The Masters Trap

[ss20ts]

SANANTONE: Why don't we talk about how these students think they're too good to get a master's degree for less than $20k at a state university?

EXACTLY!! Why are we giving loans for people to go an expensive private school in an expensive city? This just seems insane to me.  There are FAR cheaper options, and yet we're supposed to feel sorry for these people?

Many people don't live anywhere near a state university. All state university systems don't have a huge variety of degrees available online either. The closest state school that offers grad degrees to me is an hour and a half away in good weather. Tuition/fees/books for fall and spring taking 6 credits is over $12K. It's a 2 year program for their MBA. It's over $24K. Plus the time and expenses of traveling that far. Additionally, we have real winter here with blizzards and road closures quite frequently in the winter. It could easily take over 3 hours to get there and back home in just a few inches of snow. Most people who have jobs don't have the time available to commute an hour plus each way multiple times a week. 

There's a certain prestige that comes from graduating from a school such as NYU. Now if you're a social worker, that prestige is probably useless. However if you want to become a playwright or screenwriter, this school does open a lot of doors for you. The typical local state school will not open the same doors as NYU which is in the middle of a huge filming district in NYC. 

The number of people who graduate from these expensive programs is minuscule compared to the total number of graduate school graduates. This article is about a few people. Many people who attend schools such as NYU don't come out with a heavy debt load because they came from families who could financially help out. Everyone doesn't have that luxury in life.