[–] individualin1984 ago
Mine was back in the late 80's early 90s. So it was worked 30+ hours from age 16 through college. Took a year off after high school worked full time then joined the reserves. Reserve GI bill + 30 hours per week while in school. Full time during summer. Filled in remaining with small loans. Was activated for first gulf war saved hazardous duty pay. Then I got into an engineering job last year and worked full time and finished up last year part time over 2 years. Paid off the remainder of loans soon after college.
Long time ago so I was able to work part time and pay as I went (at a Cal State), plus I lived at home with my parents. But the weird part was I had an economics prof who was not a lot older than me that said he did the same thing, but a semester's tuition and books was less than a C-Note.
[–] ConceptualMan [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Yeah, i heard from someone who went to college in the 80s and they said they were able to work part time for pizza hut and pay, with left over spending money. That still seems crazy to me.
[–] 10419523? 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
That was before government was so involved in paying for it and drove prices up so high.. And notice people lived at home with their parents. Most kids today see it as a rite of passage to live on campus. That easily doubles the cost of attendance, not even counting the travel and such required and the fact that it becomes really hard to get even a part time job if they know you will be going home in 4 months.
The prof had a good story about utility. He had gone to an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet as a starving student and reported the first couple of slices had a lot of utility. By the eighth slice utility was a lot closer to zero. By the twelfth slice utility went negative since he threw it all up at that point.
[–] tjkac ago
The first time I went was in the mid 90s. I used student loans, but it was only about $1500 a semester then. Of course, I was living at home with my parents during that time as well, so I didn't have the expense of staying on campus. The second time I went, was in the early 2000s. I used student loans once again. It was considerably more than the $1500 a semester, but still not ridiculous. Finally, I went to law school in 2008. I have student loans out the wazoo now. I was working full time during the last two stints. I made way too much money to get grants, although not enough to pay cash, and there are no scholarships for white guys trying to get an education.
However, for somebody starting out now trying to get their undergrad degree, I always recommend to people that they go to community college for the first two years. It is so much cheaper and more convenient. Almost all the classes will transfer to a 4 year University. Plus, the community college seems to have a much more flexible schedule for classes. One can usually work while attending to help with expenses. Then when the two years are up, transfer to where ever it is you want to get your degree from. That way you are only paying the ridiculous prices for 2 years instead of 4.