OFI 1865: College Is Absolutely Affordable And You Can Even Go Out Of State

We are 8 months into profiling agricultural colleges. I believe that we are dispelling some myths and uncovering some opportunities for the student who wants to pursue a future in agriculture. In today’s I’ll try to summarize what I have learned in the past 8 months.

Common Belief
- College is very expensive
- You will be saddled with debt
Actual Facts
- Average 4 year degree costs $104,000
- You can actually do it for $60,000 as a non-resident
  - Lowest non-resident university cost I have found so far is $22,000/year (2 years = $44,000)
  - Lowest non-resident junior college cost I have found so far is $8,000 (2 years = $16,000)
  - College Of The Ozarks
- That’s $15,000/year to cash flow this
  - At $15/hour that is 1,000 hours of work per year, less than half time
  - If you averaged 16 hours per week during 9 months of school and 40 hours per week during break time = $15,840
  - Haven’t even factored in scholarships
The College Experience
- What I am proposing may not be sexy, but by the end you will just want to finish
- And the real college experience is making lifelong friends (three stages – childhood, high school and finally college) – this is where you will make them and after college this will diminish
If you plan to go out of state at the beginning or end
- Ask about non-resident tuition waivers
- Make sure credits will transfer
What’s the Difference between huge universities and smaller universities?
- Less expensive schools tend to be more pragmatic while more expensive schools offer more research opportunities at the undergraduate level.
Who Cares
- There are more opportunities than graduates – so nobody is going to care what university you attended.