re: #76 sattv4u2

In-state tuitions are (relatively) inexpensive. My son, for instance, is a high school junior going to a private High School. He has his eye on Georgia Tech (amogst others) and had the grades for it. Without any scholarships/ grants he may get, his tuition for Ga. Tech will be LESS than what I am now paying for his high school!

Well, you’re right up to a point. First of all, the fact that college costs less than a private high school doesn’t mean it’s cheap - a lot of people can’t afford a private high school either.

It also varies by state - it looks as if a full-time in-state student at Ga. Tech is going to be paying ~$4,300 in tuition and fees for the fall term in 2010. Based on a 2-term system, which most students will be using, this will be ~$8,600 a term (ignoring the possible mid-year increase which many colleges are now using as a way of hiding their tuition hikes).

Room and board also varies, a good rule of thumb is that it is often in line with tuition and fees. Let’s put it on the low side and say that total cost at Ga. Tech is going to be in the region of $16K a year, before financial aid.

Those are similar figures to flagship institutions in quite a few states, and for a lot of middle class people there will not be a whole lot of need-based aid. Nor, thanks to the economic policies of the last 30 years, do many middle class people have a spare $16K per year, per child, to spend on college.

Hence $50K in debt. And that’s before Georgia cuts its education budget because WE CAN’T RAISE TAXES EVER OR INCREASE THE DEFICIT IN A RECESSION THAT WOULD BE SOCIALISM:

www2.wsav.com

Happy trails.