An old man in my neighborhood, one of "Bellard's Bunch", shared some info about estimated semester costs he was given during his official visit. The information shows the estimate for the fall semester at $635 and spring semester at $548.

The letter from Rice University is a copy of an athletic scholarship offer. Rice University, being a private institution, their per semester estimated cost was considerably more expensive. The next to last paragraph declares their estimated full ride four-year scholarship to be valued at $14,000.

That old man googled up the Texas A&M tuition calculator and ran scenarios with several undergraduate degree programs. Together, they averaged an estimated cost of $15,000 per semester. It stuck with him that "no one cares about your student, or their education experience." It's always all about the money.

"College affordability"........yea......Good luck with that.

Benny wants to go to college, and I know it's because his mom and dad went. I ask myself this question a lot (Is college still worth it?). When I started at A&M (Fall 1990), with my partial scholarship it was less money for my parents than Catholic high school had been.

He has signed up for the Missouri A+ program, which will give two free years of community college to you if you've put in 50 total volunteer hours (for school district-approved events) and pass your classes. Benny is a senior and still owes them 44 hours. He also has a 529 account that TexAggers helped me open when Tanya died. I think there's about $1300 in there. That's all he has going for him in paying for college. He has started working about 18 hours per week at a grocery store for the MO minimum wage of $15 per hour, and he's saving that money. As a single parent in need of better employment, I'm not in a position to help him.

I *really* wish he would consider trade school, specifically "State Tech" in Linn, MO (about 40 miles away). It seems to be Missouri's equivalent of TSTC. Benny hasn't been a very good student in high school, and I fear that his 1340 SAT score isn't going to go as far money-wise as he thinks it will.

Benny wants to live at home and go to Mizzou. I told him that I wouldn't drive him to his classes. He hadn't planned on getting a car. He's convinced that he can graduate almost debt-free. He'll need to add a used car plus insurance to his budget.

Benny wants to be a programmer of some kind (not sure what he wants to program). I don't know that he needs a four-year degree for that.

dabo man said:

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"State Tech" in Linn, MO

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My kids are a bit younger but I have one that is really getting into aviation (to the point where I built him a pretty cool flight simulator for his last birthday). I'm seriously considering having him look at TSTC. Looks like he can get everything up to his multi-engine license soup to nuts for about $100,000k. Given what CFIs are charging per hour and what even the regionals are paying for new hires, it might be the right thing for him.

Speaking of vocational/trade schools -- all of my richest clients came from the trades. Built a business, sold it, and now tend to dabble.

Hard to say it absolutely is.

It is relatively easy to make 50k a year. I know some youngins right now that are going to work in a trade at 18. Or even just landscaping. From 18-22 they will make 200k. Their college buddies on the other hand are spending 100k from 18-22 with virtually no income. The time value of money on that 300k differential that early in life is hard to justify regardless of degree chosen.

Now you can always make the argument of the toll blue collar work takes on the body. Thats definitely fair. Also everyone throws our trades owning their own business killing it, but not everyone wants or can be a business owner.

Lots of factors. But I think we can definitely say 75% of degrees are pretty worthless. You'd be better off offering to work as an unpaid intern for 4 years than paying for college.

I think with offshoring and AI, the trades are the most dependable path for reliable employment. Learn the trade and get some business education. Eventually own your own business.

My friend owns a bar in Dripping. He had a very lucrative career in management consulting and due to the sale of a company he had a lot of equity in, he retired from corporate life nearly 20 years ago in his 40's. Now he's interacting with all kinds of folks in Drip and has found that many of those who are retiring early and comfortably were in the trades and eventually owned their businesses. His sons are in their 30's now so have already gone to college. He said that if he had to do it all over again, he'd push them to the trades. One son has been unemployed for nearly a year and has advanced IT skills and experience.

I'll add, this is especially applicable to men. I have a daughter and can afford to send her to an in-state public university. I do not want her to ever be dependent on a man/husband for her income so I'm trying to set her up for independence. I'm hoping that along the way, she can learn a trade. Even if it's cosmetology.

gratitudeandacceptance said:

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Even if it's cosmetology.

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I have a niece that does that. She tried community college for a bit, didn't know what she wanted to do, hated it, and decided on cosmetology school. She was always into fashion, beauty, and all of that influencer culture crap. It suits her really well and she's doing incredibly well for herself.

I believe so. If not for "tech skills", it teach social skills and how to work in a team and problem solving.

I don't like debt. I paid my own MBA myself. My older kid graduated a 4 year Bachelors, I paid it all. Now my younger one is a freshman in college, I am paying for her. Both graduate with no debt so they can take all the career risks they need to in order to be successful. No debt albatross on their necks.

I am not one of those who just says get into the trades. If you are innovative, then you cannot have much opportunity in the trades.

TheDecadeSapling said:

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I graduated A&M in 2011 and went back to TSTC in 2020 to get a technical degree. I think college is worth it if you have a plan and know what you want to do. I went to college with no clue. 18 years old is too young to be planning out your entire life. If I had known then what I know now, I'd have gone straight to technical school right out of highschool.

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I went into the military, then got out and went to A&M. Graduated when I was 28. Made a pretty good career out of that degree and my first Master's, then moved on to doing what I really wanted to do and went back to school in my 40s to get three music degrees. Being an older college student is definitely a better experience, imo, because you are there on a mission and you know what you want to get out of it. These 18 year old kids don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, much less have the ability to plan the next 20-30 years of their life.

My youngest is in HS still and it appears he's thinking trade school. Given the cost of education (University) and the lack of tradesman around the country, i feel good about him and his plans

Same here, we have one in college who is a type A student with a determined path.

Our younger one is looking into the trades, while he is smart he does not care for school. He still has another year. He is very book smart and on one hand he is smart enough for college, but it is totally dumb to pour money into college if he is going to flunk out due to disinterest. He is interested in automotive and aviation and enjoys miniatures/models, technology etc.

Blonde Coffee Beans said:

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My youngest is in HS still and it appears he's thinking trade school. Given the cost of education (University) and the lack of tradesman around the country, i feel good about him and his plans

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TSTC has programs for less than 15k and you're done in a year and a half. My little brother is 20 and is going to clear over 125k this year from a TSTC degree. Now he works a lot but he's no family or wife to take care of. It's the way to go for a young adult in my opinion

Ryan the Temp said:

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TheDecadeSapling said:

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I graduated A&M in 2011 and went back to TSTC in 2020 to get a technical degree. I think college is worth it if you have a plan and know what you want to do. I went to college with no clue. 18 years old is too young to be planning out your entire life. If I had known then what I know now, I'd have gone straight to technical school right out of highschool.

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I went into the military, then got out and went to A&M. Graduated when I was 28. Made a pretty good career out of that degree and my first Master's, then moved on to doing what I really wanted to do and went back to school in my 40s to get three music degrees. Being an older college student is definitely a better experience, imo, because you are there on a mission and you know what you want to get out of it. These 18 year old kids don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, much less have the ability to plan the next 20-30 years of their life.

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My grades were significantly better. Granted, the material was easier but I was also mature enough to actually put in the effort to make it easy

infinity ag said:

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I believe so. If not for "tech skills", it teach social skills and how to work in a team and problem solving.

I don't like debt. I paid my own MBA myself. My older kid graduated a 4 year Bachelors, I paid it all. Now my younger one is a freshman in college, I am paying for her. Both graduate with no debt so they can take all the career risks they need to in order to be successful. No debt albatross on their necks.

I am not one of those who just says get into the trades. If you are innovative, then you cannot have much opportunity in the trades.

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I'd argue if you're innovative, you have more opportunity in the trades. As far as problem solving, those sharpen pretty quick when it's "get this or that back online because we're losing tens of thousands of dollars by the hour." lol social skills sharpen too when you're dealing with real world customers.

TheDecadeSapling said:

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Blonde Coffee Beans said:

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My youngest is in HS still and it appears he's thinking trade school. Given the cost of education (University) and the lack of tradesman around the country, i feel good about him and his plans

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TSTC has programs for less than 15k and you're done in a year and a half. My little brother is 20 and is going to clear over 125k this year from a TSTC degree. Now he works a lot but he's no family or wife to take care of. It's the way to go for a young adult in my opinion

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He's got an older sister that went to A&M, and an older brother that graduated from a trade school. It wasnt TSTC but it was out of Austin and they set their graduates up with jobs upon graduation. He's got two great examples to go off of to make a decision. His grades are great and I think he would do just fine either way.

Ive planted the Merchant Marine, USCG, and Trade ideas. As far as traditional school (University) ive told him he should heavily consider something that involves AI if he goes that route with education.

Today? No.

Just become an influencer or post vids of your pets/livestock/feet/tits/welding/etc.

Viewership will sustain you.