I paid for my entire education myself by working nights and weekends and taking side gigs in combination with loans and scholarships. It took me 6 years to complete a 4 year degree because of sheer exhaustion and I did NOT choose the best university I could have attended (that would have been an Ivy) because I didn't have the money to do so and I didn't feel comfortable saddling myself with giant loan debt.
Two questions:
1. What do you think my opportunity cost was, and
2. How much do you think I lost by not pursuing an education at a university worthy of my accomplishments to that point?
You have a very entitled point of view from where I sit.
How am I entitled? All I’m asking for is that the government continues to enforce contract law so that people who made financial decisions under the assumption of continued enforcement of contract law aren’t left holding the bag. That’s not a huge ask. It’s a founding principle of our government.
I think most universities are scams and FWIW I made a point to literally only apply to two schools: UW Madison (in-state) and Minnesota (in-state reciprocity agreement) because I knew I’d get in and I saw what it cost my parents for my siblings to go out of state. I did a semester at a community college, too.
1. Your opportunity cost is debatable. I took 15 years of market return on the lump sum of tuition/boarding/books cost as an example. It would be about the same for you, assuming you spent ~$75k on your education between rent and supplies and food and tuition.
2. I don’t think you lost out on anything meaningful unless it was MIT, Harvard, or Stanford that you would have gone to instead.
Two questions:
1. What do you think my opportunity cost was, and 2. How much do you think I lost by not pursuing an education at a university worthy of my accomplishments to that point?
You have a very entitled point of view from where I sit.