value of cheap education

$100,000/216 months (18 years) = $463 a month per child.

I don't have kids, so I could probably set aside $463 a month. If I did have a kid, I'd no longer be able to do that.

Nimrod said:

....But now a small NAIA school has approached and there's a chance she can go to this school almost for free when you count academic and athletic money. she might start as a freshman.

I know it depends on the kid, but how do you weigh this -

A - Decent academic school that has her major and a chance to play softball and graduate with no debt.

B - Above average academic school, no softball, at a cost of $100,000 over 4 years.

DD's career choice requires grad school, and it's a competitive field, but those in this field have told her that if you are outstanding academically that your undergrad school won't matter that much.

Click to expand...

Definately choice A if she likes the NAIA school. Coming from my own experience from attending a smaller private undergraduate school then going to a more well-known larger school for my master's degree, the grad school matters a LOT more than the undergraduate school in professional fields. For me, it was the best of both worlds. I gained a lot of great lifetime friends in the smaller school, got to be a major contributor in my sport, and had more personal relationships with school staff as a young undergraduate. At the larger graduate school, I was older, wiser, more disciplined, and generally much more business-like. Further, because the grad school had a great reputation, it helped me get a jump start on a career. I don't think my fellow grad school students that went to larger undergraduate schools had any advantage over me (although an undergraduate degree from a top 10 school might open some doors after grad school).

4 girl's dad said:

$100,000/216 months (18 years) = $463 a month per child.

Click to expand...

You actually need to save a lot less than that each month as you have not factored in rate of return and compounding interest. Using your formula and a 6% return each year, you would have a whopping 180K. If you only invested $263 per month at 6% return, you would have your 100K.

Rocketech1 said:

As parents, when our kids were born and for the next 18 years we should have been setting aside money for a 4-yr college so we do not have to make a choice between A or B.....

Click to expand...

We've been fortunate to have good jobs, have lived below our means, and have also saved religiously for years so that's the position we are in with our first 2 kids currently in college and expect to be for the 3rd when she's headed there in 5 years.

But not everyone has that option.

Answer A all day!!!

I know it depends on the kid, but how do you weigh this -

A - Decent academic school that has her major and a chance to play softball and graduate with no debt.

B - Above average academic school, no softball, at a cost of $100,000 over 4 years.

Click to expand...

If the above average academic school was one of the top schools in the US...Harvard, Yale, U of Chicago, Stanford, UC Berkley, etc.,...then go to that school.

Otherwise, go to the school where you can minimize the student debt.

Nimrod said:

thanks for the replies. To 2020's point, I don't know that she would even need to transfer because the naia school has a good major that prepares her for the grad school she wants to attend. She wants to get in physical therapy school. This school has a pre-PT major. Not that your major is that critical anyway. but yes after 2 years she can reassess things, including how softball is going.

Click to expand...

A new PT is judged by her license more then where she went to school for her undergrad. My wife is a PT and For many years was a manager and then director of a rehab Department the only talk Of where you went to school was by the other PTs joking with each other over school rivalries. What is sad is that a job that used to be well done with a bachelors degree now requires a doctorate with no benefit to anyone other then the schools for the money they bring in.