Originally Posted by Bostonian
We pay for things such as art, piano and tennis lessons that cannot be justified by financial benefit. However, the teachers charge us reasonable rates that they also charge others, because they don't ask for our financial data to see how much we can be gouged. When someone wants to charge me $240K (the full-pay price for four years of some colleges), yes I think hard about the financial benefit. Most parents do.

Yeah, that about summarizes my thinking on this question. Multiply that number by three kids (the youngest of whom is only 8), and then increase it by 10-15% if costs keep increasing like they have been, and I don't like those numbers. I don't like them at UC either. UC's numbers are lower, but not by much compared to 20 years ago and maybe not for long.

I ask myself if 8 classes over the course of 8 months, a shared dorm room and some institutional food are really worth $60,000. I ask myself if an equivalent education can be had for less (say, in Europe or Canada). My husband and I both attended colleges and universities in Europe for next to nothing. We both got excellent educations and we're both very employable.

I spent three years at a US liberal arts college. My primary degree is in history, but I minored in chemistry and then did two graduate degrees in biology. I understand the value of the humanities and the perspective that education gave me. I'm not advocating a college-as-certification position. I'm also not arguing that a brand name college is worth the cost for a degree in engineering but not history. I'm questioning the value of any degree that costs a quarter million dollars and climbing. There are other options.