Art Institute commercials

[Roger]

So the Art Institute is running a commercial where they say you can earn a grant for 20% of your tuition when you successfully complete 12 credits. The grant is for $18k, which sounds great, until you realize that means the full tuition is something like $90k.

 

That's not a student loan, that's practically a mortgage.

[robcat2075]

Damn... when i took some classes there it was like $18K for a complete program and I thought that was crazy high.

 

$90K would have been medical school tuition not too long ago.

 

 

 

[Roger]

Father Guido Sarducci always makes me laugh.

 

As far as tuition goes, I think the average med school or law school program is something like $200k now. Not sure if that includes undergrad (probably not).

 

At least with those professions you have a hope of paying it back. Although there is a glut of lawyers right now.

[John Bigboote]

I feel bad for parents. My folks had 6 kids, they helped the 1st 3 with college, the rest got 'good luck'. I was 4 of 6... 'good luck'. When I told them I was going into animation, they were assured they had made the right decision.

[robcat2075]

 

I feel bad for parents.

 

 

Wanna hear crazy? Wanna hear insane? Wanna hear totally batsh*t nuts?

 

My dad put my brother and sister through college completely but after the my first two years at college he takes me down to the Savings & Loan and has me sign the papers to borrow the remainder for the last two years.

 

OK, so maybe he was out of money?

 

No! Years later I find out he's donated several times more to that college than my entire tuition cost and always had enough money to pay it.

[Fuchur]

I'd say he wanted to teach you the value of your education?

[Roger]

 

 

I feel bad for parents.

 

 

Wanna hear crazy? Wanna hear insane? Wanna hear totally batsh*t nuts?

 

My dad put my brother and sister through college completely but after the my first two years at college he takes me down to the Savings & Loan and has me sign the papers to borrow the remainder for the last two years.

 

OK, so maybe he was out of money?

 

No! Years later I find out he's donated several times more to that college than my entire tuition cost and always had enough money to pay it.

 

 

If he could comfortably afford it, that does seem odd. Maybe he wanted you to have "skin" in the game, as they say? But that doesn't explain why he would foot the full bill for your two siblings. Parents do strange things sometimes.

 

If/when I have kids, based on my current income level, I can swing 2 years at the community college, after that they are on their own. I would probably still help out with books/care packages, though. Just not tuition. Current tuition at my local state schools is up around $25k-$30k a year now, for tuition and room & board. Tuition just by itself is I think $10-$12k, but you still have to pay rent and eat, you can't just hang out on campus and couch surf (well maybe you could, if you were motivated enough).

[robcat2075]

When I came to Texas after college, back when the other party ran this state, you could go to U of North Texas for $4 a credit hour.

[Roger]

So a 16 hour credit load would only be $64 per semester? Wow. What about room and board? $4 per credit hour seems awfully low. Like, unbelievably low. I think even the community college near me charges something like $3k per year for a 2 year degree (no clue what that works out to in per credit hour rates...$100 per credit hour maybe?).

[robcat2075]

The $4 was for tuition. There were other fees charged per semester and for some special courses (laboratory courses, music lessons , etc.) but it wasn't crazy money. you could do a full-time semester for maybe $200-$300.

 

Room and Board, if you wanted to live on campus, was more like regular living costs but if you didn't want to rent an apartment and cook your own meals it was a reasonable alternative.

 

That was back in the 80s.

 

The tuition at UNT today is $240 per hour plus fees.

[fae_alba]

My daughter completed a fine arts degree at Green Mountain College in Vermont some years ago. Still paying the loans back, to the tune of roughly $70k, and that's with some fairly decent scholarships and grants.

 

You think she is doing anything with that degree? Nope. She is working for the Y as a daycare teacher earning just barely above min. wage.

[Rodney]

My daughter completed a fine arts degree at Green Mountain College in Vermont some years ago. Still paying the loans back, to the tune of roughly $70k, and that's with some fairly decent scholarships and grants.

You think she is doing anything with that degree? Nope. She is working for the Y as a daycare teacher earning just barely above min. wage.

 

I've been debating taking classes in Spring semester but after my last few classes I think I'd rather take a hammer and smash it repeatedly upon my hand.

It's not that the schools aren't trying... it's not that the teachers aren't doing the best that they can... but the frustration factor of sitting through courses where most of what I learn I could just as easily learn via the internet was a painful experience I'd prefer not to repeat. It's pretty sad when the primary reason to attend classes would be to gain (or retain) access to discounted software.

 

This isn't anything new and the secondary reason for attending classes still appears... after all these years... to be 'networking' but that can be accomplished elsewhere as well.

The primary reason? That'd be to get that certificate, diploma or degree that suggests you had enough wherewithal to get there.

 

Forums like ours are great for learning but there are a lot of hidden costs associated.

One is that once one 'graduates' from a forum the tendency is to move on to more challenging circumstances.

This movement of people can create a void of experience that the next generation needs to interact with.

But this too is an age old problem that even colleges and universities must deal with on a recurring basis.

And ultimately, everyone is learning themselves.

 

I really should be taking classes because I have a bunch of them pre-paid, but I'm not a fan of taking classes for no reason and I've never been one to chase after a degree.

Which... no doubt goes a long way in explaining the low sum of money I bring in these days.

[robcat2075]

When I was taking classes at the Art Institute, I found the ones about traditional art concepts like figure drawing and design to be useful and informative but the ones about software to be useful. Those were nothing that one couldn't not learn by doing the tuts in the manual. Perhaps they were catering to the students who did not read manuals.

 

Paul, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's situation. That's too much money to have as a debt. Unfortunately defaulting on school loans is just about impossible.

[Rodney]

Those were nothing that one couldn't not learn by doing the tuts in the manual.

 

Not to wander too far afield but this was a major source of frustration for me as two of the classes I took ran afoul of textbooks that were outdated that worked against the latest software upgrades. The school tried to bridge this gap with handouts that explained the difference but it only enhanced the 'blind leading the blind' scenario. The step by step nature of the textbooks suffered tremendously because of this and the fact that textbooks tend to run several years behind the power curve already certainly didn't help either.

 

But... the most frustrating class I took was an online class where I felt like I had stepped into a cardboard box painted black with no one allowed to talk or share information with one another. I started out gung-ho enough posting and such but the resounding echo of silence soon put me in my place. I dropped that class and paid the tuition out of pocket for my mistake making the whole experience painful and costly as well. At any rate it should be apparent that I'm not a fan of courses that point you to a manual and leave your grade resting on that. That could be accomplished just as easily without the course and without the (largely) arbitrary grade.

 

Now, some might disagree and suggest that the skill of being able to independently pick up a text and follow its directions precisely (step by step) is a very good thing and to a point I would agree. But these are situations where surprises are to be avoided and the outcome repeatable and always the same. While useful for critical processes and factory work it also works against the artistic and lively nature of learning itself. Although I do understand the requirement of most institutions to pin a grade to results (as the primary means of feedback unfortunately) via an official stamp of approval (or disapproval) upon reaching interim and final stages.

 

It has been over 50 years since Edward Deming railed against the machine and yet it would appear the formal education system is still too entrenched to change.

It's not difficult to break down what was gained by the money spent ($70K or otherwise) but the primary thing appears to be mere exposure which is something that need not cost but a few pennies.