OT: Anyone else think Rutgers is absurdly expensive?

RUschool

Heisman
Jan 23, 2004
49,921
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In 2022, only 36% of white males went to college, black and Hispanics are slightly lower but Asian males attendance was 58%. The real push for not going to college has been the last 3-4 years so white males going to college is probably closer to 30%. With college getting more expensive and less federal student loans and grants, the percentage of white males will be closer to 25%. That might be the reason that there are so many young men that are directionless and unemployed. Young females college attendance is 44% in 2022.
 
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RU206

All-American
Jan 23, 2015
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In 2022, only 36% of white males went to college, black and Hispanics are slightly lower but Asian males attendance was 58%. The real push for not going to college has been the last 3-4 years so white males going to college is probably closer to 30%. With college getting more expensive and less federal student loans and grants, the percentage of white males will be closer to 25%. That might be the reason that there are so many young men that are directionless and unemployed. Young females college attendance is 44% in 2022.
If only 36% of white males are going to college, what are the others doing? 64% of the white male population in the US is a lot of people. The recent push for Trade schools should be at that specific population. Trade schools should be overflowing with white males.
 

RUschool

Heisman
Jan 23, 2004
49,921
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If only 36% of white males are going to college, what are the others doing? 64% of the white male population in the US is a lot of people. The recent push for Trade schools should be at that specific population. Trade schools should be overflowing with white males.

A lot of them are unskilled, uneducated and unmotivated. I hear they live in their mom basement posting on social media. Others become truck drivers, factory workers, TSA agents, ICE agents, border patrol, uber drivers, warehouse workers, roofers, and construction workers.

Young males are leaving the workforce due to a combination of
declining manufacturing jobs, education gaps, and mental health challenges. Many face barriers like obsolete skills or lack of education, while others face a "purpose gap". Rising numbers of men, particularly without college degrees, are disengaging from the labor market, with some turning to disability benefits.
Bipartisan Policy CenterBipartisan Policy Center +5
 
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Jtung230

Heisman
Jun 30, 2005
19,180
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82
Sounds great what college and what major? I’m guessing not gender studies or art history.
Double major in economics and Psychology. I would argue that history and gender studies teach more critical thinking than finance.

before everyone jumps down my throat, it’s hard to monetize a history or gender studies degree. My point is which degree teachs free thinking. I don’t think it a finance degree.
 

Jtung230

Heisman
Jun 30, 2005
19,180
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What type of field of work does a graduate with a BA in Gender Studies pursue?

Same question for Art History, but probably something at a museum or perhaps teaching art in elementary or high school?
Google or AI can answer this for you. Apparently, law is an option.
 

T2Kplus20

Heisman
May 1, 2007
31,782
19,779
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There is no motivation to try and keep expenses and salaries reasonable when you can just hike tuition and fees plus get greater government funding. In the last 30 years, college costs have outpaced inflation by 300%.
+1
Whenever you get a 3rd party to pay the costs of a service instead of the actual customer the basic law of supply and demand gets broken. Government student loans is a textbook example of this (and how tuition skyrocketed). Another example is our healthcare system with insurance companies and other middlemen.
 

CollegeSenior

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Apr 2, 2021
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+1
Whenever you get a 3rd party to pay the costs of a service instead of the actual customer the basic law of supply and demand gets broken. Government student loans is a textbook example of this (and how tuition skyrocketed). Another example is our healthcare system with insurance companies and other middlemen.
RU can take the this advice and eliminate free education for children of employees.
 

RU206

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Jan 23, 2015
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A lot of them are unskilled, uneducated and unmotivated. I hear they live in their mom basement posting on social media. Others become truck drivers, factory workers, TSA agents, ICE agents, border patrol, uber drivers, warehouse workers, roofers, and construction workers.

Young males are leaving the workforce due to a combination of
declining manufacturing jobs, education gaps, and mental health challenges. Many face barriers like obsolete skills or lack of education, while others face a "purpose gap". Rising numbers of men, particularly without college degrees, are disengaging from the labor market, with some turning to disability benefits.
View attachment 1234819Bipartisan Policy Center +5
If young males are leaving the workforce, it would make sense for them to go to trade school instead of being unemployed. It doesn’t make sense to push the 30% college bound males to go to trade school. Let them go to college if they are motivated to do so.
 

T2Kplus20

Heisman
May 1, 2007
31,782
19,779
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If young males are leaving the workforce, it would make sense for them to go to trade school instead of being unemployed. It doesn’t make sense to push the 30% college bound males to go to trade school. Let them go to college if they are motivated to do so.
It is true that girls are at a distinct disadvantage vs. boys when applying to college. Very ironic is see how much this has flipped over a few generations.
 

Jtung230

Heisman
Jun 30, 2005
19,180
12,342
82
+1
Whenever you get a 3rd party to pay the costs of a service instead of the actual customer the basic law of supply and demand gets broken. Government student loans is a textbook example of this (and how tuition skyrocketed). Another example is our healthcare system with insurance companies and other middlemen.
In NJ, that 3rd party are the parents like you and me. Are you going to tell your kids no?
 
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T2Kplus20

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May 1, 2007
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In NJ, that 3rd party are the parents like you and me. Are you going to tell your kids no?
Probably true to some extend, but likely insignificant to the amount/breath of government student loans in the market. Also, parents would be considered customers, especially for undergrad.
 

T2Kplus20

Heisman
May 1, 2007
31,782
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Uh huh. It was fine for NJ to give you a free education but now you have a problem with the government paying for others or giving them student loans.
Yes. Government student loans has caused tuition to skyrocket many times inflation. Giving employees tuition remission (in the past) to a rounding error of students was like spitting in the ocean. So use common sense and follow the data.
 

CollegeSenior

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Yes. Government student loans has caused tuition to skyrocket many times inflation. Giving employees tuition remission (in the past) to a rounding error of students was like spitting in the ocean. So use common sense and follow the data.
Got it. Your free RU tuition was a rounding error. But the kid who has to pay for his via a student loan is the problem.
 

RUfan1977

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Mar 24, 2024
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Double major in economics and Psychology. I would argue that history and gender studies teach more critical thinking than finance.

before everyone jumps down my throat, it’s hard to monetize a history or gender studies degree. My point is which degree teachs free thinking. I don’t think it a finance degree.
I’m sure you’re right that a gender studies professor and the students in the program would never push uniformity of opinion and would be very open to other points of view. Maybe they could even invite a conservative Christian like Charlie Kirk to speak. Oh wait, they can’t because he was assassinated because a contrary opinion of a Christian conservative is hateful rhetoric that must be silenced by any means.
 

CollegeSenior

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Double major in economics and Psychology. I would argue that history and gender studies teach more critical thinking than finance.

before everyone jumps down my throat, it’s hard to monetize a history or gender studies degree. My point is which degree teachs free thinking. I don’t think it a finance degree.

You’re being dense. Courses in Psychology, Human Resource Management, etc are indoctrination. Courses in Corporate Finance, Economics, etc aren’t indoctrination in capitalism. Because, well they’re different. See? 🙄
 

Fat Koko

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Nov 28, 2022
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One reason colleges cost so much is more people can afford it.

A report from 2019 concluded 10% of NJ households are millionaires, highest share in nation.

Stock market is up 2.5x since 2019, so around 15% of NJ households could be millionaires today.

Higher education is gobbling up its share of this expansion in household wealth.

Same reason why home prices have been rising faster than incomes for decades.
 
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NotInRHouse

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Jul 29, 2025
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And that is why I dont think trades are gonna work for Zoomers. Like I said, trades are physical labor and the last thing in the world they want to do is anything physical. Those kids would be weeded out fast.

I am wondering how many more years we have left of "muh trades" as boomers ease into the needing more extensive medical care phase of their life.

I am looking forward to "muh plumbers" becoming "muh nurses" and especially who will get the blame.

Odds that boomers blame millennials for eating avocado toast instead of getting nursing degrees? Is that on Kalshi?
 

NotInRHouse

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Jul 29, 2025
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It’s always someone you know. Very rarely it’s your kids.

Of all the insane bragging on this board, never once saw "so proud of my son, he never went to college and is a welder!"

Have seen a ton of:

1) my kid is an Ivy Leaguer

2) my kid thought RU campus was ugly so I'm paying for them to go to Coastal Carolina, they're in their 6th year and have an internship at the Fort Myers Motor Inn lined up, we couldn't be prouder and can't wait to move to Southern Shangri La

3) My kid is getting their phD at Oxford and my wife, the rocket scientist, and I, the CEO, need advice on dinner in Gstaad as we visit him via helicopter (and also we can't afford RU concessions and parking)

Funny how the blue collar is for the "others'" children. Never theirs. Frankly, RU is not good enough for many of their kids.
 

NotInRHouse

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Jul 29, 2025
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Uh huh. It was fine for NJ to give you a free education but now you have a problem with the government paying for others or giving them student loans.

BINGO

And how many here complaining now went for pennies because of their age?

And those same people are now the ones paying for fancy private colleges and SEC schools for their kids, and insisting middle class kids go be plumbers.
 
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NotInRHouse

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The whole point of the US as a country is opportunity to ascend the economic ladder.

My great grandfather came here from Italy and mined coal in WV. Then my grandmother was his first and only child to graduate HS. Then my parents dropped out of college after one semester. And then I became the first in my family to graduate college and then get a law degree on top of it.

My parents insisted to me that I get a degree. Their entire lives, not having one set them back. Because they were boomers, they still benefited from real estate costs being correlated to income, but still could have made more with a few hundreds bucks worth extra tuition at CUNY.

Now instead of doing something really fricken easy- make college free- like community college is in TN or all college in New Mexico and much of the developed world- instead it's go be a plumber. Go back to the work your ancestors did so you could avoid it.

IF you meet the standards for a state school, it should be tuition free. Full stop. We need more people with degrees, not less. We need more teachers, more nurses, more doctors, more techies and yes more lawyers too. We need more educated cops.

What we DO NOT need is more wars and billionaires cavorting on islands while paying no taxes. We could close one of those loopholes a smidge and the whole project would be funded.

Instead we have a whole generation of dejected men, who yeah, making 100k being a plumber in much of NJ, good luck buying a home and starting a family. What does the wife do? Is she a "trad wife"? Is she permitted a degree? And you wonder why there's problems?

Or here's an idea, instead Wall Street fat cats get one less lunch on Little St. James, both the boy and girl get state college degrees free, earn over 100k, have no debt, think like college grads, explore the world and when they earn enough they afford NJ easy peasy.
 

fsng

Freshman
Oct 31, 2025
66
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The whole point of the US as a country is opportunity to ascend the economic ladder.

My great grandfather came here from Italy and mined coal in WV. Then my grandmother was his first and only child to graduate HS. Then my parents dropped out of college after one semester. And then I became the first in my family to graduate college and then get a law degree on top of it.

My parents insisted to me that I get a degree. Their entire lives, not having one set them back. Because they were boomers, they still benefited from real estate costs being correlated to income, but still could have made more with a few hundreds bucks worth extra tuition at CUNY.

Now instead of doing something really fricken easy- make college free- like community college is in TN or all college in New Mexico and much of the developed world- instead it's go be a plumber. Go back to the work your ancestors did so you could avoid it.

IF you meet the standards for a state school, it should be tuition free. Full stop. We need more people with degrees, not less. We need more teachers, more nurses, more doctors, more techies and yes more lawyers too. We need more educated cops.

What we DO NOT need is more wars and billionaires cavorting on islands while paying no taxes. We could close one of those loopholes a smidge and the whole project would be funded.

Instead we have a whole generation of dejected men, who yeah, making 100k being a plumber in much of NJ, good luck buying a home and starting a family. What does the wife do? Is she a "trad wife"? Is she permitted a degree? And you wonder why there's problems?

Or here's an idea, instead Wall Street fat cats get one less lunch on Little St. James, both the boy and girl get state college degrees free, earn over 100k, have no debt, think like college grads, explore the world and when they earn enough they afford NJ easy peasy.

It's a bit mind-boggling how folks want to reverse hundreds of years of quality of life improvements.

Or not that mind-boggling since it's solely advice for anonymous others doing work they need done.
 

mdk02

Heisman
Aug 18, 2011
26,674
18,961
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The whole point of the US as a country is opportunity to ascend the economic ladder.

My great grandfather came here from Italy and mined coal in WV. Then my grandmother was his first and only child to graduate HS. Then my parents dropped out of college after one semester. And then I became the first in my family to graduate college and then get a law degree on top of it.

My parents insisted to me that I get a degree. Their entire lives, not having one set them back. Because they were boomers, they still benefited from real estate costs being correlated to income, but still could have made more with a few hundreds bucks worth extra tuition at CUNY.

Now instead of doing something really fricken easy- make college free- like community college is in TN or all college in New Mexico and much of the developed world- instead it's go be a plumber. Go back to the work your ancestors did so you could avoid it.

IF you meet the standards for a state school, it should be tuition free. Full stop. We need more people with degrees, not less. We need more teachers, more nurses, more doctors, more techies and yes more lawyers too. We need more educated cops.

What we DO NOT need is more wars and billionaires cavorting on islands while paying no taxes. We could close one of those loopholes a smidge and the whole project would be funded.

Instead we have a whole generation of dejected men, who yeah, making 100k being a plumber in much of NJ, good luck buying a home and starting a family. What does the wife do? Is she a "trad wife"? Is she permitted a degree? And you wonder why there's problems?

Or here's an idea, instead Wall Street fat cats get one less lunch on Little St. James, both the boy and girl get state college degrees free, earn over 100k, have no debt, think like college grads, explore the world and when they earn enough they afford NJ easy peasy.

What loopholes could you "close a smidge" and fund the whole project? Or are you proposing a Liz Warren wealth tax that would require an annual fair market valuation of the target's, oops taxpayer's, underwear to pay tax on it?
 

Kbe4

Senior
Nov 25, 2025
466
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The whole point of the US as a country is opportunity to ascend the economic ladder.

My great grandfather came here from Italy and mined coal in WV. Then my grandmother was his first and only child to graduate HS. Then my parents dropped out of college after one semester. And then I became the first in my family to graduate college and then get a law degree on top of it.

My parents insisted to me that I get a degree. Their entire lives, not having one set them back. Because they were boomers, they still benefited from real estate costs being correlated to income, but still could have made more with a few hundreds bucks worth extra tuition at CUNY.

Now instead of doing something really fricken easy- make college free- like community college is in TN or all college in New Mexico and much of the developed world- instead it's go be a plumber. Go back to the work your ancestors did so you could avoid it.

IF you meet the standards for a state school, it should be tuition free. Full stop. We need more people with degrees, not less. We need more teachers, more nurses, more doctors, more techies and yes more lawyers too. We need more educated cops.

What we DO NOT need is more wars and billionaires cavorting on islands while paying no taxes. We could close one of those loopholes a smidge and the whole project would be funded.

Instead we have a whole generation of dejected men, who yeah, making 100k being a plumber in much of NJ, good luck buying a home and starting a family. What does the wife do? Is she a "trad wife"? Is she permitted a degree? And you wonder why there's problems?

Or here's an idea, instead Wall Street fat cats get one less lunch on Little St. James, both the boy and girl get state college degrees free, earn over 100k, have no debt, think like college grads, explore the world and when they earn enough they afford NJ easy peasy.
I agree completely. And isn't it so obvious.
The only difference for me is my great grandfather came here from Poland and mined coal in Hazelton, Pa.
 
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RUTGERS95

Heisman
Sep 28, 2005
31,053
44,382
113
The whole point of the US as a country is opportunity to ascend the economic ladder.

My great grandfather came here from Italy and mined coal in WV. Then my grandmother was his first and only child to graduate HS. Then my parents dropped out of college after one semester. And then I became the first in my family to graduate college and then get a law degree on top of it.

My parents insisted to me that I get a degree. Their entire lives, not having one set them back. Because they were boomers, they still benefited from real estate costs being correlated to income, but still could have made more with a few hundreds bucks worth extra tuition at CUNY.

Now instead of doing something really fricken easy- make college free- like community college is in TN or all college in New Mexico and much of the developed world- instead it's go be a plumber. Go back to the work your ancestors did so you could avoid it.

IF you meet the standards for a state school, it should be tuition free. Full stop. We need more people with degrees, not less. We need more teachers, more nurses, more doctors, more techies and yes more lawyers too. We need more educated cops.

What we DO NOT need is more wars and billionaires cavorting on islands while paying no taxes. We could close one of those loopholes a smidge and the whole project would be funded.

Instead we have a whole generation of dejected men, who yeah, making 100k being a plumber in much of NJ, good luck buying a home and starting a family. What does the wife do? Is she a "trad wife"? Is she permitted a degree? And you wonder why there's problems?

Or here's an idea, instead Wall Street fat cats get one less lunch on Little St. James, both the boy and girl get state college degrees free, earn over 100k, have no debt, think like college grads, explore the world and when they earn enough they afford NJ easy peasy.
I agree with much of what you say and general direction with one caveat, college should not be free. The benefits to an educated and driven society would not be met as such an idealistic view would demand instead, you'd burgeoning costs, bloat, and unemployed workforce leading to massive societal issues.
Of all the insane bragging on this board, never once saw "so proud of my son, he never went to college and is a welder!"

Have seen a ton of:

1) my kid is an Ivy Leaguer

2) my kid thought RU campus was ugly so I'm paying for them to go to Coastal Carolina, they're in their 6th year and have an internship at the Fort Myers Motor Inn lined up, we couldn't be prouder and can't wait to move to Southern Shangri La

3) My kid is getting their phD at Oxford and my wife, the rocket scientist, and I, the CEO, need advice on dinner in Gstaad as we visit him via helicopter (and also we can't afford RU concessions and parking)

Funny how the blue collar is for the "others'" children. Never theirs. Frankly, RU is not good enough for many of their kids.
l laughed out loud on this. well played

Clint Eastwood Nod GIF by GritTV
 
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Scarlet4Shore

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Feb 27, 2009
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Or your child could start at a 2 year community college to get all those prerequisites out of the way before transferring to a state school. And if they qualify for the NJ Stars program, those two years will be free.
 

RUskoolie

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Aug 1, 2007
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If my 18 year old told me they wanted to open a restaurant I would give them a good talking to and no way would I give them any money. Most restaurants fail, and I highly doubt they have the knowledge to run one at that age. Same thing with a business - get into a mentorship situation and learn your trade - most 18 year olds are not going to understand the ins and outs. I get your point about college potentially being a waste, but not investing the $ I would have spent on college blindly for my 18 year old to go start a business without any experience. I would tell him I will invest him once he reaches certain benchmarks and can present a solid business plan.
I realize most of you ITT do not understand because you're corporate monkeys and it's not your fault. The education system is designed to make you all good little employees.

If my kids want to open a business you realize there are business coaches all over the place, really good ones?

Who can teach my kid better about business: a business coach who might charge 20k a year and I need them 1-2 years or a professor at Rutgers who never ran a hotdog stand? Or even worse is a retired person from a Fortune 100 country where those principals are not going to translate to a small business owner.

We're both arguing a stupid hypothetical point but the bottom line is college has stopped being worth the ROI for maybe 15-20 years now.
 
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RUskoolie

Hall of Famer
Aug 1, 2007
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The whole point of the US as a country is opportunity to ascend the economic ladder.

My great grandfather came here from Italy and mined coal in WV. Then my grandmother was his first and only child to graduate HS. Then my parents dropped out of college after one semester. And then I became the first in my family to graduate college and then get a law degree on top of it.

My parents insisted to me that I get a degree. Their entire lives, not having one set them back. Because they were boomers, they still benefited from real estate costs being correlated to income, but still could have made more with a few hundreds bucks worth extra tuition at CUNY.

Now instead of doing something really fricken easy- make college free- like community college is in TN or all college in New Mexico and much of the developed world- instead it's go be a plumber. Go back to the work your ancestors did so you could avoid it.

IF you meet the standards for a state school, it should be tuition free. Full stop. We need more people with degrees, not less. We need more teachers, more nurses, more doctors, more techies and yes more lawyers too. We need more educated cops.

What we DO NOT need is more wars and billionaires cavorting on islands while paying no taxes. We could close one of those loopholes a smidge and the whole project would be funded.

Instead we have a whole generation of dejected men, who yeah, making 100k being a plumber in much of NJ, good luck buying a home and starting a family. What does the wife do? Is she a "trad wife"? Is she permitted a degree? And you wonder why there's problems?

Or here's an idea, instead Wall Street fat cats get one less lunch on Little St. James, both the boy and girl get state college degrees free, earn over 100k, have no debt, think like college grads, explore the world and when they earn enough they afford NJ easy peasy.
JFC tell me you have no understanding of basic economics without telling me by saying college should be free...

Indoctrination does not = education and clearly you have yet to grasp that.
 

fsng

Freshman
Oct 31, 2025
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I realize most of you ITT do not understand because you're corporate monkeys and it's not your fault. The education system is designed to make you all good little employees.

If my kids want to open a business you realize there are business coaches all over the place, really good ones?

Who can teach my kid better about business: a business coach who might charge 20k a year and I need them 1-2 years or a professor at Rutgers who never ran a hotdog stand? Or even worse is a retired person from a Fortune 100 country where those principals are not going to translate to a small business owner.

We're both arguing a stupid hypothetical point but the bottom line is college has stopped being worth the ROI for maybe 15-20 years now.

The last paragraph is where you lose it. Don't have to leave this board for plenty of examples that disprove that overgeneralizatiion.
 
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Retired711

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Nov 20, 2001
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Public high school is free, and has been for generations. We've decided as a society that it is so important that kids have a high school education that we're willing to subsidize it for everyone. Maybe we'll reach that point fairly soon for two years of post high school education, whether in an academic or trade program, and whether it's at a four-year college or a community college. It's hard to say.

I don't think everyone should feel that they have to go to college. There are lots of important and valuable things to do with one's life that don't require a college education.
 
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CollegeSenior

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Public high school is free, and has been for generations. We've decided as a society that it is so important that kids have a high school education that we're willing to subsidize it for everyone. Maybe we'll reach that point fairly soon for two years of post high school education, whether in an academic or trade program, and whether it's at a four-year college or a community college. It's hard to say.

I don't think everyone should feel that they have to go to college. There are lots of important and valuable things to do with one's life that don't require a college education.

I have not formed an opinion pro or con as to whether post-HS education should be free but to people who are adamantly opposed to free junior college or college I have a friend who poses this to them. “I agree. Furthermore, eduction beyond 10th grade is pretty unnecessary to get an entry level job. We should charge to attend 11th and 12th grades.”