If College Tuition is seen as an investment vehicle by Parents, Which UC School is the best investment?

[panda]

Anyone here attend a 2 year community college and transfer to UC Berkeley or UCLA? From an investment standpoint, how did you feel about the ROI going this route? Suppose your son or daughter gets admitted to USC. Does the cost of attendance of USC of $90,921 / year which equates to $363,684 for 4 years seems like a good investment to you?

 

[OCtoSV]

We have a family friend whose oldest son barely graduated HS, got his act together with 2 years at a Bay area JC and got into Cal and UCLA, graduating from Cal. UC loves to admit those types of transfers. His ethnicity is from the Levant so no affirmative action working in his favor.

 

[panda]

@OCtoSV,

That is awesome! That seems like a great ROI for your family friend which will put them in a strong financial position to retire earlier than later. Their college costs was probably less then $80,000 to graduate from the best UC school in California with zero school debt. Compare that costs to a $363,684 price tag to send your child to USC. Yikes!

 

[OCtoSV]

@OCtoSV,

That is awesome! That seems like a great ROI for your family friend which will put them in a strong financial position to retire earlier than later. Their college costs was probably less then $80,000 to graduate from the best UC school in California with zero school debt. Compare that costs to a $363,684 price tag to send your child to USC. Yikes!

These friends are the wealthiest people we know so money never factored in. They recently spent 5 years bulding a 15,000 sq ft palace here in San Jose. The dad is brilliant and his sole wish is to help his kids achieve success. His son's turnaround was the greatest gift ever for him and his wife.

 

[morekaos]

@OCtoSV,

That is awesome! That seems like a great ROI for your family friend which will put them in a strong financial position to retire earlier than later. Their college costs was probably less then $80,000 to graduate from the best UC school in California with zero school debt. Compare that costs to a $363,684 price tag to send your child to USC. Yikes!

Or try Pepperdine, around $78,000 a year basic tuition not including living costs. As smart as my daughter is, I’ll never see a buck back on that investment.

 

[panda]

These friends are the wealthiest people we know so money never factored in. They recently spent 5 years bulding a 15,000 sq ft palace here in San Jose. The dad is brilliant and his sole wish is to help his kids achieve success. His son's turnaround was the greatest gift ever for him and his wife.

@OCtoSV,

Think about what you just said. This family is the wealthiest people you know where money isn't an issue. The son graduated from the top UC school for less than $80k going the JC route. Even if son goto into USC as a high school senior, the $360k 4 year tuition would be an amount dad can easily pay out of pocket without much financial implication to his overall wealth. Your friend seems to be brilliant and a prudent person. Perhaps this is one the reasons he is one of the wealthiest people you know.

 

[panda]

Or try Pepperdine, around $78,000 a year basic tuition not including living costs. As smart as my daughter is, I’ll never see a buck back on that investment.

@morekaos,
You are genius when it comes to investing in the stock market, but how come you didn't take the same investment approach to your daughter's college tuition?

 

[morekaos]

thanks panda, but truthfully, as has been spelled out in one of the other threads, this wasn’t her first choice. Finance wasn’t exactly the motivator in what school she picked. I was fortunate enough as a child, from a family of six, that our parents would send us to any school we wanted to for our undergraduate and pick up the whole tab, postgraduate was on us. My whole family went to either UCLA or USC. That’s the bargain I made with my kids too.

 

[OCtoSV]

@OCtoSV,

Think about what you just said. This family is the wealthiest people you know where money isn't an issue. The son graduated from the top UC school for less than $80k going the JC route. Even if son goto into USC as a high school senior, the $360k 4 year tuition would be an amount dad can easily pay out of pocket without much financial implication to his overall wealth. Your friend seems to be brilliant and a prudent person. Perhaps this is one the reasons he is one of the wealthiest people you know.

He put everything on the line in 99 to buy an apt bldg in SJC after he left a career running a factory for one of the Detroit automakers and then built a sort of distribution business. His son had not other option, but the JC route is not optimal in my eyes as missing out on the first 2 years of college and the social experience/resilience building is a big price to pay. That oppty only comes once in your life.

 

[momopi]

UCLA has superior brand recognition abroad. So if you think your kid might consider career opportunities abroad, having a degree from UCLA may provide a competitive advantage. However, admissions today is more difficult than before.