BIOLA grad details how she graduated debt free

I keep a list because it is entertaining. This is accumulated in a mere 5 years (a limited amount of time as emphasized by Chip)

1- My personal favorite, “I am in a BBQ cooking contest and I have to watch my meat”.

2-Just to keep it real and to shock you into reality, last semester a student sent an email to all of his professors (including me) that he was committing suicide the first day of finals. We contacted police but the deed had already been done.

3-All four of my tires are flat (yes all four).

4- My uncle died.

5- My other uncle died (same person as #4)

6- My boss called me into work.

7-I have to take my girlfriend/boyfriend to the doctor

8- I have to take my girlfriend/boyfriend in for surgery.

9- I was on a really important phone call.

10- My alarm didn’t go off (for a 230pm exam)

11- I was in jail.

12- I was getting a ticket for speeding.

13- My ex-boyfriend keyed my car, tp’d it, and slashed the tires.

14- I was in an accident.

15- I couldn’t find a parking spot (in a school that actually has excess parking…amazing, but you might have to actually walk a little. Not a student favorite.)

16- I have a memory learning disability and I forgot.

17- My son was arrested for attempted murder of his wife. (No joke)

18- I had to testify in court.

19- My financial aid was never approved so I never bought the book (for the first exam 1 month into the class).

20- My textbook was stolen along with my car so I couldn’t study.

21- I have to take my pet to the vet.

I could go on…but I’ll spare you.

There are plenty of upper tier students, they aren’t taking 21 hours and working 50 hours a week though…In a intro sheet the 1st day of class I ask how many hours they are taking and how much they work.

Actually, to take more than 16 hours at our school you have to have the Dean’s permission, and to go over 20 you have to talk to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

I’d say the average student takes 12-15 hours each semester.

Just so you know 20 hours is a LOT and as an advisor I would never sign off on that. It is simply way too many hours. It is a recipe for disaster for mere mortals like myself…but apparently not for the heroes at your college. ;-)

I would expect what you’re describing from 18-19 year olds. I saw some of that when I was at community college years back. Immaturity undoubtedly has a lot to do with it. Some of the excuses you listed I heard from kids in the military, too!

Mark,

Just so you know, full time enrollment was considered 12-16 credits and all class loads had to be approved by advisors who, in my small school, were always professors. I had to get permission from the dean to take the excessive class load too.

You list of excuses was funny - except for number 2. That was very sad. One of my favorites was the student who convinced her parents we required to much memory work and her brain was just too full to take in any more.

Parents Shell Out Less for Kids in College (may be behind pay-wall)

Article has associated graphic:

If I were a new parent with a baby … I would probably start a 529 plan.

The single biggest reason why college has become so expensive is government loans.

More money = higher demand.

More money and higher demand = higher prices.

Colleges have no incentive to keep prices down. Rather than making college more accessible, the government has actually made college less accessible. It used to be reasonable to work your way through college, but that is an increasingly unrealistic option. When I was an undergraduate (beginning in 1989), I could take afternoon classes at the community college for $27 a credit hour, and full-time tuition (which was classified as 12-16 hours) for in-state student at Arizona State University was $800 a semester. I sacrificed greatly to pay $100 a credit for the majority of my classes at the small Christian college I attended, but even at that it was feasible to work my way through school.

That is popular to say, and probably true to a good extent, but also, states (speaking of public schools) are slashing the support they provide to state universities. As a result, state schools have to significantly raise tuition just to preserve what they have! I figure private schools follow suit since they can. Chip, when tuition was that cheap the state heavily supported state schools. They no longer do that.

Also, for 4 years straight the faculty at my school were told all of our potential increase in salary went to cover increased health insurance costs. So, we went without.

No doubt those are also contributing factors. And it is likely to get much worse if even half of the news regarding Obamacare is accurate.

I’m thankful I was able to attend a good Christian university with strong academic standards in the “old days.” I lived at home, and worked my way through school with a morning paper route which was out of the way before my first class at 8:00 am, and a few part-time hours each week at Belk’s department store.

By God’s grace, we were also able to get our four daughters through university without debt by a combination of: 1) a $100/month allowance from my parents, 2) our daughters all working on campus during the school year and at Summer jobs, 3) a couple of small scholarships, and 4) a small college savings fund we established when the children were small which was able to cover whatever numbers 1 through 3 didn’t cover. When it came to graduate school and masters degrees, we told our girls they were on their own, but we would help with room and board and some help with transportation if they would live at home and commute to a state university 35 miles from home. Everyone managed to finish their desired education without debt, and all are doing well, thanks be to God!