CNN Video Article on a Student that can't afford college anymore.

bbotte · Feb 24, 2009

http://www.cnn.com/video/?JSONLINK=/video/us/2009/02/23/am.carroll.broke.students.cnn

"Oh I can't afford my tuition", but she's typing on some type of MacBook, and if you look in the segment where she is eating lunch, you see her AT&T iPhone on the table. That bill is cheap.

I mean seriously, if you can't get a loan and you have this stuff and your schooling is a priority, it's time to cut some corners, drop the iPhone, sell your MacBook for your school money, clearly it's not that important.

Disgusting, what kids these days think they "NEED" to go to school is dumb.

Demosthenes X · Feb 24, 2009

I mean seriously, if you can't get a loan and you have this stuff and your schooling is a priority, it's time to cut some corners, drop the iPhone, sell your MacBook for your school money, clearly it's not that important.

Yeah, $400 profit she'll make from selling her used MacBook and buying a cheap Windows PC will really make a dent in her tuition costs. I don't know about the US, but my tuition is $500 per class... so if I sold my MacBook and bought a netbook, I might have enough to pay for one class. Sweet!

And if you think a college student doesn't need a laptop, then you're just deluding yourself.

The iPhone is another story...

bbotte · Feb 24, 2009

Demosthenes X said:
Yeah, $400 profit she'll make from selling her used MacBook and buying a cheap Windows PC will really make a dent in her tuition costs. I don't know about the US, but my tuition is $500 per class... so if I sold my MacBook and bought a netbook, I might have enough to pay for one class. Sweet!

And if you think a college student doesn't need a laptop, then you're just deluding yourself.

The iPhone is another story...

I'm deluding myself? Every college campus I have attended and visited, has computer labs, you do not "need" a laptop. It's a convenient item. I did all my computer work in a lab for my college education, sucks you have to go to one but I did it. Never owned a laptop until I could "Afford" one. So she could sell it and pay for a couple of classes by your math. And it's not profit, it frees up cash to pay for school. The iPhone is laughable. You prove my point, thank you.

wvuwhat · Feb 24, 2009

I've been through 7 semesters at an out of state public school (W.V.U.). I'll be getting my B.A. in Communication Studies. By the time I'm done, I will have paid more than 80,000 in tuition/room/board from the school, an additional 650/month for my apartment for the past 3 years, and countless daily expenses. Cutting a 30 dollar data plan on an iPhone is small potatoes. The MacBook could have been a gift from a rich family member. I'm just saying, that 1500 total purchase price for the two Apple products isn't even enough money to pay for a 3 credit class for me.

bbotte · Feb 24, 2009

wvuwhat said:
I've been through 7 semesters at an out of state public school (W.V.U.). I'll be getting my B.A. in Communication Studies. By the time I'm done, I will have paid more than 80,000 in tuition/room/board from the school, an additional 650/month for my apartment for the past 3 years, and countless daily expenses. Cutting a 30 dollar data plan on an iPhone is small potatoes. The MacBook could have been a gift from a rich family member. I'm just saying, that 1500 total purchase price for the two Apple products isn't even enough money to pay for a 3 credit class for me.

Oh I fully understand the cost of an education, my point is do everything before going on the news complaining about money. I'm sure the big wigs at GM can't function without their private jets. This to me is the same situation as showing up to congress with your hand out to the public and using those jets as they did to get to DC.

jknight8907 · Feb 24, 2009

I really have to agree with the argument to keep the Macbook. The benefits it gives you as far as ease of completing assignments, research, etc, far outweighs the drop in the bucket of help that selling it would get you. It would be like selling your microwave so you could buy a car.

eldy · Feb 24, 2009

It's sad but not everyone can go to college. If you are determined enough you can start out at a community college to get GEs out of the way or take a year or two off to save up. It might even help the porn industry.

Rapmastac1 · Feb 24, 2009

eldy said:
It's sad but not everyone can go to college. If you are determined enough you can start out at a community college to get GEs out of the way or take a year or two off to save up. It might even help the porn industry.

Exactly, not all of us are in the situation where we can go to College. I live with my grandparents and have had to help out for a long time! I was never able to really go above and beyond at school but it did ok. Starting out at a Community college to get a minor degree and getting a job with that to make more money. Then you go to a full-on college and get a good degree.

I have been out of high school for about a year now and don't plan on going to college for one more year, my finances aren't in line to allow me to get to school now. I have some nice things, yes, but I'm still saving for 6 months worth of take-home pay before I take on school.

But saying you can't afford such when you have an iPhone and stuff - ridiculous! Sacrifice a little bit, they are already in school - they better not screw it up now just because they want their precious iPhone!

Zombie Acorn · Feb 24, 2009

One year of her tuition is about the same as what it cost me to go 3 years at my college, I am not shedding a tear here.

Syracuse University

Tuition: $33,630
Housing and Meals (average costs): $13,066
Fees (Health, Activity, Cocurricular, and Communication): $1,298

Total: $47,994

Other Expenses (average)
Books and Supplies (est.): $1,306
Personal expenses (est.): $892
Transportation (est.): $600

Total: $2,798
Total Cost of Attendance: $50,792

GO TO A CHEAPER COLLEGE IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT!

Abstract · Feb 24, 2009

I agree about cutting corners, but the MacBook makes sense.

The iPhone....well..........that's just over-the-top. Many grown adults working in the real world can't afford an iPhone, but are perfectly happy with a really pedestrian mobile.

Zombie Acorn · Feb 24, 2009

Abstract said:
I agree about cutting corners, but the MacBook makes sense.

The iPhone....well..........that's just over-the-top. Many grown adults working in the real world can't afford an iPhone, but are perfectly happy with a really pedestrian mobile.

The iPhone and macbook are pebbles when compared to what these people are paying in tuition, by the prices on syracuse site you would graduate with an undergraduate degree with 200k debt.

chewietobbacca · Feb 24, 2009

The point is that every bit adds up, and an iPhone subscription isn't small money when you consider that it can pay for 2 years of GE's at a CC

Either way though, she's in the wrong kind of university if she's worried about money

0098386 · Feb 24, 2009

bbotte said:
I'm deluding myself? Every college campus I have attended and visited, has computer labs, you do not "need" a laptop. It's a convenient item. I did all my computer work in a lab for my college education, sucks you have to go to one but I did it. Never owned a laptop until I could "Afford" one. So she could sell it and pay for a couple of classes by your math. And it's not profit, it frees up cash to pay for school. The iPhone is laughable. You prove my point, thank you.

I completely agree. Everyone on my first university course had a laptop of some sort, not many had them at my second university. It was only me at college who had a laptop (IBM Thinkpad, no less

). Everyone else got distinctions just fine.

Around here many students who still live at home just get student loans to buy gizmos for personal use. I'd hardly say a 42" LCD TV counts as an educational item, or upgrading from an old Xbox 360 to a new Elite model. But it's up to them, they're going to be paying this back a few years down the line, not me.

It's all just part of the entitlement culture we have now.

63dot · Feb 24, 2009

bbotte said:
Disgusting, what kids these days ...orms had a cafeteria we called vomit gardens.

Demosthenes X · Feb 24, 2009

bbotte said:
I'm deluding myself? Every college campus I have attended and visited, has computer labs, you do not "need" a laptop. It's a convenient item. I did all my computer work in a lab for my college education, sucks you have to go to one but I did it. Never owned a laptop until I could "Afford" one. So she could sell it and pay for a couple of classes by your math. And it's not profit, it frees up cash to pay for school. The iPhone is laughable. You prove my point, thank you.

And of course, it's always so easy to find a free computer on campus. Not to mention comfortable. And of course buildings are always open and defer to your scheduling needs. And naturally you can pick up one of those computers and take it to class when you need too.

Sorry - as a college student, I'll give you that a notebook is not strictly necessary, no. But it is every bit a worthwhile investment in one's education. In this student's case, the freedom afforded to her by having her own computer is worth more than the ~$800 she might be able to get if she sold her MacBook.

Seriously: so much university work is done on computers these days that having a personal computer is nearly a necessity. Yes, you can get away without one, but your life will be far, far easier if you have your own computer.

0098386 · Feb 24, 2009

Did personal desktop computers disappear?

mkrishnan · Feb 24, 2009

Demosthenes X said:
And of course, it's always so easy to find a free computer on campus. [...]

I tend to agree, although the general point that, if one wants a spokesperson for the unaffordability of college, a spokesperson who doesn't flaunt any expensive accessories would probably be the best choice.

But wholly aside from that is the issue of rising college costs. Costs at many (if not all) Universities have vastly outpaced inflation. Students' parents can't even afford their tuition, let alone the students themselves. And even if you cite the lower cost small state schools and community colleges, they don't have room to handle all the people who go to large universities were they to be displaced.

I think this is a serious issue, particularly for students who study societally valuable but not very lucrative fields. And the accessibility of the University system to our citizens is in no way like the automotive industry and their jets. If the domestic automakers perish, I firmly believe it will be a bad thing, and that it will have downstream, longterm impacts on American affluence for millions of people.

But if American citizens can't get a college education... our country just can't function like that. Americans must have access to college. Barring a radical re-engineering of the entire nation and our economy, there simply is no reasonable alternative to this.

.Andy · Feb 24, 2009

Are we sure that the macbook and the iPhone are hers? Or is this just an assumption that is being made for the purpose of argument?

/didn't watch the video.

EricNau · Feb 24, 2009

bbotte said:
I'm deluding myself? Every college campus I have attended and visited, has computer labs, you do not "need" a laptop. It's a convenient item.

Times have apparently changed. As just one example:

"UC Davis expects students to have their own personal computers."

The iPhone, while admittedly a luxury item, is minute compared to the costs of tuition.

.Andy said:
Are we sure that the macbook and the iPhone are hers? Or is this just an assumption that is being made for the purpose of argument?

/didn't watch the video.

It's pretty obvious. She uses the MacBook and the iPhone is sitting right in front of her at the lunch table.

MikhailT · Feb 24, 2009

Is it not possible that those devices were gift to her?
I know a lot of students were given laptops as gifts from family and friends. There are parents who is willing to spend their money on iphone for 200$ and pay only 30 a month for it on a family plan.

Either way, the computer labs are not 24/7 operations everywhere in the country. Nor do they always have empty seats for you to use at any time. Before i graduated from my university, there were classes that was using the OPEN computer labs, that resulted less open hours for the students and the only 24/7 lab was in the library that's always full.

Colleges around the country are increasing tuition rates faster than inflation rates, not only that, the prices on the books for courses are frigging out of the world. Those publishers are ripping off students, period and the instructors are not helping at all. They would publish 2009 edition with CDroms and claim that it is enough to justify the 300$ price for a physics book that has not changed in content except for PAGE NUMBERS AND CHAPTERS from the 2008 edition and even the 2008 was only 200$.

I was lucky enough to get scholarships and college work program to pay off my degree and graduated with no debts. Not everybody is going to get scholarships or find a job within college and not everybody could do full time with a part time job.

Oh yea, don't tell me that people who can't afford to go to a good college should find CHEAPER college. What you pay is what you get counts for most of the time when it comes to the quality of the college education.
Cheaper colleges usually do not have computer labs, nor enough tutors, open hours for instructors, supplies and lab equipments.. so on. In some cases, the quality of the college is not going to be worth the investment you make for yourself in the long term.

Education is important and should be accessible for anybody who chooses to go. (In my opinion? College education should be free for everybody but that's socialism or commie or whatever you guys want to call it)

63dot · Feb 24, 2009

MikhailT said:
Education is important and should be accessible for anybody who chooses to go. (In my opinion? College education should be free for everybody but that's socialism or commie or whatever you guys want to call it)

With CEOs from Obama's stimulus package to likely still receive millions, and Bush having spent hundreds of billions on a war on false pretenses, money spent on education for our American youth actually sounds like like a good idea by comparison. Cost-benefit. Money for education is an idea that should have been looked into long ago and is not frivolous like CEO over-compensation or chasing after WMDs in Iraq.

Zombie Acorn · Feb 24, 2009

MikhailT said:
Is it not possible that those devices were gift to her?
I know a lot of students were given laptops as gifts from family and friends. There are parents who is willing to spend their money on iphone for 200$ and pay only 30 a month for it on a family plan.

Either way, the computer labs are not 24/7 operations everywhere in the country. Nor do they always have empty seats for you to use at any time. Before i graduated from my university, there were classes that was using the OPEN computer labs, that resulted less open hours for the students and the only 24/7 lab was in the library that's always full.

Colleges around the country are increasing tuition rates faster than inflation rates, not only that, the prices on the books for courses are frigging out of the world. Those publishers are ripping off students, period and the instructors are not helping at all. They would publish 2009 edition with CDroms and claim that it is enough to justify the 300$ price for a physics book that has not changed in content except for PAGE NUMBERS AND CHAPTERS from the 2008 edition and even the 2008 was only 200$.

I was lucky enough to get scholarships and college work program to pay off my degree and graduated with no debts. Not everybody is going to get scholarships or find a job within college and not everybody could do full time with a part time job.

Oh yea, don't tell me that people who can't afford to go to a good college should find CHEAPER college. What you pay is what you get counts for most of the time when it comes to the quality of the college education.
Cheaper colleges usually do not have computer labs, nor enough tutors, open hours for instructors, supplies and lab equipments.. so on. In some cases, the quality of the college is not going to be worth the investment you make for yourself in the long term.

Education is important and should be accessible for anybody who chooses to go. (In my opinion? College education should be free for everybody but that's socialism or commie or whatever you guys want to call it)

If you socialize the education system you will destroy it. Money attracts high profile professionals and professors to big league schools. We simply need to make sure that our best students and not just our richest are making it to these schools.

SteveMobs · Feb 24, 2009

Stop going to a private university like syracuse, go to a public university or community college. Stop having an iPhone, I mean, seriously?! No one can b*tch and moan about bills if they have an iPhone. Apply for scholarships, stop going out to lunch, cook for yourself. Live at home.

I feel there are plenty of avenues to take.

MikhailT · Feb 24, 2009

Zombie Acorn said:
If you socialize the education system you will destroy it. Money attracts high profile professionals and professors to big league schools. We simply need to make sure that our best students and not just our richest are making it to these schools.

Destroy it how exactly?

Zombie Acorn · Feb 24, 2009

MikhailT said:
Destroy it how exactly?

Inefficiency and disregard for economic principles. The reason tuition raises higher than inflation every year is because demand is higher than ever. Look at our public school system, it is abysmal compared to the US's college front.

CNN Video Article on a Student that can't afford college anymore.

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