ChapterNine: Considering College— Pragmatismin the Texas Panhandle and on the SouthPlains Community colleges were founded and designed to be low cost, no frills, and open access. If it takes four years to get an associate degree with no debt, do that. Make sure courses transfer by contacting the university you plan to attend. Transfer to a place like West Texas A&M University that appreciates community college graduates and their academic experie ce carryi g a ledger with little or no red ink. Resist the faddish advice that a degree must take four or six years to complete. This preoccupation by universities, ranking agencies, state bureaucracies and elected officials as a means to measure perceived quality is over-valued for most institutions. In 1930 the average life expectancy of a U.S. Citizen was 60; it is 80 now. If a single mom requires eight years to get a bachelor’s degree, is that a loss for the state, the university or the individual? Certainly not if the graduate incurs little or no debt. Lastly, if someone must borrow at all, never borrow more than 60% of the anticipated starting salary of the first job. Check the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you want to teach school in a smaller community in Texas and the starting salary is $40,000, don’t borrow more than $24,000 to attain your bachelor’s degree. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board appropriately recommends this 60% rule. Any leader in any walk of life who tells any potential student that borrowing without qualification is okay displays ignorance and should not be trusted. Too many people in too many places for too many purposes tell students and parents, “Whatever the cost of the degree, it is worth it. It will all work out.” It’s a lie, and unless those individuals will cosign the note, it’s disingenuous. Never borrowmore than 60% of the anticipated starting salary of the first job. Check the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you want to teach school in a smaller community in Texas and the starting salary is $40,000, don’t borrowmore than $24,000 to attain your bachelor’s degree. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board appropriately recommends this 60% rule. I have been called, “The Dave Ramsey of higher education.” I’ll own that. A degree attained with little or no borrowing will have more value than any degree with a passel of promissory notes draped around the graduate’s neck like a string of poison posies. If you are interested in attending college and do not hear these admonitions on campus, leave immediately. Do not attend orientation. Do not enroll in courses. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
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Be a pragmatist.
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