Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 167 guests, and 10 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    parentologyco, Smartlady60, petercgeelan, eterpstra, Valib90
    11,410 Registered Users
    March
    S M T W T F S
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Page 20 of 38 1 2 18 19 20 21 22 37 38
    Joined: Aug 2010
    Posts: 3,428
    U
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    U
    Joined: Aug 2010
    Posts: 3,428
    Quote
    I am totally recommending an engineering degree for DD. I don't care what she ends up doing. You can use that degree for anything.

    Anything? How much time do you spend honing your writing skills when you get an engineering degree? (I don't actually know this. I'm just guessing that it isn't that much time.)


    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Originally Posted by Bostonian
    Originally Posted by Wren
    I agree with Bostonian. Although at the rate of tuition acceleration, I am estimating 150K per year in 8 years for an top college.
    That looks high. College costs have been rising faster than inflation by about 2 to 5% a year. Assuming a general inflation rate of 2% and college inflation rate of 7%, the $60K cost today would grow "only" to $60000 * (1.07^8) = $103,091 . A college inflation rate of 5% (slightly higher than recent college inflation) results in a future annual cost of $88,647. Here is some data from the College Board.

    And these figures assume that current trends continue... which, clearly, they cannot. The market is already pushing back.

    Colleges got into an arms race with each other, based on more buildings and expensive amenities, fueled by expanding debt, which could only be repaid by the constant expansion of the student body, and its willingness to take on increasing debt that cannot be discharged. Obviously, both of these forces would have to reach a limit. The business model was unsustainable.

    The important thing, though, is that the school presidents all enjoy seven-figure salaries and generous severance packages as they're driving their institutions over the fiscal cliff.

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Originally Posted by ultramarina
    Quote
    I am totally recommending an engineering degree for DD. I don't care what she ends up doing. You can use that degree for anything.

    Anything? How much time do you spend honing your writing skills when you get an engineering degree? (I don't actually know this. I'm just guessing that it isn't that much time.)

    I used my engineering degree to get into law school.

    And I really dislike writing.

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Originally Posted by Dude
    Colleges got into an arms race with each other, based on more buildings and expensive amenities, fueled by expanding debt, which could only be repaid by the constant expansion of the student body, and its willingness to take on increasing debt that cannot be discharged. Obviously, both of these forces would have to reach a limit. The business model was unsustainable.

    I will note that the demand for debt from consumers is basically infinite.

    The problem is that only *some* people will be willing to take on an infinite amount of debt.

    For example, one of my law school roommates, who, between two years of Harvard grad school and three years of Duke law school, managed to actually max out the amount of money that he was allowed to borrow.

    He would have kept borrowing more, but he hit the ceiling.

    So, part of the issue is that the amount is capped.

    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Originally Posted by ultramarina
    Anything? How much time do you spend honing your writing skills when you get an engineering degree? (I don't actually know this. I'm just guessing that it isn't that much time.)

    If the email skills of some of my peers are anything to go by... none whatsoever.

    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Originally Posted by JonLaw
    Originally Posted by Dude
    Colleges got into an arms race with each other, based on more buildings and expensive amenities, fueled by expanding debt, which could only be repaid by the constant expansion of the student body, and its willingness to take on increasing debt that cannot be discharged. Obviously, both of these forces would have to reach a limit. The business model was unsustainable.

    I will note that the demand for debt from consumers is basically infinite.

    The problem is that only *some* people will be willing to take on an infinite amount of debt.

    For example, one of my law school roommates, who, between two years of Harvard grad school and three years of Duke law school, managed to actually max out the amount of money that he was allowed to borrow.

    He would have kept borrowing more, but he hit the ceiling.

    So, part of the issue is that the amount is capped.

    There's always a cap, because at some point the lender loses confidence in the borrower to repay, and if the lender doesn't lose confidence quickly enough, default. It would be somewhat difficult to keep up with the interest payments on $infinity, nevermind pay down the principle.

    Otherwise, you can't expand the student body AND increase their debt load, because those two forces work against each other.

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Originally Posted by Dude
    There's always a cap, because at some point the lender loses confidence in the borrower to repay, and if the lender doesn't lose confidence quickly enough, default. It would be somewhat difficult to keep up with the interest payments on $infinity, nevermind pay down the principle.

    This is the United States federal government we are talking about.

    An entity that issues as much debt as it wants to and poofs billions of dollars into existence on a regular basis.

    I know because I watch them poof the money into existence and then I watch the stock market go parabolic.

    I also watch money being poofed into existence and funneled into my office on a regular basis because I sign the poofed checks.

    Last edited by JonLaw; 05/21/13 06:29 AM.
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Originally Posted by JonLaw
    Originally Posted by Dude
    There's always a cap, because at some point the lender loses confidence in the borrower to repay, and if the lender doesn't lose confidence quickly enough, default. It would be somewhat difficult to keep up with the interest payments on $infinity, nevermind pay down the principle.

    This is the United States federal government we are talking about.

    An entity that issues as much debt as it wants to and poofs billions of dollars into existence on a regular basis.

    I know because I watch them poof the money into existence and then I watch the stock market go parabolic.

    I also watch money being poofed into existence and funneled into my office on a regular basis because I sign the poofed checks.

    Key word being "as much as it wants." It's being run by a body so committed to limiting debt that it passed its own debt cap on itself, enforced by automatic spending cuts so dramatic it would NEVER ACTUALLY allow them to actually happen, cross their hearts. Because that worked out so well for Dr. Strangelove.

    Also, nobody beats them in an arms race.

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posts: 2,007
    Originally Posted by Dude
    Key word being "as much as it wants." It's being run by a body so committed to limiting debt that it passed its own debt cap on itself, enforced by automatic spending cuts so dramatic it would NEVER ACTUALLY allow them to actually happen, cross their hearts. Because that worked out so well for Dr. Strangelove.

    Also, nobody beats them in an arms race.

    My point is that the federal government is the *source* of the college arms race.

    Massive amounts of debt that has no business existing in the first place are being provided to colleges and universities through students.

    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Originally Posted by JonLaw
    My point is that the federal government is the *source* of the college arms race.

    Massive amounts of debt that has no business existing in the first place are being provided to colleges and universities through students.

    There are plenty of private organizations all too happy to provide college debt, thanks to the recent changes in bankruptcy laws that render the debt inescapable. They just do so at higher rates of return than the government is currently charging. The market responds rationally to the cheaper rate.

    Page 20 of 38 1 2 18 19 20 21 22 37 38

    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    Testing with accommodations
    by aeh - 03/27/24 01:58 PM
    Quotations that resonate with gifted people
    by indigo - 03/27/24 12:38 PM
    For those interested in astronomy, eclipses...
    by indigo - 03/23/24 06:11 PM
    California Tries to Close the Gap in Math
    by thx1138 - 03/22/24 03:43 AM
    Gifted kids in Illinois. Recommendations?
    by indigo - 03/20/24 05:41 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5