[Monday: 3.5 miles; today 3.5 miles]
Thinking about my recent post regarding college, I was remembering that I never really had any money problems related to that.
My first year was completely covered by a scholarship. I’m not sure why they offered it to me, but I was glad to have it. After a year there, I remember telling my major professor that I was going to transfer to Iowa State. Looking back on it now, it sounds kind of crazy to throw away a full scholarship. I wasn’t even thinking about it at the time. Just goes to show how ignorant I was about such things.
For Iowa State I applied for a small scholarship through the company that employed my father. It was named after L. T. Mart, co-founder and president of the Marley Corporation of Kansas City, and it paid, I think, $450 a semester. That usually put a good dent in my tuition. For books and housing I had jobs.
I think my parents also covered the remainder of the tuition and probably some of my housing too. I was in the Friley Hall dorm for one year, so I’m sure there was a good chunk spent on that.
I never had a car, so I was mooching off of my older brother, older sister and parents in that area. I didn’t always have a car handy, but it seems like I frequently did. That relieved me of having to pay auto insurance and license fees.
And the costs were just a lot lower too. I think a semester at Iowa State was somewhere under $2,000. I don’t really remember. It was not an onerous figure. I shared housing with another guy for three years at $100 per month. I lived within walking distance of the campus and had a good bicycle.
L. T. Mart ran out after 4 years, so my final year I was on my own. My wife worked(!) and footed the bill. So I ended up going through 6 years of college and had no student loans or residual expenses.
I don’t say that to brag or something. It’s just a contrast with the usual thing now, ending up with tens of thousands of dollars of student loans. I had it really good.
2 replies on “More thoughts about college expenses”
I think it was generally more affordable back then but, even so, I recall spring break I’d be on campus and at the library and it would be empty except for international students (going by appearances). Once break was over, classmates would talk about their week in Texas or Florida or maybe California. For folks like that, I suspect having student debt was not a big deal. And you always had people who went out for pizza and drank beer. It may have been cheap beer – but that’s still an extravagance.
This was when few had a computer and if you wanted a PC you had to go to a lab and use one there. Now I am thinking people expect to have their own computer, plus Internet (high speed), plus cell phone – and a smart one, not $10/mo pay as you go flip phone. Why we are at it, let’s add on cable TV and a large LCD flat screen…
It is pretty amazing how technology has changed our “needs” as a society. I think it’s still possible to pay as you go for college, but a person trying to do that can’t really take any time off. High-paying construction jobs in the summer can supplement the part-time job throughout the school year; maybe take fewer classes and work more. I know people have done it, but it’s certainly not typical.
Around here the collaboration between DMACC and the state and private institutions in the area is a wonderful thing. Saves so much money when students can live at home and get the gen eds out of the way, keep the part-time high school job, etc. There’s also something to be said for being a bit more mature before tackling the difficult courses far from home.