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>Public universities are super cheap - in my state (Massachusetts), UMass Amherst is less than 10k a year if you graduate with above a certain (easy to attain) GPA.

I went to UMass Amherst, and thus so did most of my undergrad friends. Only my fiancee received any kind of large scholarship for the GPA she attained in high school that put her anywhere under $10k/year.

Some of us received Commonwealth College merit scholarships, but those generally amounted to $5000/year and required that you maintain a certain GPA while at UMass, while also imposing extra academic requirements.

Further, UMass currently lists itself as costing $25k/year for in-state undergrads[1].

[1] -- http://www.umass.edu/umfa/undergraduates/costs

I think there was also some sort of MCAS requirement - I just know that myself and many of my friends were granted the opportunity to go to UMass for nearly free (basically just housing) based upon our GPA / MCAS. I think the John and Abigail Adams scholarship [1] is what we received offers for.

[1] http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/adams.html

I’m trying to find a polite way of expressing this, but your sense of affordability and ease of access is… not based in a lot of people’s reality.

With 0% interest loans (lots are available for students), 10k tuition + 10k a year in living sounds pretty reasonable considering that college graduates make about 98% more per hour [1] on average than those with only high school diplomas. Not to mention that if you're doing something in CS, you could pretty easily pay off each year by doing extra work on the side / through summer internships.

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/upshot/is-college-worth-it...

What is not-affordable about this? If a college costs $10k + $10k cost of living each year that's $20k a year in spending.

Working 20 hour weeks (not uncommon) covers $8-10k of that - so the total debt load is around $40-50k after 4 years. This can be paid off on a $40k a year salary given a desire to spend money wisely.

Working 20 hours a week with full (4 year grad) class load in STEM? No way, no way at all.

I think it is very feasible: in college you have opportunities for jobs where you can effectively get paid to study. I worked as: the greeter/pool ball distributor in my dorm every other weekend, the monitor in the cafeteria/study hall/student area one or two nights a week, and in the concession stand at events (only busy during breaks), and between those gigs I netted 20 or more hours a week. Almost all of this time was dedicated study time. I was frankly amazed at how few of these opportunities students took advantage off – every building and every dorm room had similar jobs and I was always able to pick up extra hours if I needed to. I had a few entrepreneurial friends that also worked night shifts at 7/11s or the front desks of nursing homes who were also able to get paid to study all through college. With the exception of the 7/11 gigs, studying was always encouraged. My impression was that college students felt these jobs were beneath them and/or did not take the time to seek them out. Once I entered law school the first thing I did was find a similar job – working the front desk at the law library during the night shift...

Really? I did it. And yes, it was a STEM degree.

Hell, you can work 16 hours just on the weekend which still leaves your week free. And you can work all summer. I graduated with zero loans.

For most people, it won't be possible. Even if it is possible, it shouldn't be. If you can work that much (and take all your weekends off schoolwork), then you aren't taking challenging enough courses, and aren't getting your money's worth out of your education. School is a full-time job (and more).

I really hate the "I did it so others can to" arguments. Some people are capable of that... the point is that there are is another entire class of people who are almost capable. Besides, the case today is usually that you take on that 40k in debt and then can't find a job. Good luck even supporting yourself at your minimum wage job, much less paying any loans off.

Must have been very fun and rewarding. Are you suggesting this is how humans should live?

> If a college costs $10k + $10k cost of living each year that's $20k a year in spending.

It depends on the college; mine lists a cost of attendance of $66k/year. Of course, one can argue that one should choose a college based on financial capability; but then, are you also trading quality of education, and does that affect your later chances of a job in your field…

Also, from what I've seen, some people are able to get vastly better loans than others; in my experience, the interest rate can vary by up to 3x, with poorer families getting the higher rates, as they're supposedly riskier to loan to; I've seen this even in the case of a student with a good track record going into a major that would provide him a good salary upon graduation (and at a school that requires paid co-ops, so he'll be getting resume experience and pay soon, hopefully).

Lets see, 10000/(4820) = 10.42/hour in take home* pay. I don't know how realistic it is to make over minimum wage, part-time in most of the US college towns -- but surely it's not tax-free? Would one need any health insurance, or does the employer/college cover that (for while at work/at school resp)?

A quick Google says average student debt load is around $30k. If you consider a $40-50k debt load to be acceptable, then there is no problem to begin with.

State flagships schools generally cost $22-25k/year, including UMass Amherst actually: https://www.umass.edu/umfa/undergraduates/costs

Right, I guess I'm assuming that students receive scholarships, which isn't at all unreasonable at state schools like UMass or UVM (don't know about other areas). Most of my friends going to UVM / UMass are going for free (only have to pay for housing).

    UC Berkeley

You're looking at around $27,000 or more per year.

http://admissions.berkeley.edu/costofattendance

That includes housing. Whether or not you're going to school you need to pay for housing.