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07/16/2005 08:08:37 PM · #1 |
Ok here̢۪s the situation. Someone I know wants to and has enrolled at phoenix online. She has only gone for 3 weeks. She is taking Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. It is a 54 Credit course and with the under graduate classes she will have to take 50 courses to complete.
She goes to school one night a week (4 hours) and the rest is online. Each course is 5 weeks long. So she only spends 20 hours on campus and the rest online and the tuition is $1014 per course. This is not counting the books she has to purchase every 5 weeks.
She qualified for student loans to cover the cost but I am trying to show here how much she will have to pay back and what a large loan payment she will have. She is wanting to take this course to move up in her company so I̢۪m showing here this because if she has to payback more than the increase in pay (if she moves up in her company) to cover the cost of repayment.
This is what I have figured out:
50 courses at $1014 = $50700 and I went to the student loan calculator and put in $50,700 at the set interest rate because that is what is stated on her award letters. It shows here payment would be $621.85 per month for 10 years to repay at a total with interest of $74,621.78.
Do any of you feel this is to much money for:
1. An online university that you only go to school one day a week for 4 hours.
2. And too much money just to try to move up in her company. She would have to increase her pay by $7462 a year just to break even for 10 years.
I̢۪m all for her going to college but I do not feel a 1 day a week online college is worth $74K. Please any advice would be grateful.
Message edited by author 2005-07-17 00:27:29. |
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07/16/2005 08:11:36 PM · #2 |
Does she have to take 50 courses or 50 credit-hours?
-Terry
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07/16/2005 08:13:45 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:
Does she have to take 50 courses or 50 credit-hours?
-Terry |
50 different courses (5 weeks each) to complete the degree. |
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07/16/2005 08:14:43 PM · #4 |
WWWAaaayyyyy too much money.
I work at a community collge and I deal with Financial Aid every day. (the free stuff you don't have to pay back) She needs to look at a University close to her as most of them are offering their classes online. I'm assuming she has already finished her 2 year degree and is just wanting to finish the last two for her bachelors? An example is FSU (Florida State University) offers their Business Ad degree on a 2 year rotational(if you attending the off campus one in Panama City). Last I heard (I haven't researched it myself, but can) it was implemented to be offered online. Where is state is your friend located in? Another example....for Floridians...you can go to www.facts.org and look up different unversities/comm. colleges to see what they offer inhouse or online. You can search by school, class, degree, etc.
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07/16/2005 08:17:26 PM · #5 |
If she's taking 50 credits that is allmost a 2 year degree...if she's taking 50 courses she's starting from the beginning....she would save a LOT more money starting out at a community college. Example....lets says she goes full time (12 cr. hours) and was eligible for the full pell....that would be $2025 per sememster. That would cover tuition, books and leave you money leftover for daycare, gas, supplies, etc. NO student loans needed, unless you plan on quiting your job and trying to just go to school.
P.S. I had looked at Phoenix online awhile back (probably about 2 years ago) and compared it to community college and when I spoke with their fin. aid advisor/counselor and told her it was atrocious for the cost especially compared to a community college she said it cost a lot more because it was all offered online..... Not so anymore....online is the "IN" thing with comm. colleges and universities.
Message edited by author 2005-07-17 00:19:31. |
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07/16/2005 08:19:04 PM · #6 |
For $1014 a course, I would expect a limo to deliver me an pick me up from class.
That is insane. I daresay she could probably get the same degree at a college or tech school close to her for a lot less money. And a lot of the colleges/universities are getting into the distance learning thing.
I think Phoenix could charge that much if they were the only ones doing it. But, so many more are gettng "on the scene" they are going to price themselves out of online studetns. |
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07/16/2005 08:19:35 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by colyla:
If she's taking 50 credits that is allmost a 2 year degree...if she's taking 50 courses she's starting from the beginning....she would save a LOT more money starting out at a community college. Example....lets says she goes full time (12 cr. hours) and was eligible for the full pell....that would be $2025 per sememster. That would cover tuition, books and leave you money leftover for daycare, gas, supplies, etc. NO student loans needed, unless you plan on quiting your job and trying to just go to school. |
They are telling her that they keep the money because they don't go by semesters they go by courses and that every 5 weeks. So all the money quoted will be going to pay for tuition. None left over for any expenses including books. |
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07/16/2005 08:32:41 PM · #8 |
Master's classes are under $1000 for a 3 credit class and theyre a semester long. They keep the money....because they can. If I remember correctly you could get the pell grant...they kept all the money PLUS you had to have a studen loan (which you pay back) to help pay for it. Big time rip-off. Unfortunately a lot of people aren't aware of this. Each state, depending on what their legislature votes on, has different tuition prices. At the college I go to, starting this fall, a 3 credit class is under $200. You take 12 credits (full time) and that is approximately $800 and then your books, which can run high when you're going full time, about $400 (depending on classes, math and natural science class books are more expensive)
Do the math and you have approximately $800-$1000 leftover.....most of my students have a little less because they buy their supplies, backpacks, etc with their pell. (again, all depends on what student buys with their pell at the school)
Message edited by author 2005-07-17 00:35:07. |
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07/16/2005 08:33:05 PM · #9 |
Got to go to bed. Please post your comments on this. I would like for her to see a non bias point of view. Thanks for your comments.
Scott W. |
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07/16/2005 09:02:57 PM · #10 |
Is this fin aid through the Federal government? Sounds like a financing scam through the school. I know my student loan was %8.25, but I refinanced them recently and reduced my rate to %3.25.
There are lot of options that are nowhere near as expensive and certainly workable for part-time students. Look at public universities, a lot of them are also involved in distance/online education. If she doesn't have dependents, she might be better of just going to school full time and working part time. That's basically what I did when I changed careers. I was able to complete a 4 year engineering program in 3 years.
Her company may not, but a lot of companies will pay for school as long as it's related to their work and they get decent grades. For as much as that school will cost and if she's really serious about it, it might be worth looking for a job at a company the WILL support her educational goals.
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07/16/2005 09:07:07 PM · #11 |
does her company offer a tuition reimbursment program? A lot of companies offer this but usually has some limitations. It is worth checking into
James |
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07/16/2005 10:06:13 PM · #12 |
| I think she should definitely look at other options than UoP. I took my final 2 classes of my B.S. through UoP online and spent approx. $2500 for the classes and books. That's more that a year at most CC's and depending on the state and their in-state tuition rates, could be as much as a full year at a uni. I read an analysis (can't remember where) of the schools like UoP, Devry, ITT, etc. and all of them were quite low in return on investment. UoP was one of the better ones, but those schools still don't provide any noticeable better job opportunitites and income potential, and cost a hell of a lot more. |
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07/16/2005 10:48:10 PM · #13 |
| that is insane. I pay less than that and i go to (not to toot a horn but to illustrate a point) one of the 10 best public universities in the country (according to us news n world report or princeton review i forget). I pay in state tuition but yeah, i take 18 hours a semester (6 courses) and i can tell u a semester's tuition alone is not more than 6k. |
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07/17/2005 04:55:05 AM · #14 |
Hey Scott. 50K may not be that bad of a payment to pay back. I know the 'rules' say you have 10 yrs to pay back the loan, but that is if you do NOT consolidate your loans. I consolidated just before the July 1st intrest rate increase. I got a 1.4% intrest rate and if I make all my payments on time for 3 years I get a.5% decrease in the rate and at that time I can start doing direct deposit and get another .25% rate decrease. I have over $180,000 in student loans (costs alot to be a Dr. nowdays) and the payments are very reasonable. I have not been in practice very long and I am already making double payments. I agree with Colyla that it does seem like alot of money. I went to a Junior College for 2 yrs before I got both B.S. degrees, my Masters and D.C. degree.....the local community college is MUCH MUCH cheaper. What I paid for my ENTIRE semester at the Jr. college which was 18 hrs, wil not pay for a 2 credit class from where I got my D.C. I would tell her to shop around, b/c college is a big bussiness.
I hope this helped, although I might have confused you more with my endless jabbering. Later man.
p.s. Where are you in Georgia anyways? I'm from N. GA and practice ther as well.
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07/17/2005 05:04:19 AM · #15 |
I am just three classes from completeing my BS in Business Management through UoP (I like to call it UoPeepee). I don't recommend this institution to anyone. The quality of education sucks for the price you pay. I'd jump ship and go to AIU (like a lot of my friends) but I'm so close to finishing the headache isn't worth it. When I first started with UoP it was good, but it has gone down hill since then.
By the sounds of it she is hat is called "Flexnet" I haven't taken that kind of course, I'm fully online. If she wants to discuss alternatives to UoP have her email me at Nathan.Wert@Gmail.com and I can hook her up with some people that have all sorts of alternatives to UoPeepee (AIU, Strayer, etc...)
She can also subscribe to the public newsgroups on the University of Phoenix servers and read the threads that are posted there constantly. Specifically, the OLS-Student-Lounge.Chat-Lounge or the OLS-Student-Lounge.New-Students newsgroups. If she has a problem accessing them she should call UoP's tech support at 1-877-832-4867 and they can set her up with the OLS lounges. |
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07/17/2005 05:25:10 AM · #16 |
All I can say is thank god I have paid back my student loans quickly.
You always think the payments will be small and easy enough to handle but unless you are getting a degree where guranteed salary growth is present over time.. ie Dr, Lawyer etc. Student Loans are big commitment for a young person to have.
My only advice is the minute you get that rolled up peice of paper in your hand and start to work, continue to live like a poor student and try and get those things paid of ASAP. When it comes times to buy a house etc having them paid off will make life much easier. |
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07/17/2005 06:57:37 AM · #17 |
The point I am trying to make to here is that $50,000 of student loans would go along way at a college not an on-line university that she only attends 1 night a week for 4 hours.
We have Columbus State University here where she could go to school and even qualify for the HOPE scholarship (Phoenix on-line does not qualify because they have not been here for 10 years).
She gets Pell of $2,000+ and would get the HOPE at around $4,000 then work with the student loans. Let the grants pay for most of the tuition and keep the loans to a minimum.
I just don't see how in 3 years she could earn here Bachelors Degree in Business Administration only going to school one night a week for 4 hours and packing each course in to a 5 week period. Each course earns here 3 credits. How much can one learn and retain from just 20 hours? They give her no help outside that 20 hours except telling students to get into a team of 4 and meet on a particular night (of campus, such as the library) for a 1 1/2 and go over there work.
Now $50k in loans is not a lot if your going to be a doctor, lawyer, and other high paying carriers. But this is just to add the title of BA degree behind her name hoping to move up in her company. Which I hope she does and succeeds.
A friend of mine son goes to Georgia University to be come a dentist. And did you know his tuition and student loans are less than my friends. That is the point I am trying to make to her.
I mean look at it this way. For
1 course ---- $1014 ---- 5 Weeks = $208.50 a week.
For that money she could go to Columbus State University or Columbus Technical College (both within 5 miles of her house) and earn the same degree at about 1/3 the cost. And $0.00 student loans. The Pell and Hope would pay for tuition and books. Plus her company would pay up to $1,500 a year (based on GPA).
Message edited by author 2005-07-17 11:02:38. |
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07/17/2005 08:47:57 AM · #18 |
Agreed. It is very expensive.
My 4 years split between University of Kansas and another smaller state school was 25k USD. That was of course 7 years ago. I suppose it the same degree now woould cost about 35k with inflation.
Funny thing is I think I spent more money on beer, smoke and taco bell over those 4 years hahah
God what fun times. |
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