overall GPA of 4.36. Another Kid with $436,000 of offered scholarships, another accepted into the Air Force Academy with $416,000 four year scholarship.
It was unbelievable.
My kid wasn't any of those. It's TOPS and Daddy's checkbook for my daughter. :wtc:

Cat · May 17, 2012

chad said:
My highschool class of about 39 students earned a total of about 4 million in scholarships and aid. It's out there alright.

That's a little over 100K per student? :eek3:

Emperor · May 17, 2012

Exactly why this country is broke! No one's making sure there is a gain on the investment. The investment capital is free (tax payers money), the distribution is willy nilly (government thieves), and any appreciable return doesn't matter!

noob · May 17, 2012

JWG223 said:
HOLY CRAP!

How much do you owe? Is that the minimum, or are you trying to get rid of it before term?

If I paid minimum it would be around a right above 1k a month. I usually pay 1500 to 2500 a month to "try" to get it over with due to interests rates being 6.8% web I graduated in 2008. I owed slightly more than 100k in my 6 years of college, had a small scholarship but that only put a dent in it. But now I have a decent job, and am fortunately employed but a big company that offers great health insurance which was my biggest concern getting out of school. I don't love my job, but it pays the bills and for my crazy expensive medicine so I can't complain.

JWG223 · May 17, 2012

noob said:
If I paid minimum it would be around a right above 1k a month. I usually pay 1500 to 2500 a month to "try" to get it over with due to interests rates being 6.8% web I graduated in 2008. I owed slightly more than 100k in my 6 years of college, had a small scholarship but that only put a dent in it. But now I have a decent job, and am fortunately employed but a big company that offers great health insurance which was my biggest concern getting out of school. I don't love my job, but it pays the bills and for my crazy expensive medicine so I can't complain.

Good on you!

Oddly, health insurance never crossed my mind when I was younger. I was relatively healthy, and never had insurance before I graduated, so it didn't really register. Still doesn't. I dumped mine in exchange for $800/mo more. Once I move states, though, I am going to keep my insurance and go long-term with a company with the whole benefits package, etc.

noob · May 18, 2012

Health insurance has always been on my mind since high school. My dad worked from 5am to 10pm everyday to support my family, which included 2000 bucks a month just for insurance premiums. I was born with a bleeding condition, which requires expensive medicine. Which every insurance company would either kick us out or raise the premiums so high no one could afford it. Instead of living off the government like some people with disabilities would do, I decided I needed to work for a huge company that my issue wouldnt offset anything. My Medicine costs 36,000 a month, thanks to my companies insurance, I pay 75 bucks for it and it's shipped next Day to my doorstep when ever I order it. Sucks that they won't let me get 3 months at a time like I could with my dads insurance, but hey, I'm not complaining about them not wanting to send 100k in medicine at 1 time.

JWG223 · May 18, 2012

noob said:
Health insurance has always been on my mind since high school. My dad worked from 5am to 10pm everyday to support my family, which included 2000 bucks a month just for insurance premiums. I was born with a bleeding condition, which requires expensive medicine. Which every insurance company would either kick us out or raise the premiums so high no one could afford it. Instead of living off the government like some people with disabilities would do, I decided I needed to work for a huge company that my issue wouldnt offset anything. My Medicine costs 36,000 a month, thanks to my companies insurance, I pay 75 bucks for it and it's shipped next Day to my doorstep when ever I order it. Sucks that they won't let me get 3 months at a time like I could with my dads insurance, but hey, I'm not complaining about them not wanting to send 100k in medicine at 1 time.

I am guessing you are on something like Novoseven. Yeah, I can see why it's a big deal to you. It would be to me, too! Noone can afford that stuff "on their own" unless Gates is their last name.

SpeedRacer · May 18, 2012

The TOPS program basically eliminated any excuses. If you perform, you get opportunity. Cut and dry, plain and simple. Not because you are black or short or fat or poor or ugly. Put in the work and you get the scholarship. My wife got TOPS, and robably wouldn't be a nurse right now if she hadn't.

JWG223 · May 18, 2012

SpeedRacer said:
The TOPS program basically eliminated any excuses. If you perform, you get opportunity. Cut and dry, plain and simple. Not because you are black or short or fat or poor or ugly. Put in the work and you get the scholarship. My wife got TOPS, and robably wouldn't be a nurse right now if she hadn't.

+1
TOPS is amazing. If I had lived in this state, I would have had a free ride and almost, if not all living expenses covered. This state has some amazing opportunities for education. It's not the money or the quality of the higher education institutions that are lacking. My college had very good NCLEX pass rates for their pet program (BSN, they kindof shuffled their RN program off to the side, I think, until they came under review).

Captain_Morgan · May 18, 2012

TOPS was a lifesaver, that's for sure. The issue is that LA has one of the worst problems for bleeding college graduates. LSU's a great school along with our other local colleges (yes, I'm biased

), but once kids are getting their degrees, they're packing up and leaving. So it sucks that the state isn't receiving much of a return on the investment.

JWG223 · May 18, 2012

Captain_Morgan said:
TOPS was a lifesaver, that's for sure. The issue is that LA has one of the worst problems for bleeding college graduates. LSU's a great school along with our other local colleges (yes, I'm biased ), but once kids are getting their degrees, they're packing up and leaving. So it sucks that the state isn't receiving much of a return on the investment.

I'm packing up and leaving because this area just doesn't agree with me. However, crime is wedged right under it as reason #2, along with the fact that I prefer a different terrain, and other personal preference type things. It's also a pain to live here, at least where I am at. The roads destroy your car, there are no good stores to buy groceries at, etc. there are very few businesses which don't just cater to "lowest priced" type items and services, etc.

It's just not a good place based on any measurable statistic, and on top of that, some people's preferences run to other locales, anyway, like mine.

It is unfortunate.

asianpersuasion · May 20, 2012

noob said:
If I paid minimum it would be around a right above 1k a month. I usually pay 1500 to 2500 a month to "try" to get it over with due to interests rates being 6.8% web I graduated in 2008. I owed slightly more than 100k in my 6 years of college, had a small scholarship but that only put a dent in it. But now I have a decent job, and am fortunately employed but a big company that offers great health insurance which was my biggest concern getting out of school. I don't love my job, but it pays the bills and for my crazy expensive medicine so I can't complain.

<$115K here. Man that interest rate sucks. I thought 3.2% was bad. My cousin pays 2.0%

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