Really OT: TCU Tuition

[Eight]

Seems to me that all this discussion about whether a degree is worth $200,000 or not ignores one fact. The $200,000 pays not just for a degree, but for four years of social delight, good times, fun for the fortunate student. Swimming pools, climbing walls, apartment like dorms, gyms, concerts, athletic events, etc, etc, etc. And I'm not arguing against all this, just observing that it's not just a degree that is bought.

played golf with someone yesterday who worked at smaller texas university. his belief is that it is foollish to spend the money for the first two years of college and students would be better off with a mix of time spent in the community college system and working to get exposure to the world

obviously this is just one person, but it truly has amazed my wife and i at the number of our kids friends who never held a job until after they got out of college

 

[tcudoc]

played golf with someone yesterday who worked at smaller texas university. his belief is that it is foollish to spend the money for the first two years of college and students would be better off with a mix of time spent in the community college system and working to get exposure to the world

obviously this is just one person, but it truly has amazed my wife and i at the number of our kids friends who never held a job until after they got out of college

Yes. That is a bad trend that is so common today. Part of it is the helicopter parenting leading to many teenagers who are not mature or independent enough to venture outside of the safe confines of the parental comfort zones. Very different from when I was growing up where it was expected that almost all high school kids had jobs that expected 20+ hours of commitment.
My experience was typical of kids I grew up with who came from mostly middle class households like I did.
Mowing lawns at 10. Paper route at 12. Shipley’s Donuts busboy, cashier, cook at 14. Restaurant cook at 16. Waiter at 18. Bartender at 19.
We also were allowed to ride our bikes as far as we could get during daylight hours at age 10 and parents never came looking for us unless it was after dark. Football/baseball games in the yard and streets. Crawling through miles of street drainage pipes on adventures. Biking to ride trails in undeveloped woods. Riding 5 miles away to play video games at the Taco Bueno game room. Got a car at 16 and instantly my range increased to the entire Metroplex. I already knew how to drive a stick shift because my dad taught me at age 14.
It was a good time to be a kid. The world seemed to be a much safer place. A kid could be a kid without having the weight of the world on their shoulders about grades. School was less intense, yet I feel like we all still had a great educational experience (or at least the opportunity to have it).
Kids today get a lot dumped on them and the distractions are many. Some grow up not learning how to have face to face communication because they’ve done nothing but text their whole lives. They also have such high expectations to over achieve as parents live vicariously through them. In addition, the world is a much more dangerous place than when I was a kid.
Sorry for the long post. I am waxing nostalgic for the good old days. In so many ways, the world is better now than it was then, but I don’t think kids today have a better childhood than we did as kids in the 70’s and 80’s.
Edit: Plus we would get dropped off at Reunion arena to see the best concerts by the best bands. Six Flags season passes meant we got dropped off as soon as the park opened and picked up at closing time.

 

[HG73]

My family could barely afford TCU in 1977 at $72 per hour.

But TCU was and still is our school.

My dad and older sister went there. Mom went to Phillips (TCU sister school in OK - closed now).

So I worked saved and got Scholarships, grants, and a $500. Loan.

Doable, but tough.

I loved TCU and my 4 years there.

The answer for the modern family is scholarship,money.

We who have gone before must keep TCU affordable for those who want TCU.

I don't want us to be a rich kid only school.

The flavor of student life should be varied by race, economic level, gender, geography, and country.

That is the difference between a small college and a University..

My family couldn't afford $40/hr in 1969.

For all you math challenged folks, that's $600 for a 15 hour semester.

I just wrote a $4500 check to Midwestern State for a 15 hour semester.

 

[Dogfrog]

Yes. That is a bad trend that is so common today. Part of it is the helicopter parenting leading to many teenagers who are not mature or independent enough to venture outside of the safe confines of the parental comfort zones. Very different from when I was growing up where it was expected that almost all high school kids had jobs that expected 20+ hours of commitment.
My experience was typical of kids I grew up with who came from mostly middle class households like I did.
Mowing lawns at 10. Paper route at 12. Shipley’s Donuts busboy, cashier, cook at 14. Restaurant cook at 16. Waiter at 18. Bartender at 19.
We also were allowed to ride our bikes as far as we could get during daylight hours at age 10 and parents never came looking for us unless it was after dark. Football/baseball games in the yard and streets. Crawling through miles of street drainage pipes on adventures. Biking to ride trails in undeveloped woods. Riding 5 miles away to play video games at the Taco Bueno game room. Got a car at 16 and instantly my range increased to the entire Metroplex. I already knew how to drive a stick shift because my dad taught me at age 14.
It was a good time to be a kid. The world seemed to be a much safer place. A kid could be a kid without having the weight of the world on their shoulders about grades. School was less intense, yet I feel like we all still had a great educational experience (or at least the opportunity to have it).
Kids today get a lot dumped on them and the distractions are many. Some grow up not learning how to have face to face communication because they’ve done nothing but text their whole lives. They also have such high expectations to over achieve as parents live vicariously through them. In addition, the world is a much more dangerous place than when I was a kid.
Sorry for the long post. I am waxing nostalgic for the good old days. In so many ways, the world is better now than it was then, but I don’t think kids today have a better childhood than we did as kids in the 70’s and 80’s.
Edit: Plus we would get dropped off at Reunion arena to see the best concerts by the best bands. Six Flags season passes meant we got dropped off as soon as the park opened and picked up at closing time.

We ate dirt and we liked it!
I have the same memories. So many important lifelong lessons learned while playing sports in the neighborhood as kids, mostly how it’s possible to be very competitive and borderline brutal with each other and still be good friends at the end of the day.

 

[OldSchoolFrog]

I am a firm believer that, if you manage to attend a 2 year community college, and do well, you can get in basically anywhere you want and have much reduced student debt. I've seen it first hand. It's the social life that drives the 4 year aspiration IMO. Who really wants to pay $3,000 for a history, english or sociology class when you can get the same for $150? Why, it's the students that want SAE or KKG more than an economical education....

I would argue that it’s the parents who helicopter hover their kids to try and relive their SAE & KKG lives again.... (and others)

 

[Wexahu]

Yes. That is a bad trend that is so common today. Part of it is the helicopter parenting leading to many teenagers who are not mature or independent enough to venture outside of the safe confines of the parental comfort zones. Very different from when I was growing up where it was expected that almost all high school kids had jobs that expected 20+ hours of commitment.
My experience was typical of kids I grew up with who came from mostly middle class households like I did.
Mowing lawns at 10. Paper route at 12. Shipley’s Donuts busboy, cashier, cook at 14. Restaurant cook at 16. Waiter at 18. Bartender at 19.
We also were allowed to ride our bikes as far as we could get during daylight hours at age 10 and parents never came looking for us unless it was after dark. Football/baseball games in the yard and streets. Crawling through miles of street drainage pipes on adventures. Biking to ride trails in undeveloped woods. Riding 5 miles away to play video games at the Taco Bueno game room. Got a car at 16 and instantly my range increased to the entire Metroplex. I already knew how to drive a stick shift because my dad taught me at age 14.
It was a good time to be a kid. The world seemed to be a much safer place. A kid could be a kid without having the weight of the world on their shoulders about grades. School was less intense, yet I feel like we all still had a great educational experience (or at least the opportunity to have it).
Kids today get a lot dumped on them and the distractions are many. Some grow up not learning how to have face to face communication because they’ve done nothing but text their whole lives. They also have such high expectations to over achieve as parents live vicariously through them. In addition, the world is a much more dangerous place than when I was a kid.
Sorry for the long post. I am waxing nostalgic for the good old days. In so many ways, the world is better now than it was then, but I don’t think kids today have a better childhood than we did as kids in the 70’s and 80’s.
Edit: Plus we would get dropped off at Reunion arena to see the best concerts by the best bands. Six Flags season passes meant we got dropped off as soon as the park opened and picked up at closing time.

My years as a kid were similar to yours. Just had a conversation about this when family was in town for Christmas, how no kids seem to run around and just do stuff anymore, everything is supervised. I grew up in a relatively small town though, maybe that is all the difference.

I remember summer days and weekends when I was 8-12 years old waking up and being gone all day just doing whatever with the neighborhood friends, maybe come in for lunch if I wasn't eating at a friends house, be home by dinner, then back outside if anything fun was going on. Those were the good old days.

 

[Dogfrog]

My years as a kid were similar to yours. Just had a conversation about this when family was in town for Christmas, how no kids seem to run around and just do stuff anymore, everything is supervised. I grew up in a relatively small town though, maybe that is all the difference.

I remember summer days and weekends when I was 8-12 years old waking up and being gone all day just doing whatever with the neighborhood friends, maybe come in for lunch if I wasn't eating a friends house, be home by dinner, then back outside if anything fun was going on. Those were the good old days.

I would faintly hear my mom in the distance yelling my name at dinner time, and again late at night when my folks were ready for bed.