[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

I went to a state school, graduated almost 30 years ago and started in public accounting. We all made the same money to start. I bought my first house 6 months after graduating and my mortgage was less than many classmates school loans. Promotions and opportunities after starting had 0 to do with where our degrees came from. Many with very expensive private school degrees washed out in the first year because they didn't have the grit it took to work their butts off, didn't have the social skills to relate to people or simply didn't have common sense.

My kids are both at state schools and doing great. My daughter is a grad student in one of the top 5 social work programs in the country, son will graduate in a few weeks and has been top of his Army ROTC brigade through school. He heads to infantry BOLC in November. They have been financially responsible and spent way less than what I saved for their schooling by paying their own way through scholarships and/or working all through school. Whatever is left is theirs (minus my IRS penalties) when they are done with school.

IMHO spending a ton of dough on a 4 year degree in most cases is a waste.

Read this, then read it again. You know what will be the single biggest benefit to your kid getting a good job someday? Experience in her field in the form of an internship or part-time job. With a mediocre GPA from Wichita State University I was worth more than an MIT grad because I had already been working for two years in my field. Very few career fields care where you graduate from, and even fewer will pay more for a "prestigious" degree. Further, after a few years of experience most employers won't care about your Alma-mater or GPA, only that you have a degree.

My kids will attend an in-state public university, unless they get a full scholarship elsewhere. They will take as many courses through a community college as possible that are applicable and transferable to their chosen field of study. And they will have a plan, none of this going to college to "find themselves". I found myself after dropping out of college and working in the real world for a few years, THAT is how you learn about life. I agree with Todd's post above, a non-motivated college student would be far better served playing in a band for a few years than taking BS gen-ed courses and living off of mommy and daddy.