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jen 07:14 PM 10-03-2012
Originally Posted by momofboys:
My husband & I both have 4-year-degrees & while we are not poor we have 3 children & my income is not very substantial. We probably get more back than we put into the system simply because we have 3 kids & primarily live on my DH's income (which despite our college degrees still puts us in very low middle class - we would qualify for reduced lunches at my kids' school if we applied but I know there is always someone who is in need more than we are!). I do realize the cost of education has skyrocketed - I want our boys to go to college. But if that means they have to go to comunity college for 2 years I am fine with that. They also will have to get wonderful grades and/or excel at a sport (scholarship, etc). If that does not happen then college may have to go on the backburner because honestly I don't think it is right to enter into something thinking you can get out of paying for it. Simply put - if you can't afford it then don't go. I am all for individuals excelling & being the best they can but education is not free. JMHO!
Yep, and I respect that. Personally, I want my kids to go to college (actually, I have one in college) and I want them to go when they graduatefrom HS . I want that for them, and I want it for our society. I get that you personally don't contribute to the system at this point, but the fact is, college grads statistically DO pay in more.

"Earning more also means paying more taxes. A College Board report in 2007 claims that a college graduate will pay 134 percent in federal income tax and 80 percent more in federal, state and local taxes than someone who does not graduate high school. This amounts to $60,000 over a lifetime."

"The report titled "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings" (.pdf) reveals that over an adult's working life, high school graduates can expect, on average, to earn $1.2 million; those with a bachelor's degree, $2.1 million; and people with a master's degree, $2.5 million.

Persons with doctoral degrees earn an average of $3.4 million during their working life, while those with professional degrees do best at $4.4 million."