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by acmiller 4451 days ago
I went to Wesleyan, and I graduated with only five semesters on campus in part to keep costs down. So, I appreciate the purpose behind this policy.

However, it doesn't change the fact that tuition is almost $47k/year, which is just a staggering amount of money for most families. And that's before room and board, etc. Forcing someone to cram four years of college into three to save 20% on $240k+ isn't especially helpful.

2 comments

I messed around in high school and didn't apply to the right schools and scholarships, so I ended up having to pick a reputed private school. In order to make up for it, I did my BS in math in 5 semesters by taking 23 to 27 credits per semester. The extra credits were free since I maintained a very high GPA.

I saved a ton of money on tuition, but if you factor in the opportunity cost of also earning money and experience, shaving a year off of college is easily worth $100k+ if you have to pay anywhere close to sticker price at a private college.

If you have the ability to do it, I highly suggesting graduating as soon as possible. I think England has a better system than America, with the 3 year degree in relevant course material. If I had to do it again, I would get the scholarship, do my Bachelors and do a Masters or maybe even a PhD. With the rising costs, I don't see how 4 year makes sense anymore.

Wow impressive! I agree, Wesleyan is really expensive which I understand it to be a function of "communism in action," in which the school's bulk of annual funds is funded by tuition and re-funneled to financial aid. So you as a full-pay student were really subsidizing a financial aid student like me, so thank you for your help, sir.