<p>I have already paid 3 payments on the 10 payment plan. I had hoped to find a job by now, but that’s not happening. I can’t even get a part time job. I can still sub, but not until September. I will have to pay 2 more payments before I get my next paycheck. Good thing we were able to put some into savings this past year. Sigh …</p>
<p>I hear public school is pretty cheap. 22k for a single semester? That covered me for 2 years.</p>
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<p>Tell me about it. </p>
<p>I couldn’t even think about spenfing 22k for a single semester.</p>
<p>Some people feel they are too good to go to a public school.</p>
<p>I just mailed the next-to-last tuition check yesterday! D graduates next Spring…ye-haw!</p>
<p>OK, insomniatic, that was totally out of line.</p>
<p>kelsmom – You’ve already made three payments on the payment plan? Our first one is due Aug. 5th!</p>
<p>School should be covered, but both Ds better think twice about any 50,000 dollar weddings!! Not happening.</p>
<p>Elopement. Or living room ceremony, followed by tea and cake in the back yard. :)</p>
<p>S has a classmate who will not be returning to college this fall because she is at home undergoing treatment for leukemia. Another classmate was killed in an ATV accident a week after the spring semester ended. </p>
<p>Yes, I am happy to be writing a tuition check!</p>
<p>And Insomniatic & Mr Payne, if everyone applying to college this year only applied to public colleges, the public college’s acceptance rates would drop to a fraction of what it is now… there would be no room for everyone who wanted to attend college and MANY students would be denied any chance to go to college. Different schools meet different needs, and what is right for one student is completely wrong for another.</p>
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There are 600K students in public schools in CA. How many in privates? Regardless, I think we overproduce degrees anyway. Many students go to college and get zero return on investment (in publics society is footing the bill, obviously).</p>
<p>If this is devolving into a debate about private vs public colleges, that is just silly, IMO.</p>
<p>I had two kids who received excellent educations at their state university and one who is currently finishing at a wonderful private liberal arts college. It has been as perfect for her as her brothers’ experiences were for them. Thanks goodness for the availability of both!</p>
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<p>How do you define “return on investment” ?</p>
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The standard financial definition.</p>
<p>Income being the return. Tuition (whether it’s borne by the student or taxpayers) being the cost.</p>
<p>I think our society would be greatly benefitted by simply resorting to IQ tests instead of requiring a college degree for many positions.</p>
<p>I don’t view college as simply a means to a career. If I did, I wouldn’t consider any school other than a public.</p>
<p>We consider college to be a one-time, four-year experience. It’s a unique time in your life to meet new people, interact with those who are experts in your field of interest (professors), to grow as a person and to explore what you want to do with the rest of your life. Not that you don’t grow as a person all the time, but college is a period in your life that can have a positive impact on the next 80 years. I don’t measure the “return” financially.</p>
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<p>This thread was started as a reminder to all of how lucky we are that our kids are healthy and intelligent enough to be in college, and how we should celebrate the fact that our kids have reached this position in life. It was not a thread intended to debate public vs private, or if college is worth the money. If you want to have that discussion, I respectfully suggest you start a new thread on that topic. Of course, I don’t own this thread, so you can do what you want.</p>
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Sorry, I thought you were complaining about the cost.</p>
<p>Dear Mr Pain, You have ruined a perfectly good day of a proud mother. Perhaps you can be more considerate next time.</p>
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<p>Nope, not seeing any complaint there! (Kudos to you, Lafalum, and your family.)</p>
<p>Two of S’s best friends were in a tragic car accident less than a week ago. One died at the scene. The other was airlifted to the hosp. with serious brain injury where he remains today in a coma. </p>
<p>S was in his truck following them (coming home from the mall) because he had arrived at the friend’s house to late to catch a ride with them. The boys were speeding, ran off the road, flipped the car and were thrown out. S saw the whole thing happen right in front of him. He called 911 and waited helplessly (and alone) while his friends lay dead and critically injured right in front of him. </p>
<p>S and 7 other boys were a pall bearers for their friend when they laid him to rest last Fri. The boy in the hosp. was to have left for Orientation the morning following the wreck. Now he may never get the chance. It has been an awful week.</p>
<p>I put S’s Fall semester payment in the mail yesterday. It’s a state school but still a lot of money for us and I was never so happy to send off money in my life. He leaves three weeks from Saturday. Hug your kids and count your blessings.</p>
<p>Packmom, I am so sorry for this tragedy and for the families involved and your son going through this. But you are absolutely correct: we all have much to be thankful for.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh Packmom… thank heavens your son “missed” the ride! How awful for everyone involved and the families. Every time I hear one of these stories I think, “There but for the grace of God…”</p>
<p>It’s probably good that your son has a couple more weeks at home with you and hopefully he’s the kind of kid who feels comfortable opening up to you, as I’m sure he has a lot of feelings to process. What trauma for your S, but what a life lesson as well. He’ll probably always wear his seatbelt now, and he’s had a big dose of “perspective” as well before heading off to college. </p>
<p>Best wishes to all of you.</p>
<p>That sent shivers up my spine, Packmom. Thank God your son missed the ride and was traveling alone, although witnessing such a tragedy must have been awful.</p>
<p>I will hold your son, and the families of his friends, in the light as they endure this difficult time. And in the meantime, I will count all my blessings, including writing the tuition check, which is upcoming.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder of how precious life is, and how quickly things can turn.</p>
<p>Oh, Packmom–I am sooo sorry. How utterly tragic. Those poor families. And your son, how terrible he must feel. Please know a lot of prayers and concern are coming toward all the families involved.</p>