[es09]

The 95$ per semester figure is for the State University at Sacramento - not for the community college. The current fees work out to ~5500$ per semester[1] for the same university.

[1] http://www.calstate.edu/budget/student-fees/fee-rates/sacram...

[danielweber]

Probably not a coincidence, at all, that $5500 is just under the Pell grant amount.

[learc83]

The Pell grant limit is per year. The $5500 is per semester, so the total yearly tuition is about 2x what the Pell grant pays.

[kghose]

To put that into further perspective, it costs us about $20000/year for day care for our baby. This is near Boston.

[learc83]

So you have to make close to $30k before taxes to pay for day care? Is this normal for daycare?

If one parent in a situation like this is making around the median individual income of ~$40k a year, it probably makes more sense financially to not work until the kid is school age.

Obviously it's not that simple because of potential lost future earnings resulting from delayed career advancement, but I wonder if people really bother doing the math.

[jerven]

Different country similar issue. Yes people do the math, once the baby is there.

[steauengeglase]

Wait, so between $327 and $587 (wonky 70s inflation) a semester in today's dollars? I'd have killed for that.

[winter_blue]

Between $327 and $587 per unit or credit, is extremely common for state universities. You generally have to be resident in the state for at least a year, to qualify.

For example, tuition at Stony Brook[1] costs $6,170 annually. At 30 credits a year (15 per semester), that's $205 per unit/credit.

You'll find that tuition in most state universities are around that range, across the country.

[1] http://www.stonybrook.edu/undergraduate-admissions/cost-and-...

[learc83]

Mandatory fees add another $2,260 annually though. Doesn't really change your point, but it's not quite that cheap.