College bound?
Some ugly facts:
1. My alma mater now costs two-and-a-half times more than it did my freshman year (1987). Annual tuition plus room and board is $44,160. Cripes.
2. At the local state university, the cost of room and board is more than that for tuition and fees, $8,000 vs. $5,985. (Guess who’s living at home if she chooses to attend the local state university?)
3. By the time my daughters are eligible to enter the local state university, we need to have amassed a pile of savings totaling $111,747, assuming an average inflation rate of 5.94% for college costs which may be on the low side. If they choose my alma matter, bump that savings account up to $704,959. (Holy shit. Guess who’ll need lots of financial aid if she chooses my alma mater?)
4. Undergraduate degree programs ain’t what they used to be, mostly because the students who enter them ain’t what they used to be. There’s a mad consumerist attitude amongst today’s college students, and who can blame them? They are laying out serious cash. How can you lose yourself in the life of the mind while forking over $44,000 a year? How’s an art history major ever going to earn that money back? It’s crazy.
I am alarmed but not totally hopeless. Somehow this will all work out. If you have kids who might go to college someday, and the trend is up in that regard (because everyone knows that a high school education isn’t what it used to be), then you should start saving right now. Look into starting a 529 plan. And have a nice day.