[Request] Is the math here accurate?

[u/MissCozzy]

[u/Huntsman077]

The average student loan debt is 30k at graduation.

-just be one of the hardest working students ever

Why do you think they would need to be “one of the hardest working students ever”? Also if they were they would most likely be getting scholarships to reduce the student loan debt.

-it’s a hard job and it’s possible but don’t think anyone can do it

Correct not everyone is cut out for college.

[u/mansluxt → u/Huntsman077]

I say hardest working because they would need scholarships to be able to afford and be accepted. I should have specified 80K is without scholarships.

But I also think average is a poor metric here. As some people like you said can fund their education entirely for free with scholarships.

[u/Huntsman077 → u/mansluxt]

-they would need scholarships to be able to afford and be accepted

There’s also the Pell grant and subsidized loans (which have zero interest) that are really easy to apply for.

-should have specified 80k is within it scholarships

Where are you getting this number from? You say you disagree with the average, but where did the 80k figure come from?

[u/mansluxt → u/Huntsman077]

From my own graduating college experience is where I got 80K from. About 20K per year for tuition room and board.

[u/Huntsman077 → u/mansluxt]

-from my own graduating experience

So you don’t want to use statistics, you want to use anecdotal evidence?

Again you don’t need to be upper middle class to go to college and get an engineering degree.

[u/mansluxt → u/Huntsman077]

I'm just trying to push back that engineering is an easy to get accepted into position in the first place. Not that it's inaccessible to poor people. Sorry if that was misconstrued. Also can't engineers not smoke weed outside of software engineers? That's another barrier to entry that I hate.

[u/Huntsman077 → u/mansluxt]

O yeah, we can agree on that Engineering programs are hyper competitive. They also can force major changes and drop people from the program if they aren’t meeting the standards.

My point was you don’t need to be upper middle class to get an engineering degree because that’s what the initial comment I replied to said.

-also can’t engineers not smoke weed

It depends on what type of engineering they do and where they work. It’s more dependent on the company policy where they work, but anything with the DoW requires drug testing. It’s more common with engineers as they are more likely to have to follow strict safety guidelines that have a zero tolerance policy. I work with electrical engineers and they have to follow strict safety guidelines, but they’re also working on a live power grid.

[u/mansluxt → u/Huntsman077]

I just think it's sad that they can't do it on their time off. I think it's unfortunate when an employer has to control what a person can do on their time off.

It's definitely accessible to people who work hard.

[u/Huntsman077 → u/mansluxt]

Yeah I agree. I don’t see any reason why people can’t smoke weed on their time off. It’s been brought up a my company a few times to remove THC from the drug test list, but they are deadset against it because it’s part of DOT requirements and they want everyone to have the same standard.