how did you pay for College?

[KitKatMatt]

KitKat ... talk to your insurance rep because with 0 income I believe you will qualify for medicaid at no cost and you don't have to wait until the end of the year because you will have a "change of life" when you stop working so can get the different insurance mid-year. I would start talking now so that you already have the facts when it is time and it is one less thing to deal with at the time.

Some colleges also offer discounted plans to students at their school. Ask in the counseling office about this.

Thank you for the information!

 

[blackribbon]

If you have a major in the hard sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, then your classes in your major start at latest second quarter. That was my case in Physics, but that was only because you needed the math to do the physics, so majors math classes started the first day.

...but you can take classes at both the university and the community college at the same time... but honestly, the freshman and sophomore science classes at the community college were of the same quality as the 4 year university. I took a biology class once for giggles and grins after I graduated the first time at the community college and got a professor who also taught at Rice University which is commonly considered to be the same quality of school as Ivy Leagues without being out east. Freshman math is freshman math...just make sure you get the course that is considered "equivalent"... so you need the calculus for math majors and not the "college algebra" that is taken by the liberal arts majors...

 

[sundewgrower]

I am personally paying for it all on my own.
I've tested out of two years of college with various accredited tests when I was 17-19 years old for next to nothing. You can pay hardly anything for the tests, and get real credit but you must check with the places you wish to study at. If online colleges can work, check out Excelsior, and Thomas Edison while confusing on CLEP, DSST, and other ACE accredited tests.
Past that I am personally going to go through a PLA or Prior Learning Assessment course.. Basically, I'd find a decent university that'll take the most transfer credits, and try to do it the cheapest you can.

Work and study don't mix too well for me, I just invest a whole day but not try to mix within a single day. I'm currently doomed in some respects since I must run a business to pay for college. But that same business might give me up to a year of college credit. So I'm not certain.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Paid for CC out of pocket, taking out loans for the remaining two years of my BA and whatever graduate work I do. I'm eligible for some financial aid, which I'll graciously accept, but the hoops you have to jump through for some of it almost isn't worth it. I'd rather just take out a loan or two to fund the cost.

I don't mind going into debt for education at all, it's one of the best things a human being can do with their lives.

But I digress...

 

[SnowyMacie]

My parents are covering it all. I am very thankful for that.

We don;t pay here in Scotland, Education is Free for everyone to access not just the rich or middle class

University is free in Sweden. I am in the US, for a year, on an exchange programme, that does cost money. I received, a scholarship, for all of it, including the airfare. This was great luck. I do still have to pay for the language courses I'm taking at the university, but, they are not so expensive.

AS IT SHOULD BE. Tuition, room and board (if living on campus), books, and meals (through campus dinining) should be free. Things like exchange programs, I'm alright not being free.

Is it possible/easy to study part time in college in US? Or is it same prize that way? I mean, that way person could work part time and study part time at same time, at least in theory

In the sense of time management? Absolutely, most people I knew in college worked part time. In the sense of working part time or even full time so you don't have to take out any loans? No, it's not possible, unless you don't want to go school full-time or take much longer to graduate. It was possible at one time, but not anymore.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Paid for CC out of pocket, taking out loans for the remaining two years of my BA and whatever graduate work I do. I'm eligible for some financial aid, which I'll graciously accept, but the hoops you have to jump through for some of it almost isn't worth it. I'd rather just take out a loan or two to fund the cost.

I don't mind going into debt for education at all, it's one of the best things a human being can do with their lives.

Personally, I think higher education should be free. Then again, I also think the U.S. should have free health care, and most Americans fear anything non-Capitalist like it's the plague.

 

[KitKatMatt]

Personally, I think higher education should be free. Then again, I also think the U.S. should have free health care, and most Americans fear anything non-Capitalist like it's the plague.

But if it's free, people might use it!!!

 

[Gnarwhal]

Personally, I think higher education should be free. Then again, I also think the U.S. should have free health care, and most Americans fear anything non-Capitalist like it's the plague.

Oh I do too. I'm just saying that I place such a high value on higher education that I'm willing to go into debt for it. Personally, I think it should be both free and mandatory. I mean, we look at how enlightened Europe is compared to America, our country could afford to make a lot of progress if a higher percentage of our population was properly educated.

 

[blackribbon]

Free. It is never free. In countries where students don't have to pay to attend, it is paid for by taxing the rest of the citizens. Nothing is free.

If we did decided to make it free by taxing everyone at a higher rate, (actually why community colleges cost less because they are subsidized) will the student body really focus on getting an education or just goof off because it is free. I'd look at how much effort the average high schooler puts into make the most of his/her free years of school and say, I don't think I want to pay more taxes for that.

 

[blackribbon]

Oh I do too. I'm just saying that I place such a high value on higher education that I'm willing to go into debt for it. Personally, I think it should be both free and mandatory. I mean, we look at how enlightened Europe is compared to America, our country could afford to make a lot of progress if a higher percentage of our population was properly educated.

I have witnessed a lot of that "enlightenment" in their treatment of their Jewish citizens this past year....no thank you.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Danes pay something like 60% in taxes, but health care and education is free and women get 52 weeks of maternity leave - full pay. Statistically they're one of the happiest, if not the happiest countries in the world.

If 60% taxation leads to that kind of cultural and societal cohesion, I'm all for it.

I have witnessed a lot of that "enlightenment" in their treatment of their Jewish citizens this past year....no thank you.

And it's way worse than our treatment of ethnic minorities here in the U.S. huh?

/sarcasm

As far as I'm concerned, the Scandinavian countries have it figured out.

 

[blackribbon]

Personally, I think higher education should be free. Then again, I also think the U.S. should have free health care, and most Americans fear anything non-Capitalist like it's the plague.

"Free" always comes with a price. Someone has to pay. I know that health care is "free" in England but I had a friend who said that many still buy health insurance because they don't want to go to the "free" doctors. I looked into the "free" program in Canada when my husband had cancer and someone was talking about how great it was. The person I was talking to had to wait 6 months for the scan my husband got in days. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she probably would be dead if she waited that long for that diagnostic scan. My husband had the scan and surgery within a week because that form of cancer was extremely aggressive.

In Netherlands, the lowest tax rate appears to be 37%...and that is for the lowest income earners. In the US, the lowest income earners don't pay taxes and if they earn any money, many get money from the government in the form of "earned income credit".

I have a very middle class income and paid minimal taxes (no federal, just state and city) this year beyond the fine for not buying health insurance (federal). I couldn't afford to pay several hundred dollars a month for insurance and still be able to cash pay for any treatments we needed because we would never reach the deductibles. I now have a job which provides affordable insurance and reasonable deductibles.

 

[blackribbon]

Danes pay something like 60% in taxes, but health care and education is free and women get 52 weeks of maternity leave - full pay. Statistically they're one of the happiest, if not the happiest countries in the world.

If 60% taxation leads to that kind of cultural and societal cohesion, I'm all for it.



And it's way worse than our treatment of ethnic minorities here in the U.S. huh?

/sarcasm

As far as I'm concerned, the Scandinavian countries have it figured out.

How big is Denmark? It is much easier to establish that kind of cohesion in smaller populations. I think a socialist society might even work in a community no bigger than a very small town but it gets harder and harder as the group grows bigger.

And yes, the treatment of the Jews this year in Europe has been a lot worse than our treatment of any minorities in the US this past year. And worse yet, the governments are supporting it.

I haven't had a baby nor needed health care beyond a few hundred dollars in years....no, I don't think I'd be happy giving 60% of my income back in taxes. I also don't see people trying to move to those countries in droves, so there must be a reason.

 

[sundewgrower]

I can see that not everything is for everyone and I tend to side that free isn't the best in several cases... Some practices won't work elsewhere. Every country's system is different and usually works best for their culture, but not always, and everything has it's own exceptions. Having more money to decide what you'd like to do in your life can be rather nice. But also having things cheap, easier, and more planned can also be suitable but isn't for me since you have less freedom.

 

[KitKatMatt]

The person I was talking to had to wait 6 months for the scan my husband got in days.

The wait time in the US is all over the place, so I wouldn't jump to defend it.

I had to wait three months to get an MRI after complaining about terrible head pains that resembled small strokes and left my neck and mouth numb (and then another three months to get a second scan because something had gone wrong with the first, and then two months to get a third scan because they wanted a second opinion from another hospital). There were more tests done over a period of about a year and a half, all spaced out by months.

Thank God nothing serious was wrong with me, or the damage would have been done during all of that wait.

 

[blackribbon]

The wait time in the US is all over the place, so I wouldn't jump to defend it.

I had to wait three months to get an MRI after complaining about terrible head pains that resembled small strokes and left my neck and mouth numb (and then another three months to get a second scan because something had gone wrong with the first, and then two months to get a third scan because they wanted a second opinion from another hospital). There were more tests done over a period of about a year and a half, all spaced out by months.

Thank God nothing serious was wrong with me, or the damage would have been done during all of that wait.

Why did you have to wait 3 months for an MRI? At most hospitals in the US, you can get it within hours....and within days if it is outpatient. By any chance, did you have government insurance?

 

[KitKatMatt]

Why did you have to wait 3 months for an MRI? At most hospitals in the US, you can get it within hours....and within days if it is outpatient. By any chance, did you have government insurance?

I was on a private insurance plan (BCBS to be exact).

I have no idea why I had to wait, but it's not a rare thing. It happens to family and friends all the time. I always thought it was totally normal.

 

[blackribbon]

I was on a private insurance plan (BCBS to be exact).

I have no idea why I had to wait, but it's not a rare thing. It happens to family and friends all the time. I always thought it was totally normal.

A few weeks for a non-critical situation is normal...months is not...especially for something that is suspected to be a stroke because that can be life threatening. In my hospital, a patient admitted at 7:30 pm can have had several x-rays, a cat scan, and an MRI before breakfast arrives in the morning. Smaller hospitals and more rural ones might have a patient wait until the next day if it isn't critical because those departments tend to only work day shift.

If the doctor waited that long and really did suspect a stroke of any size, I'd fire him now and get a competent one.

 

[KitKatMatt]

I got rid of that doctor when I got my ACA plan. Good riddance, really, because he did a lot of sketchy things.

But my new doctor is just as slow, and the doctor of everyone I know is the same way. At least this one is less sketchy- I was so relieved when I found out I only had to get one vial of blood taken for a thyroid check! My old doctor would take three, and it was enough to make me pass out cold.

When I asked the new doctor about the difference, he told me that the extra two vials were only needed if I was getting a complete hormone workup, which I most definitely was never getting. This was corroborated by a few other people I asked, and it's scary. I developed a phobia because of those three vials

 

[MehGuy]

Money.

Still paying those stupid loans. Sometimes I want to scream.

In my opinion college should be free for the middle and lower class, and super expensive for the upper class. I'm talking like a couple million dollars worth.