Students Should Not Go To Their Dream University

Instead, they should learn the consequences of student debt and choose the most affordable option available

As a teacher that works in a low-income school district, I find it appalling students are encouraged to attend their dream university without knowing the consequences that come with it.

There are currently forty-five million borrowers of student debt, totaling a whopping $1.6 trillion. That’s an average of $35,000 per student. That accounts for six percent of all American debt, which currently stands at $26.5 trillion. Adults need to stop pushing students to go to their dream university because most kids don’t know the value of money.

The difficult choices teens make

In high school, I chose between attending an out-of-state university, where I would pay triple the cost of in-state tuition, or attend the local one.

While I dreamed of attending the out-of-state university, I painfully chose to go local. My favorite teachers were disappointed when I gave them the news.

I discovered during graduation the valedictorian and salutatorian from my graduating class would also attend the same local university I would attend. I silently judged them for it.

I assumed they would attend a more prestigious university since their GPA would allow them to be accepted everywhere.

I assumed they were lazy and not up for attending a university where professors would likely challenge their minds.

Ten years later, after reading several books about investing and building wealth, I came upon a realization. The reason they chose to attend a local university was not laziness.

They attended a local university because that’s what they could afford. They refused to go into debt.

Let’s look at a real-world example

Low-income students who apply for the FAFSA typically receive a maximum of $5,500 per semester from a federal and state grant.

A student who attends the University of Texas at Austin will pay $5,200 per semester in tuition alone. That does not include housing, books, or living expenses.

It is impossible to survive on the leftover grant money, which accounts for $300 over four months.

What options do students have?

There are three options. Students can take out a loan, have their parents give or lend them money, or find a job that will provide them with a decent wage to sustain themselves.

Hold on. There’s a fourth option. Students can attend a local university or college instead! In Texas, there are fourteen colleges where in-state tuition is below $5,000, and five of those are below $4,000.

Students will find these options much more affordable, as opposed to attending their dream university.

In Texas, half of all college students owe debt, which stands at an average of $26,000. For students who come from low-income backgrounds, attending a more affordable university is a wise choice.

For students whose parents come from a middle-class or upper-class income, they should attend a university based on whatever their parents can afford, or attend a university where the student can get by using scholarships and grants.

While this is not guaranteed for everyone, the message still stands. If students can avoid going into debt by attending a less expensive option, they should.

Costs vs. Credibility

While a person could argue the cost of the university determines its reputation and the credibility of its professors, does it matter?

Let me tell you a joke. Two teachers arrive at school. One attended a prestigious university and went into debt to do so, the other graduated from the local university a few miles away and owes nothing.

Guess who desperately needs the job more? If you guessed the former, you would be correct!

I once overheard an administrator bragging how one of their teachers is a Harvard graduate. That administrator said he hoped students would aspire to be like that teacher and attend Ivy League or prestigious schools as well.

The first question that came to my head was, why are they a teacher with a degree from Harvard? Education degrees are available at almost every university in the nation. Why not attend a more affordable school?

As Dave Ramsey put it, “Spending $100,000 to get a degree to be a $30,000-a-year social worker qualifies on the stupid scale.”

I find it appalling when I ask a student what university they will attend, only for them to be embarrassed to say they are attending the local community college a few miles away.

I asked if they received the full FAFSA grant, to which they did. I tell them they ought to be proud. They are one of the few college students who will graduate debt-free.

While I do support students following their dreams, I am more of a realist. If you cannot afford college tuition, find a less expensive school to attend instead.

The biggest mistake for an eighteen-year-old to make is to borrow money. They will become used to living in debt and never experience freedom from it.

Long-term, being debt-free creates wealth

I recently talked to the salutatorian from my graduating class. I asked him for advice about purchasing a home since he began teaching two years before I did, and purchased a home well over a year ago.

He let me know he had applied to dozens of scholarships, several of which he received. He said he saved the extra money while attending university, and once he graduated, continued to save it and a majority of his teacher paycheck for a whole year.

This allowed him to put a sizeable down payment on a house, which lowered his monthly payment. His goal is to pay off his mortgage in ten years.

He will be debt-free before the age of 40.

Meanwhile, students I know who attended expensive universities and applied for loans will likely not escape debt until retirement, all because they accepted going into debt to attend their dream university.

When provided with options, students choose to be debt-free

I often ask students what field of study interests them. One will say they want to be a teacher, another a lawyer, another a cinematographer, another a medical assistant.

The next question I ask is how much debt they are willing to go into to graduate with that degree. Not one person answered the question.

I introduce them to the cost of in-state tuition and ask if they would be willing to pay for it cash. All of them say “hell no”. I teach 10th graders, none of whom have jobs, so their answer was expected.

I ask them to choose between taking out a loan to attend their dream university or choosing a more affordable option. After presenting them with the data, they usually choose the more affordable option.

Teens need to learn the value of money

It’s disappointing that some teachers actively encourage students to attend their dream university because eighteen-year-olds do not know the value of money.

They won’t learn the value of money once they work a 9–5 job. They won’t learn the value of money as they pay off their debt. They learn the value of money once they are debt-free, and being debt-free is a beautiful feeling.

Parents and teachers alike should teach students basic financial literacy skills, like career preparation, money management, saving, and investing. Once students learn financial literacy, they can apply those skills and budget wisely.

They will learn on their own what universities they can afford while keeping themselves from going into debt as much as possible.

Unfortunately, because many teachers I work with are currently in debt, it is a scenario that likely will not happen for many years.

Click here if you’d like unlimited access to more of my writing and everything else on Medium. Note this is an affiliate link, and I will receive a portion of your membership fees, which helps support my writing!