How much is your tuition?

[Hannah]

The 8k figure includes last terms tuition and books, misc charges, parking (lol?) and refund. The total bill for this term, and it's more expensive because all my classes are online this quarter, is $1738. That's a full time schedule too, the only drawback is going to school in the middle of the mountains. Underneath the pink is a list of my grants and stuff that's none of your business 

$1738. That's less that $600 a month and is covered by one single federal grant. Underneath the pink is that grant, a state grant, military stuff and a loan. Enrollment at my school is through the roof, and I have a friend at Oregon State who says the same thing about her school, which is already a small city in itself. There are more people on campus there than there are in my whole town, lol, this is what the cool kids are doing these days and if you haven't looked into it lately it might be time to think about it. Federal aid applications will be opening back up in a couple weeks, it's just something to think about. $600 a month for a few years nets you:

The report titled "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings" (.pdf) reveals that over an adult's working life, high school graduates can expect, on average, to earn $1.2 million; those with a bachelor's degree, $2.1 million; and people with a master's degree, $2.5 million.

It's a pretty good deal if you can get it, and I think just about everybody can. The state grant is taking cuts, but it's not bankrupt by any means (yet) and I have a feeling when the economy starts turning around we'll see a lot of dropouts, so the job market shouldn't be too horrible after graduation either.

[Silver]

Ooh, that's nice. Hey, how long do you think this'll last? Think I've got a few years before they tighten up/go broke?

[shanetastic]

Mine is 3,500 a quarter and thats just for tuition.  So 10,500 a year :/

Books, rent, food, and everything else of course just adds up

[myles]

Right now I am paying $350ish a class (4 units) at PCC (Portland Community College). Next semester I will be paying closer to what you pay as I will be at Portland State University, applied for financial aid see what I get.
Andrew Myles

[Hannah]

It's pretty standard SilverFang, the funding isn't going anywhere unless the federal government does, in which case we'll be dealing in bottles of water and shotgun shells and not degrees and money. My bill reflects a tuition increase however, and from what I've read it's on the way up all over the country.

My attitude when people start adding expenses like rent and food is pfft, you'd be paying it anyway. I don't understand why everyone doesn't seize the opportunities available. That girl I mentioned up at Oregon State has had her entire life changed by education. She's struggling, because she lived a very closed off, ultra conservative and absurdly religious life and basically had no idea there was any other world out there. Going to school on a vast hippy commune has blown her mind, and really opened her up for a lot of personal growth...I was so proud of her, the other night she was telling me the story of when she told some of her church members that she didn't want to go to heaven if her gay friends weren't going to be allowed in. My god, I cried I was so happy for her 
Any way financially she does alright, she has three kids and no military resources and still doesn't have to work.

$80 a credit isn't bad Myles. State universities are the way to go, lol. $3500 a term would wreck my budget.

[Luc]

Including housing, my cost of attendance at University of Colorado is roughly $21,000 a year. That's in-state. College is pricey, but I still say it's well worth it. However, it would be nice if they'd pay us rather than us paying them... we're not just bettering ourselves, we're bettering society, right?

SD

[Deanna_Renee]

Hmmm... I think I like all of your amounts.

I'm looking at starting on my Masters in January. A twelve month online program is going to cost me $31,000. That is on top of the $120,000+ I have to pay off for my BFA. Gettin' smart ain't cheap these days.

Of course the fact that I have not been able to get a job in nearly a year doesn't help, even with graduating magna cum laude with a BFA. We'll see what the MS brings to the table. Hopefully the economy will recover sufficiently enough during the year I'm in school.

[Hannah]

What's the advantage of doing your masters online, especially if your'e not working? I just insulted someone the other day by implying their degree was from a correspondence course and that's about as hurtful as one can get. To be fair they started it.

Anyway online classes are good for the every now and then change of pace (or when it snows and freezes constantly) but gosh I can't see getting a whole degree that way.

[Deanna_Renee]

Becca,

The program that I wanted to take is offered from a university in Florida and is too far to commute to and don't really want to move to. That and I am still looking to find a job and actually be able to pay bills (I know, crazy notion) and taking an online program would offer me the freedom to study at any time day or night. That and I am now going to be starting HRT and I think it will be easier to deal with not having to face a campus full of people under those conditions (not really a factor, but thought I toss it out anyway).

I do agree that online classes have a different quality to them than the face-to-face interactions of an on-ground program. I think it will be interesting to experience this. It is an Education Media Design and Technology program, so it kind of lends itself pretty well to the online platform and should offer an interesting construct to the curriculum. I'll keep you informed as to how it actually translates.

[Miniar]

uhm... if I keep taking the three classes I've been taking... it's 28.000
Not dollars though, isk.

Which comes out to.... 200$

total

[Valentina]

$27,000 a year.  That's American dollars btw.