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Actually the degree costs about $45,000 per year - room and board, books and what passes for a student budget for spending.

Lest anyone think this is outrageous, these are quite normal college costs, and pretty typical of 4 year full time degree granting institutions. Think state universities are a whole lot cheaper. Look at University of California, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, UNC, etc. You might knock $10,000 off that if you are in state.

A 4 year degree costs $120K - $200K these days. The mortgage on that is $1200 per month.

The problem is that the Federal government inflates costs by making the money available to pay for it. The market goes for it, and you have to pay market price or do without, and you are on the horns of dilemma if you are chasing the American dream.

Wow, reading these posts, I need to call my parents and thank them for instilling fiscal responsibility into my nature. They sacrificed a lot to send me to private schools most of my life, but before college, they set me down and outlined the value of the degree and how they would help, after I paid the first semester myself..

You might knock $10,000 off that if you are in state.

Or an illegal immigrant in some states. The courts should strike down this discrepancy for "in-state/out of state" tuition where the "third way" exception exists. It is nothing more than selective discrimination.

A 4 year degree costs $120K - $200K these days. The mortgage on that is $1200 per month.

Then, if you're paying the costs yourself (either as you go, daddy's wallet, or student loans) then you damn well better be studying something that pays off.

The state paid for me to get a two year degree in network administration that is practically worthless. I should have gone for the nursing program, instead.

There's a plus to the University of Virginia that you didn't mention: they have a very large endowment. Financial aid is centered around the AccessUVA program, which replaces loans with grants for students whose families have annual incomes of $40K or less. In addition, I could not find another major University in the Mid-Atlantic area that met 100% of demonstrated need for every student who applied for financial aid.

That said, I can only surmise that the young lady in the story did not finish school (explains her salary) and borrowed far too much in private loans (which have no interest rate cap, except for bankruptcy purposes, they are treated essentially the same as federal loans, i.e., you can not default on them).

Basically, with a private loan, you are at the complete mercy of the lender. Advice for other Freepers is to make sure the only loans your families take out are Federal Student Loans through FFEL or Direct (whichever program the school supports) with capped interest rates.

Actually the degree costs about $45,000 per year - room and board, books and what passes for a student budget for spending.

So far we have gotten by for a lot less, even with our kids in private and/or out of state schools. If our kids had or would attend an in state public university it would be even less. So far, three out of four have gone out of state, but they do have academic scholarships and take some loans.