Originally Posted by suevv
Originally Posted by JonLaw
[quote=aquinas][quote=JonLaw][quote=aquinas][Quote=Bluemagic]
I'm talking about the more relevant modern question:

"Will I be able to find any employment at all that will allow me to pay back my $200,000 debt within my lifetime?"

Plan of attack:

(a) Increase 529 contributions asap.
(b) support the "Hire Skill, Not School" campaign currently under way in SF Bay Area.

The "Skill Not School" campaign is currently focused on programmers. But Google purports to support it, and I'm planning to try and get a Google person to talk to our school district about it in a PTA forum directed at recent teen suicides in the area.

And I really want to keep DS from needing huge loans. I will expect him to work to help pay for college though! (That's just me based on my experience. YMMV.)

Sue

I doubt it's a panacea, but it does take away the college admissions drama.
So this is a solution less likely to be proposed in high-achieving school districts, but consider this: if you can find someone to do some hands-on training, and acquire appropriate textbooks, a motivated high VS kid can pretty easily acquire sufficient skills in a trade to pass certification tests, allowing him or her to take actual living or near-living wage jobs while in college. (Check out first-year apprentice electrician, plumber, or HVAC hourly wages, for example.) It's a handy skill to have anyway, should one ever become a homeowner. Plus, it's not on your typical elite college app...

...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...