The 13 Hidden College Expenses

[longknife]

By Suzanna de BacaNov. 16, 20121

With rising tuition rates, the cost of attending college might be more than what many students and parents anticipated when they began saving for a college education. But, for many families tuition is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many expenses that come along with being (or being the parent of) a college student can add up and cost much more than anticipated.

Read more: The 13 Hidden College Expenses | TIME.com

 

[Samson]

This was my favorite on the list of "Hidden Expenses"

Getting involved: Learning experiences outside the classroom are an important part of college, but clubs, intramural sports and memberships may cost money and require the purchase of t-shirts or member memorabilia. As you or your student explores activities, think about what’s most important and consider the varying costs.

How about the "learning experiences outside the classroom" gained through getting a fucking job?

 

[waltky]

Nearly half of college-educated Americans overqualified for their jobs...

Study: Nearly half are overqualified for their jobs
January 28, 2013 - Many with degrees will end up as janitors, the study's author says; Others argue that high-value jobs go begging; People with college degrees still earn more, Census data show

Nearly half of working Americans with college degrees are in jobs for which they're overqualified, a new study out Monday suggests. The study, released by the non-profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity, says the trend is likely to continue for newly minted college graduates over the next decade. "It is almost the new normal," says lead author Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economist and founder of the center, based in Washington. The number of Americans whose highest academic degree was a bachelor's grew 25% to 41 million from 2002 to 2012, statistics released last week from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The number with associate's degrees increased 31%, while the number of Americans for whom the highest level of education attainment was a master's or doctorate degree grew fastest of all — 45% and 43%, respectively. Earnings in 2011 averaged $59,415 for people with any earnings ages 25 and older whose highest degree was a bachelor's degree, and $32,493 for people with a high school diploma but no college, the Census data show. Vedder, whose study is based on 2010 Labor Department data, says the problem is the stock of college graduates in the workforce (41.7 million) in 2010 was larger than the number of jobs requiring a college degree (28.6 million).

That, he says, helps explain why 15% of taxi drivers in 2010 had bachelor's degrees vs. 1% in 1970. Among retail sales clerks, 25% had a bachelor's degree in 2010. Less than 5% did in 1970. "There are going to be an awful lot of disappointed people because a lot of them are going to end up as janitors," Vedder says. In 2010, 5% of janitors, 115,520 workers, had bachelor's degrees, his data show. Matt Moberg, who provides training for the Cleaning Management Institute in Latham, N.Y., says the percentage of degree-holding janitors was probably smaller before the recession, but those with four-year degrees likely are business owners or workers in online degree programs.

Vedder's findings are at odds with a report released last week by a pro-business public policy organization that seeks to boost financial aid for low-income students. "Right now you can look around the world and you can see a lot of high-tech, high-value high-productivity jobs that we are not doing in this country, in part because our country does not have the requisite skills," says Joe Minarik, of the Washington-based Committee for Economic Development. Foregoing college "is not what we should aspire to."

Source

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Hmmm..... Let's look at those:

Books and media: This is unfortunately true. The cost of textbooks are ridiculous. I can say that I try to be aware of textbook cost when I pick books for my students to use, but even then it's hard to avoid. One cheaper option here is to go for the ebook instead of the physical text whenever possible. This is usually an option for the service courses.

Class and parking fees: Parking fees can be ducked by encouraging your kids to not have a car on campus. That means your student would be limited to job opportunities on campus if they need cash and has the advantage they'll take their studies more seriously. A lot of students get caught in the vicious cycle of "I need a job to pay for my car to get to my job...". Class fees are also an issue because as states have cut off funding for the public universities, the universities have found potential tuition increases to balance out the cuts mired in red tape. Classroom fees have become a backdoor way to hike tuition by asking the students to pay for classroom costs previously covered by tuition.

Having fun: The solution here is to study more.

Fraternities and sororities: Choose a school without a greek system, or if you can't afford it, don't let your kids join.

Getting involved: This is more tricky than it sounds. Campus involvement is typically a plus for building a resume for life after college, but many of the organizations that look good on a job resume shouldn't have the kind of costs that they're talking about in the article.

Furnishings: Goodwill.

Electronics: Ok, laptops have become an essential go to item for college students. Past that, there isn't a lot of items in this category that a modern student absolutely has to have. In addition, many campuses offer discounts on computers and software, so this cost can be brought down.

Cable TV: I grew up without cable. They can too.

Wardrobe: Goodwill. Outside the greek system college students are notorious for making cheap chic. The one exception here is that it is a good idea to buy your son a good suit and your daughter a business formal outfit. It's good to have for interviews on campus and off. Going off to college was the first time in my life I ever owned a suit.

Mobile-phone service: This is something you'd have tackled prior to college. You just extend your high school plan for your children into college when possible.

Food and beverage: This is a fairly ridiculous thing to list. College students have been getting by on dirt cheap food for years. It's just how it is.

Travel: This is a serious hidden expense. If your child goes to a school far removed from home you're looking at plan tickets at least twice a year, more if you want to see them at Christmas or Thanksgiving. There's something to be said for going close to home if possible.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Nearly half of college-educated Americans overqualified for their jobs...

Study: Nearly half are overqualified for their jobs
January 28, 2013 - Many with degrees will end up as janitors, the study's author says; Others argue that high-value jobs go begging; People with college degrees still earn more, Census data show

Nearly half of working Americans with college degrees are in jobs for which they're overqualified, a new study out Monday suggests. The study, released by the non-profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity, says the trend is likely to continue for newly minted college graduates over the next decade. "It is almost the new normal," says lead author Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economist and founder of the center, based in Washington. The number of Americans whose highest academic degree was a bachelor's grew 25% to 41 million from 2002 to 2012, statistics released last week from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The number with associate's degrees increased 31%, while the number of Americans for whom the highest level of education attainment was a master's or doctorate degree grew fastest of all — 45% and 43%, respectively. Earnings in 2011 averaged $59,415 for people with any earnings ages 25 and older whose highest degree was a bachelor's degree, and $32,493 for people with a high school diploma but no college, the Census data show. Vedder, whose study is based on 2010 Labor Department data, says the problem is the stock of college graduates in the workforce (41.7 million) in 2010 was larger than the number of jobs requiring a college degree (28.6 million).

That, he says, helps explain why 15% of taxi drivers in 2010 had bachelor's degrees vs. 1% in 1970. Among retail sales clerks, 25% had a bachelor's degree in 2010. Less than 5% did in 1970. "There are going to be an awful lot of disappointed people because a lot of them are going to end up as janitors," Vedder says. In 2010, 5% of janitors, 115,520 workers, had bachelor's degrees, his data show. Matt Moberg, who provides training for the Cleaning Management Institute in Latham, N.Y., says the percentage of degree-holding janitors was probably smaller before the recession, but those with four-year degrees likely are business owners or workers in online degree programs.

Vedder's findings are at odds with a report released last week by a pro-business public policy organization that seeks to boost financial aid for low-income students. "Right now you can look around the world and you can see a lot of high-tech, high-value high-productivity jobs that we are not doing in this country, in part because our country does not have the requisite skills," says Joe Minarik, of the Washington-based Committee for Economic Development. Foregoing college "is not what we should aspire to."

Source

There's an odd dynamic in play here. As more people have college degrees, that means more people are competing for the same jobs. Those that lose out are faced with getting more education to better compete, or taking a job beneath their educational level.

That means more overqualified workers and more workers with graduate degrees, pushing the problem up the chain.

I fully expect that by the time my son goes to college for a student to need a Master's Degree to have a decent chance of getting a job.

 

[aplcr0331]

I fully expect that by the time my son goes to college for a student to need a Master's Degree to have a decent chance of getting a job.

Many would argue that the time is already here.

 

[TheOldSchool]

I'm a college graduate and I'm about to finish my masters.

That being said, FUCK college. That is a system that needs to be REFORMED even more than the GOVERNMENT!

And that's saying something.