For most people, an undergrad degree for ~$100k in debt just isn't-
worth it. For that kind of money, they may as well just go straight to work out of high school and take community college classes.
Is this right? No. But, this is what we were always going to end up with when we decided to give people infinite money with no collateral to go to higher ed - of course the universities are going to say, "oh wow, the government just gives people infinite money with no security backing to go to school, let's make school 25x more expensive!" I graduated from college a little over 20 years ago, and even at the cheap public school I attended, cost of attendance is almost 4x the sticker price when I graduated. If you go to private school like W&L, it's going to run you ~120-130k to get an UNDERGRAD degree. It's absolutely insane.
Everyone wants to argue left this and right that, but let me tell you the real problem with this country, and why everything seems so out-of-whack: we decided at some point that we were just going to let everything, and I mean every single aspect about living in our country turn into a completely unregulated pyramid scheme designed to steal everybody's money.
Case in point - remember when we used to have little league baseball? Yeah, now that's only for poor people - if you're a real man, you pay for $15k a season travel ball teams and another $2k of equipment for your 7 year old to bat .025 at coach pitch. Higher education is no different - what used to cost $12k a year now has to cost $40k a year, and, who cares? If you don't have it, here, just sign on the dotted line, it's all taken care of, don't worry about paying it back...what, are you NOT going to go to college? You'll be poor forever!
Thread Replies (14)
anyone reading the syracuse stuff on X?
-- MrBayAreaHokie
Jun 14, 2026 at 06:45 PM ET
MrBayAreaHokie
•
06/14/26 06:45 PM ET
Elementary schools in Orange County in Orlando are starting to close**
-- OrlandoHokie
Jun 15, 2026 at 11:22 AM ET
OrlandoHokie
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06/15/26 11:22 AM ET
I’m wondering if the current/future pain is more on the private school side
-- HokieAl
Jun 15, 2026 at 08:35 AM ET
HokieAl
•
06/15/26 08:35 AM ET
Yes, but I think it will also come for the public schools soon...
-- SMU Pony
Jun 15, 2026 at 07:59 PM ET
SMU Pony
•
06/15/26 07:59 PM ET
Less well known private colleges in remote locations will face difficulties
-- RandomAsianGuy
Jun 15, 2026 at 07:55 PM ET
RandomAsianGuy
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06/15/26 07:55 PM ET
the "enrollment apocalypse" is starting to hit the name schools now.
-- Maroon Baboon
Jun 14, 2026 at 10:12 PM ET
Maroon Baboon
•
06/14/26 10:12 PM ET
The real disgrace is the colleges have
-- mancunian
Jun 15, 2026 at 01:06 PM ET
mancunian
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06/15/26 01:06 PM ET
The Ivy schools and some others have a big enough endowment to keep the
-- Maroon Baboon
Jun 15, 2026 at 02:45 PM ET
Maroon Baboon
•
06/15/26 02:45 PM ET
For most people, an undergrad degree for ~$100k in debt just isn't-
◄
-- Baltimore_Hokie
Jun 15, 2026 at 10:51 AM ET
Baltimore_Hokie
•
06/15/26 10:51 AM ET
I'd argue that the only reason the "pyramid schemes" succeed is that...
-- MP4VT2004
Jun 15, 2026 at 05:55 PM ET
MP4VT2004
•
06/15/26 05:55 PM ET
there are a lot of vids on social media
-- MrBayAreaHokie
Jun 14, 2026 at 10:44 PM ET
MrBayAreaHokie
•
06/14/26 10:44 PM ET
Westminster in Salt Lake is on the brink of collapse apparently
-- Roanokie
Jun 15, 2026 at 08:09 AM ET
Roanokie
•
06/15/26 08:09 AM ET
Mike has been doing great work with respect to encouraging trade careers.**
-- MP4VT2004
Jun 17, 2026 at 03:38 PM ET
MP4VT2004
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06/17/26 03:38 PM ET
Will be seeing a lot more of this at other schools IMO**
-- SMU Pony
Jun 14, 2026 at 09:22 PM ET
SMU Pony
•
06/14/26 09:22 PM ET