Raybyrnes… I’m actually a 2nd year law student who will be 40 y/o before I take the bar. I have a BSEE and have worked in commercial construction for over 10 years. I think very highly of an education. What I don’t think highly of is students who decide to go to college and grad school who have never even done the economic analysis — who haven’t even done the personal assessment of attitude and aptitude that would allow them to know whether they could make it pay off. For three years, my wife and I lived on her income alone, saving mine for law school. Now, I’m paying cash. When its all over, I’ll have enough cash to hang my own shingle if I want. In the meantime, my wife and I have learned to live well within our means. We pay cash for cars that we keep for ten years… all the while saving money for their replacement. We sold our house in August of 2005 and realized nearly a 500% profit on our down payment. We’ve rented ever since. We’ll probably use the proceeds of that sale to buy a condo downtown once I’m out of school and turning a profit. Whatever we buy we’ll probably live in for a long time. I’m not waiting because I’m trying to find the bottom, I’m waiting b/c I can rent for what I make on the interest I earn on a CD funded with the house sale proceeds. Paying cash is never foolish, its only a reflection of your personal risk tolerance. I know that I’m fortunate… I know not everyone can do what I’m doing. But parents can certainly teach their kids the value of living within your means by not leveraging their own households to send them off to college.
If a college bound student doesn’t recognize the concepts of opportunity cost and living within his means it won’t matter that his income is greater than if he didn’t go to college. And, they don’t teach that at Berkley!
