On 2022-12-23 12:38, Steve Litt via PLUG-discuss wrote:
> Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss said on Fri, 23 Dec 2022 08:33:55 -0700
> 
>> In 1978 the UofA was charging $275 a semester.
> 
> Was that per credit hour, per class, or for all classes taken in a
> semester? If the latter, it was a darned good deal, because in Chicago
> at least, rent was about $190/month, so this was a lot less than rent
> would have been. In other words, if you could afford rent, you probably
> could have afforded $275/semester.

That was per semester.  I decided to go to JC and it cost me $100 a 
semester for tuition and $100 a semester for books.

I rented a guest house that was probably 400sf, which was really nice, 
for $125/month and my gas and electric was around $35/month combined.  I 
did not have a phone.

To put that in perspective the summer of 1979 I bought a 1969 SS 396 
4-speed Chevelle for $1250.

I had a decent full-time job and I was able to clear $585/month.


> 
> 1982-1989 I took classes at Santa Monica Community College (SMC) in
> Santa Monica, California. I paid $20/class-semester.

Cheap!!

> Yeah, that's right,
> somebody could have given up cigarettes or coffee or booze and afforded
> to get educated. Sounds like communism, right? There was a method to
> California's madness. At SMC I learned programming and within 2 years
> tripled my income, which means I probably paid six times more state
> taxes than I had before going to SMC. Both California and I laughed all
> the way to the bank. There was a single mother in my Microprocessors
> class who was on welfare. She got her 2 year degree, and instead of
> being on welfare she made a lot of money, so the state stopped paying
> for her and started getting a lot of money from her. She, her child,
> and California laughed all the way to the bank.
> 

I heard story like this.  A woman with 3 kids on welfare went to the JC 
and became a registered nurse....


> The beauty of community colleges is the classes are taught be real
> professionals who do by day and teach by night. You learn the real
> deal, not theory.
> 

I like that!!

> This is not to day that 4 year colleges are *completely* useless. For
> those few students who want to do a deep dive into theory and can use
> such theory to excel. I'd put Trent, who already has a math degree, in
> this category of students. Armed with his math knowledge, he could
> program things I never could. Also, his math knowledge would make him
> great with functional programming.
> 

I ran into a guy around 1988 that said he studied math because it was 
the only way he could get access to computers.

> As for myself, even though I got a 4 year degree in Electrical
> Engineering right out of high school, I owe my success to Santa Monica
> Community College, that cost me $20/class-semester.
> 

I'd say you got your money's worth.

> SteveT
> 
> Steve Litt
> Autumn 2022 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/thrive.htm
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