Student Loans

Revised Blog:  Saturday, June 25, 2011

Today seems to be another rave for my ranting. I don't know whether to follow the Bard ("suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune") or rant a bit ("Was soll all der Schmerz und Lust" Goethe) or just shut up and quit whining.

Friday I received a letter from a collection agency suggesting that if I didn't pay the balance on my student loan, they would "stand me on my head and pound sand ..............my ass." It seems that there is a balance of $2,500 on a student loan I took out almost 30 years ago with Sallie Mae. With the interest and fees and fines, the amount of money they are asking for is $15,000.

It also seems that they are as inept at correspondence as they are at book keeping. They never respond to my letters to them, but every so often I get a missive from them (Sallie Mae and whomever). Well anyway I don't have the money, and if I did I think I would take up drinking and spend it all on booze.

I believe that the arrogance and stupidity of government agencies increase logarithmically as you go from the very local level to the international level. I believe dealing with County Government is 10 times worse than the Local Government. The State Government 10 times worse than the County, and so forth. If this is true, then it would explain the condition our Country and World are in.

Thanks. I feel better now. Do we have debtor's prisons yet?

I’ll conclude by saying that, in spite of the cost, a college education is worth the time and money spent obtaining it. I believe this is true financially in the long run, but more important, for self-esteem and acquired knowledge.

How much does it cost to get a Ph.D.?

That is not a simple question, and there is no simple answer. If I assume you are asking about fees, tuition, living expenses, and are not including costs involving time and/or headaches, that simplifies your question some. Even so, you cannot forget there are monetary costs due to:

1.  Income you didn’t earn while you went to school,

2.  Income lost because of opportunities you missed while your head and body  were buried in academic work. Sticking with cash outlay costs, you will have to pay for tuition, fees, books and office supplies. These expenses vary from school to school. And there is no guarantee that you can finish the degree work in a set time.

When I went to the University of Minnesota (1950’s), an average Ph.D. degree took about 8 years.  At least half of that time was spent doing the research for the degree. It is rare that schools expect you to put in that kind of time now.

Northrup Auditorium Twin City Campus

I had to pass 2 foreign language exams, a 2-week written comprehensive exam over all subjects, and a 4 hour oral preliminary exam. At the end of my research period, I took a 4 hour exam in defense of my thesis. This was years ago and I still shudder when I think about my oral comprehensive examination. I was asked questions in German (not my native tongue), and in fields completely out of my major area of interest. Fortunately one rarely has to go through such an ordeal in this day and age. The cash expenses are bad enough. Today you should figure it will take about 4 years or so to finish your doctoral work after you get your Bachelor’s Degree.

I recommend that you shop around the different schools and determine actual cash outlays. I would also find out if there are available Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships, Scholarships, and/or an available part-time job in the department where you would work.

There is also the possibility of a student loan from some government agency. Stay away from these if you can. A $200.000 or $300,000 bill doesn’t make a good graduation present, and these loans must be paid off after you graduate.


So! Not counting living expenses, It could easily cost $20,000 to $30,000 per year to work toward a Ph.D. And it may take 4 or so years to get it.    Is it worth it? Financially?

Probably NOT!

My father-in-law was a Full Professor at the University of Minnesota and in 1950 had a salary of about $5,000 per year. A Master Plumber, at that time, made about $2,500 per year. Today a beginning College Professor makes about $40,000 per year, and a Plumber makes about $90,000 per year. And the plumber doesn’t have to pay off his school expenses.

In Industry or Government Agencies, a beginning Ph.D. will make between $35,000 to $65,000 per year. 

Oregon Coast Community College

Locally (Newport, OR) a Greeter working half time at Wal-Mart makes about as much money as a part-time Ph.D. at Oregon Coast Community College.

No one can predict salary structures over the next 30 years.

Having said all the above, would I do it again? YES!!!!

The rewards of a doctoral education are worth more to me than any cash outlays to get the degree!  If money is your only objective then the older system of learning as you work has some merit!

Conclusion:

1. Contact the school you are interested in and find out the actual expenses.

2. Talk with the person who likely be your Academic Advisor.

3. Examine all possible financial aids however and wherever they are.

4. Analyze why you want to get a Ph.D. degree in the first place.

5. Don’t be surprised if you spend between $150,000 and $200,000 to get
    through graduate school.

6. Realize that provided you satisfy basic needs, job satisfaction is probably       more important than total monies earned.

Perhaps one could reduce the cost of an education by implementing methods to improve retention of knowledge and increase the speed of learning.