OT: US News and World Report Rankings

[rocky_warrior]

Call me a bleeding heart here,

Honest question...did you have any college loan debt (that was used on college, and not beer) when you left school?

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

especially at a place like Marquette where students learn so much more than merely the subject material at hand in their own major.

I don't mean to sound like a smart alek, but could you tell me what this material consists of? And is it worth the extra $20,0000-$25,000 more in tuition each year versus UW or one of the other public schools? I suspect there are ways to learn this material at a lesser cost than an extra $20,000 in tuition every year for four years.

[GGGG]

Just to still up for turk a little here...

I work at a public university.  Not a flagship school, but a decent school.  If I could characterize one difference between our alumni (at-large) and Marquette alumni is that they view their education as a transactional experience.  They paid money...we gave them an education.

Many MU alumni talk about school as more of a life experience.  So yeah, it was more money.  But at the end of the day, I wouldn't be who I am not without Marquette.

[reinko]

Call me a bleeding heart here, but any sort of cost-benefit analysis involving tuition v. debt load is flawed, especially at a place like Marquette where students learn so much more than merely the subject material at hand in their own major.

Just because I don't make as much money out of college with my degree doesn't mean that it wasn't worthwhile.  In fact, college professors in the humanities go to college for about...10 years(?), and make very little comparatively.  There are reasons - very valid reasons - that people can go to school for a LONG time and pay a LOT of money without the expectation of proportional increase in earning potential.  I thought this point was obvious, but I haven't yet seen it mentioned much on this thread.

College is a place of learning as well as a place to develop technical and professional competencies.  To say that one's "benefit" from their degree is strictly limited to their earning potential is short-sighted.  To say that the Arts & Sciences students are funding the Business/Engineering students is, in many ways, a misunderstanding of the purpose of the university experience.  If people want to make lots of money and spend very little money to learn how to do that, than a trade school would be the most ideal venue for that.

NOW - if we are going to discuss whether or not students are going to college for the right reasons, well, that is a different question.  

Begone with your valid, well-written, and clear posts.  This is the intertubes. 

IGNORE!

[Skatastrophy]

Begone with your valid, well-written, and clear posts.  This is the intertubes. 

IGNORE!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Call me a bleeding heart here, but any sort of cost-benefit analysis involving tuition v. debt load is flawed, especially at a place like Marquette where students learn so much more than merely the subject material at hand in their own major.

Just because I don't make as much money out of college with my degree doesn't mean that it wasn't worthwhile.  In fact, college professors in the humanities go to college for about...10 years(?), and make very little comparatively.  There are reasons - very valid reasons - that people can go to school for a LONG time and pay a LOT of money without the expectation of proportional increase in earning potential.  I thought this point was obvious, but I haven't yet seen it mentioned much on this thread.

College is a place of learning as well as a place to develop technical and professional competencies.  To say that one's "benefit" from their degree is strictly limited to their earning potential is short-sighted.  To say that the Arts & Sciences students are funding the Business/Engineering students is, in many ways, a misunderstanding of the purpose of the university experience.  If people want to make lots of money and spend very little money to learn how to do that, than a trade school would be the most ideal venue for that.

NOW - if we are going to discuss whether or not students are going to college for the right reasons, well, that is a different question.  

I get it. Like I said, MU was an important part of me growing up. Drop me in Madison at 18 years old, and I probably would have failed out of school. I didn't have the maturity I needed to go to a place like that. MU provided a little more structure (that I needed).

I really enjoyed my experience and I'm a proud alum.

I guess some of this "value" stuff has come up for me because if I want to send my kids to MU, It will probably be 100K+ per year.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Seriously, if you were to buy a  house today, you wouldn't even blink at a $120,000 mortgage loan.  The way the real estate market is today, you can get a good buy, but the future value, at least for the next 5 years, is questionable at best and low return further out.  

So, a $120,000 student loan, which will pay back over the next 40+ years at a much higher rate, isn't worth it? I will even go as far to say the stock market in the glory days wouldn't return as much. The debt load may seem daunting today, and the job market is horrible, especially with a glut of supply of newly graduated students like yourselves who have no differentiating experience.  Under 25's own the digital future as no one else knows what to do in the social space. The growth rate is ridiculous and it can be a separator.  My advice is to jump in here even if low paying today.

Find your niche and get any experience to separate yourself with experience.  If necessary, get a second job in a cash business like bartending which can put (tax free) cash in your pocket to get you over the hump if need be in the near term.  I graduated to a 9.7% unemployment rate, 17%interest rates and an economy switching from manufacturing to service.  Things will get better, and the MU education will do you well as you were taught to think.

[nyg]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#44556093

This was just on NBC Nightly News (hope link works). 

[turk17]

Honest question...did you have any college loan debt (that was used on college, and not beer) when you left school?

I am currently paying back over $100,000 in student loan debt from my bachelor's and master's degrees, both from Marquette.

Honest question, what is your angle?

[turk17]

I don't mean to sound like a smart alek, but could you tell me what this material consists of? And is it worth the extra $20,0000-$25,000 more in tuition each year versus UW or one of the other public schools? I suspect there are ways to learn this material at a lesser cost than an extra $20,000 in tuition every year for four years.

I'm sure that people have all kinds of different experiences at Marquette and get many different "intangibles" from their education, but for myself, I can't say that I could check out a book in a library that would simply tell me the things that I learned at MU.  It could take me pages to write it all down, but I would say that it could be summed up with "Cura Personalis."  Don't mean to sound cliche with that, but what I mean is that college at Marquette just seemed to be a more transformative experience for me than the experiences of many of my friends "doing their time" and going through the motions at state schools. 

If you don't recognize this as an alum then, well...I really don't what to tell you.  Why did you go to Marquette? I mean, I know that sounds like more of a "smart alek" thing to say than what you said, but I'm honestly asking (not confronting).  Why did you pay "the extra $20,0000-$25,000 more in tuition each year versus UW" if you thought you could get all that at UW or UWM or State U? 

[rocky_warrior]

I am currently paying back over $100,000 in student loan debt from my bachelor's and master's degrees, both from Marquette.

Honest question, what is your angle?

Well, then, I applaud you for backing up the words you preach.  My angle?  Only that I always knew I got a great education from Marquette, but the $26k of debt I left with in 1997 left me wondering if it was all worth it (I know, doesn't sound like much now - of course gold was also $300/oz then...).  It took a few years for me to appreciate the Marquette "experience" rather than the overpriced "education".  Your opinion sounded like many I hear from those that left with no debt.

I understand those that question the cost, as well as those that say it's all worth it.  It honestly all comes down to the amount of "risk" you're willing to take. A personal decision to be sure. 

[turk17]

Well, then, I applaud you for backing up the words you preach.  My angle?  Only that I always knew I got a great education from Marquette, but the $26k of debt I left with in 1997 left me wondering if it was all worth it (I know, doesn't sound like much now - of course gold was also $300/oz then...).  It took a few years for me to appreciate the Marquette "experience" rather than the overpriced "education".  Your opinion sounded like many I hear from those that left with no debt.

I understand those that question the cost, as well as those that say it's all worth it.  It honestly all comes down to the amount of "risk" you're willing to take. A personal decision to be sure.  

I definitely see where you were coming from.  I think that it's not a fixed system, either.  It's more of a scale, probably.  There are many schools that have excellent student experiences, but I wouldn't say that any amount of money is worth it.  I agree with you Rocky, it's a personal decision.  One that unfortunately has to be made in large part when you're 18 years old and don't have a clue what a loan payment will be like.

[Hoopaloop]

Drop the political schtik, it sort of ruins the rest of your point.

I agree, drop it.  Then again, he's right.

[Hards Alumni]

I am currently paying back over $100,000 in student loan debt from my bachelor's and master's degrees, both from Marquette.

Honest question, what is your angle?

When I graduated in 2004, I had 17k in debt.

You have rich parents, or don't know how to fill out paperwork.