scaredy, I agree with your post except that my last kid will be starting out in community college. I don’t mind paying for part of 2 yrs of university over and above the aid we get. What I am more worried about is will students be able to finish in 4-5 years (2 yrs CC and 2+ yrs Univ). At the rate the State Univ system has been currently laying off professors and gutting programs, I see EVERY program impacted on EVERY campus, even in “armpits” such as Merced & Fresno. UC is also scaling down programs. How long is it going to take to obtain what used to be a four-year degree if a student has to work themselves up the food chain for a few extra years to take a required 400 level class being offered only on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm every other spring semester with a cap of 30 enrollments? Or attend 2-3 different campuses simultaneously in order to graduate? I think a lot of the layoffs have to do with CSU and UC attempting to eliminate professors right before retirement vesting. It’s getting ridiculous. Right now, a one year vocational school where a student clocks in 8 hrs a day, works and earns a certificate as an HVAC technician looks good. ROP anyone??
We have aid available in the amount of about $3500 per semester for 8 semesters but is it worth it to use it in a school in which you will spin your wheels for 8 years and never graduate from? Something has to be done to restore the programs at the university level in CA and stop the incessant fee hikes EVERY semester for the last 8 years. It that time, CSU has gone up more than 100%!
Also, I think there are and will be more kids from the millenium boom generation graduating from CA high schools than CA public universities have room for. Of course, not all HS graduates attend these schools, but I don’t see how impaction on ALL the campuses in each and every program offered can be averted. I don’t see applicants being able to freely pick and choose which campus they want to attend anymore. County resident applicants and other nearby residents may be given first preference in admissions, based upon GPA, of course. There will be many students turned away in the coming years.
A university degree isn’t the be-all and end-all for every HS graduate. There are many options out there.
None of my children have or will take out student loans, ever. I don’t believe in them.
