[TallGuyShort]

>> That is every penny they earn is pure spending money

I never looked at it as pure spending money - it was mostly saving for an education and a start in my adult life. Might be why I'm one of the few of my generation that doesn't think the entire economy is stacked against them?

[lovich]

With the exception of a Nintendo DS, 1 game, and some beer, all of my money from 4 years of jobs went to rent,food, and the tiny little bit left over went to tuition. Anyone going to college in the past 20 years was not paying for it all with a job you could hold while going to classes

[TallGuyShort]

graduated with a B.S. 5 years ago debt-free with no help from parents. It's possible.

[lovich]

Id certainly believe that it's possible to do so. However, in the same way that anyone could be president, not everyone can be. Lots of colleges don't even have enough jobs in the area to support every student working, and the number of hours you'd have to work can prevent anyone with a difficulty major from doing so

Edit:I did say _anyone_ in the past 20 years so that is some unfortunate hyperbole on my part

[thaumasiotes]

> Lots of colleges don't even have enough jobs in the area to support every student working

This doesn't make a lot of conceptual sense. If 100,000 people move into a town of formerly-3000, they will severely outnumber the open job slots from before they moved in, but that doesn't mean no work is available for any of them. Most of them will find work just as most people everywhere find work.

Work is available to anyone who can do something productive.

[lmm]

The bar for "something productive" keeps rising though.

[pgeorgi]

Step 1: Study somewhere that is not the US ;-)

Some US based acquaintances recently discussed the college options and choices of their kids. A year at the cheapest college they discussed cost more than twice (tuition, without a room) as much as my German B.Sc. and M.Sc. combined: that is, 5 years of study (or longer - I decided to study part-time and earn real money in parallel. It costs little extra).

[bluGill]

My post was focused on those who were skipping work. As I recall the majority of the kids had enough work ethic to show up every day. They probably were saving a fair amount of their pay check, but we never discussed that.