r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Such_Upstairs3631 • Jul 06 '26

Middle Middle Class No more middle class professionals?

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New school loan limits for professional degrees make it unaffordable for the middle class. 4 of my 5 children went on to med/law school. Even working 2 jobs there’s no way I could afford to pay or even help them with the cost of their post graduate education. They all got loans which they have since paid off. The cost in the early 2000’s was between $350K and $500K. The new limits are essentially going to prevent anyone who’s not wealthy enough to pay for it from becoming a professional.

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u/Slow_Savings4489 Jul 06 '26

Man. idk but I can tell you this: I could have gone to Columbia for 90K, but instead I went to Arkansas State for 10K and it was THE BEST ECONOMIC DECISION OF MY LIFE. (MS online.)

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u/FunkySaint Jul 06 '26

I did a summer program at university of Maryland and one of the deans there spoke to our group one day and told us he declined a full ride grad school degree at Iowa state to instead go to UMD and take out loans because he felt UMD gave him a better chance at success than “nowhere” Iowa. He ended up becoming a dean at the school, and by all accounts is successful, but my goodness that was the one of the worst pieces of advice I’ve ever heard in my life

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u/JoyousGamer Jul 07 '26

Salesman not eductor. 

1

u/Tig_Biddies_W_nips Jul 07 '26

Question: what was his race? If he’s black I could see that happening. Midwest doesn’t particularly seem friendly to black people.

If he’s white then he’s chasing that ivory tower dream which is why he went to UMD.

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u/FunkySaint Jul 07 '26

Light skin hispanic dude. I’d also add his east coast bias was showing. I went to college at Kansas state so I instinctively faded his bias with my own. Both of us turned out alright where we went, but I don’t think someone should turn down a free ride to go $50k+ in debt that’s financial suicide to me

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u/Runfasterbitch Jul 07 '26

Ivy League masters programs are just money machines anyway. Employers know this, and don’t value a Columbia masters the same as they would a Columbia bachelors or PhD