For kids preparing for college lucky enough to read these comments, and parents with kids preparing to go to college, consider this advice:
1. Always go in-state public funded college and university, it's much, much cheaper. In-state meaning the state the student is currently a resident.
2. If you must go out of state, make sure the student registers as a state resident after their first year (most states require a year waiting period). This way, you only pay out-of-state tuition for a year. Generally out of state tuitions are 4x or so higher than in-state (it's been a while since I've examined this, so it might be higher or lower).
3. The cheapest path is to get your AA degree at in-state public community college, then your remaining 2 years at university. Not only is this cheaper, but this allows the student two years to decide their major after some realistic exposure to the various fields and what they pay.
4. Never attend private colleges without a scholarship, unless you are wealthy. There are two types of private colleges: old and new. The older colleges like Harvard, etc are expensive but bona fide, then new private colleges like ITT Tech, Trump university, etc are generally scammy schools that spend way more on marketing than education. Stay away from these at all costs, they are traps.
5. Make no mistake, a college education is a huge leg up in the marketplace for jobs. It's no guarantee, but not having one is much, much worse, and will be more so in the future. We live in a service economy, and service jobs require degrees for the most part.
6. If your field requires a Master's or Ph.D to be employed, that is a big red flag, and you should consider another field. This requirement generally means the field is supersaturated with applicants so much that employers can require an advanced degree for hiring and it's very difficult to not only land the first job, but also move to different employers. Remember, you have 40 years of work in your lifetime.
7. Outside of perhaps Ivy League, the college you attend doesn't matter. Employers generally want to check a box that says you've earned a degree in your relevant field and that's it.
You can combine it with point 3: attend community college the first 2 years then transfer. I know at least some CA community colleges let you become an instate student after your first year and even out-of-state tuition at a community college isn't that expensive. In the Bay Area you're likely to pay more in rent than tuition at a community college.
8. Consider studying somewhere with relatively miniscule tuition fees. Parts of Europe, for example. There are universities teaching in English and charging a couple of thousand Euros a term, or even less.
I sometimes think about taking a year or two off to do that just for the fun of it.
1. Always go in-state public funded college and university, it's much, much cheaper. In-state meaning the state the student is currently a resident.
2. If you must go out of state, make sure the student registers as a state resident after their first year (most states require a year waiting period). This way, you only pay out-of-state tuition for a year. Generally out of state tuitions are 4x or so higher than in-state (it's been a while since I've examined this, so it might be higher or lower).
3. The cheapest path is to get your AA degree at in-state public community college, then your remaining 2 years at university. Not only is this cheaper, but this allows the student two years to decide their major after some realistic exposure to the various fields and what they pay.
4. Never attend private colleges without a scholarship, unless you are wealthy. There are two types of private colleges: old and new. The older colleges like Harvard, etc are expensive but bona fide, then new private colleges like ITT Tech, Trump university, etc are generally scammy schools that spend way more on marketing than education. Stay away from these at all costs, they are traps.
5. Make no mistake, a college education is a huge leg up in the marketplace for jobs. It's no guarantee, but not having one is much, much worse, and will be more so in the future. We live in a service economy, and service jobs require degrees for the most part.
6. If your field requires a Master's or Ph.D to be employed, that is a big red flag, and you should consider another field. This requirement generally means the field is supersaturated with applicants so much that employers can require an advanced degree for hiring and it's very difficult to not only land the first job, but also move to different employers. Remember, you have 40 years of work in your lifetime.
7. Outside of perhaps Ivy League, the college you attend doesn't matter. Employers generally want to check a box that says you've earned a degree in your relevant field and that's it.