Online grads sue USC

[KSoul]

I was talking about Tuition and ROI; I used annual income potential by leveraging alums to support my point. It seemed pretty straightforward, but I hope this helps.

[michaeladsmith2]

I'll make mine short: $100,000 is way too high for ANY teaching degree (Masters or Doctorate) when teaching salaries are nowhere near the ROI at USC. Especially if you are a recent grad with little to moderate experience still on the low to middle spectrum of the salary. Most teachers, some administrators are between $43K - $88K in California, with the medium at $60K. I would NEVER spend $100,000 on a teaching degree with no possibility of making enough over time to pay that off.

$88K is an educator with over 20-25 years experience, maybe a dual income (married), a strong retirement 401K already established and a few years shy of retirement. Spending that kind of money just for rankings and a "USC" moniker on your diploma is foolish and absolutely unwise. There are far more economical schools that offer great education programs than USC. 

ACE (American College of Education) offers a Masters for under $9,000 & their EdD is under $25,0000


Source: (https://www.salary.com/research/salary/b...-salary/ca)

[KSoul]

Appreciate all of your points and even the mention of one of my favorite cost-value education degree offerings from ACE. The only thing I would mention is that a degree from USC, even if in teaching, through the alumni opens you up to considerably much higher income opportunities than, say, ACE or the countless cheap options shared in this forum.

I am not endorsing USC, and I have connections that have degrees from USC in business, law, social science, and education, with each of them living well even with our classically overpriced cost of living in Cali. I think the thread is stuck on the example: I earned a degree in teaching and only can work in teaching, and in that example, the only option for teaching should be the cheapest. However, if someone made the poor decision to choose to teach with big payday aspirations, USC would at least provide one to pivot in their career, leverage the alumni and secure a position that pays closer to one's income desires.

Complaining about ROI or income while being a teacher is a tired soapbox that no one listens to. (no one here is doing this; I am just reconnecting with the initial article)

[sanantone]

USC is not even ranked that high for social work, which is another program that has made the news for bad ROI. There are cheaper schools ranked about the same or higher. I try to advise people to ignore online degree rankings. Neither your diploma nor transcript will say "online." Your program will be judged by the department's overall reputation.

[ThatBankDude]

USC is not even ranked that high for social work, which is another program that has made the news for bad ROI. There are cheaper schools ranked about the same or higher. I try to advise people to ignore online degree rankings. Neither your diploma nor transcript will say "online." Your program will be judged by the department's overall reputation.

Exactly this.

[michaeladsmith2]

Appreciate all of your points and even the mention of one of my favorite cost-value education degree offerings from ACE. The only thing I would mention is that a degree from USC, even if in teaching, through the alumni opens you up to considerably much higher income opportunities than, say, ACE or the countless cheap options shared in this forum.

I am not endorsing USC, and I have connections that have degrees from USC in business, law, social science, and education, with each of them living well even with our classically overpriced cost of living in Cali. I think the thread is stuck on the example: I earned a degree in teaching and only can work in teaching, and in that example, the only option for teaching should be the cheapest. However, if someone made the poor decision to choose to teach with big payday aspirations, USC would at least provide one to pivot in their career, leverage the alumni and secure a position that pays closer to one's income desires.

Complaining about ROI or income while being a teacher is a tired soapbox that no one listens to. (no one here is doing this; I am just reconnecting with the initial article)

I guess that would be another major issue for me. I'm not paying $100,000 to leverage "Alumni Relations/Networking". But you do raise a very valid and controversial point of debate. How much are students willing to pay these institutions with the hopes that the Alumni will give graduates a "leg up" or "advantaged career opportunity" based on being a part of "the family"? It would be interesting to see how many Masters or EdD/PhD USC Education Program (or other USC graduates) have excelled due in large part to the Alumni's direct involvement.

[ashkir]

LOL Wasn't it obvious to students that they were getting ripped off with their 100K online masters degrees?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story...eport-data

Maybe it's the next "Bubble".

God. I hope so. I'm in California and am proud that we have great universities here. But holy shit, I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. They're extremely expensive, will put you in massive debt, and massively overpriced. If I did the same degrees I have now that I found on DegreeForum at my local university or even USC I would've paid a fortune. 

USC would've been:
- $342,592 for a BA if I lived on campus or $302,304 off-campus and travel 3 hours to it. USC is $75-85k a year https://admission.usc.edu/learn/cost-financial-aid/
- $195,924 for their MBA https://www.marshall.usc.edu/programs/mb...ancial-aid
- $101,353 for their Master of Management (similar to my MAOL) 
- $128,220 for a doctorate in administration (they don't have a DHA but a variety of doctorates, but similar prices). 

$768,089 total for my degrees...

USC is a school for the children of rich people. They charge so much for undergraduate 4 year degrees, which is beyond ridiculous. I know one person who did a BA and MA because she didn't come from money. After her scholarship, she still ended up with almost* 400k in debt

*For some reason this part of my post didn't save. Her parents made just enough to not qualify for a lot of tuition waivers, so her scholarships didn't go far enough.

[KSoul]

LOL Wasn't it obvious to students that they were getting ripped off with their 100K online masters degrees?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story...eport-data

Maybe it's the next "Bubble".

God. I hope so. I'm in California and am proud that we have great universities here. But holy shit, I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. They're extremely expensive, will put you in massive debt, and massively overpriced. If I did the same degrees I have now that I found on DegreeForum at my local university or even USC I would've paid a fortune. 

USC would've been:
- $342,592 for a BA if I lived on campus or $302,304 off-campus and travel 3 hours to it. USC is $75-85k a year https://admission.usc.edu/learn/cost-financial-aid/
- $195,924 for their MBA https://www.marshall.usc.edu/programs/mb...ancial-aid
- $101,353 for their Master of Management (similar to my MAOL) 
- $128,220 for a doctorate in administration (they don't have a DHA but a variety of doctorates, but similar prices). 

$768,089 total for my degrees...

USC is a school for the children of rich people. They charge so much for undergraduate 4 year degrees, which is beyond ridiculous. I know one person who did a BA and MA because she didn't come from money. After her scholarship, she still ended up with almost

Love California, and seeing those numbers is another reason I am thankful to have lived in several other countries to know the clear difference between PR and Reality. A bonus is that we have dual citizenship in Germany, considering that healthcare is free–University as well vs. the US highlights how backward our priorities are in the states. Again, I love Cali, touch the beach 3-4 times a week, and still think New York and California are the silliest places to live.

Of course, when in Germany over the next three years, I will am sure to have a moment of amnesia about the shortcoming and start missing Cali.

[ThatBankDude]

LOL Wasn't it obvious to students that they were getting ripped off with their 100K online masters degrees?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story...eport-data

Maybe it's the next "Bubble".

God. I hope so. I'm in California and am proud that we have great universities here. But holy shit, I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. They're extremely expensive, will put you in massive debt, and massively overpriced. If I did the same degrees I have now that I found on DegreeForum at my local university or even USC I would've paid a fortune. 

USC would've been:
- $342,592 for a BA if I lived on campus or $302,304 off-campus and travel 3 hours to it. USC is $75-85k a year https://admission.usc.edu/learn/cost-financial-aid/
- $195,924 for their MBA https://www.marshall.usc.edu/programs/mb...ancial-aid
- $101,353 for their Master of Management (similar to my MAOL) 
- $128,220 for a doctorate in administration (they don't have a DHA but a variety of doctorates, but similar prices). 

$768,089 total for my degrees...

USC is a school for the children of rich people. They charge so much for undergraduate 4 year degrees, which is beyond ridiculous. I know one person who did a BA and MA because she didn't come from money. After her scholarship, she still ended up with almost

Seeing as how my families household income was about $50,000 when I started undergrad, I would have attended USC 100% tuition free.

They are a private institution that depends on tuition dollars and alum donations to continue to move forward. While I agree, it is a ton of money, everyone has different goal.

[sanantone]

Isn't the California State University system relatively cheap? Of course, it's not as prestigious as the UC system, but it's still decent. Private universities are expensive in every state, but some are very generous with scholarships and institutional grants.