Stuff
Is Reality TV The New Way To Pay For College? One Production Company Is Banking On It
I remember the day I paid off my student loans. I felt like celebrating, only most of my extra cash had gone toward funding my education, so a party wasn’t really in the cards. Currently, we’re just a few months away from finally paying off my husband’s student loans, and while we won’t be sending out hand engraved invitations to some fancy fête, you can bet I’ll scrounge up enough for a celebratory glass of champagne. But no more than a glass, because although we’ve finished paying off our own educations, we still have the unknown amount of my son’s future education looming over our heads, and the concern over how we’ll pay for it all.
Raising a kid in the United States can be costly. It can cost a family upwards of a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child in this country – and that doesn’t account for inflation! With many families struggling to make ends meet, despite having two incomes, the thought of higher education expenses can seem not only daunting, but terrifyingly out of reach.
The reality is, higher education continues to increase in cost, while the average income has struggled to keep up. I can only imagine the number of zeros that will be tacked on to a tuition bill in 2025, the year my son will ostensibly start his college education. Actually, I don’t have to imagine. Projections based on expert information estimate that in 2025, the starting cost of a 4-year public university education will be around $150,000, while a fancypants 4-year private school could set us back around $350,000. Excuse me while I go rock in a corner and attempt not to pass out.
If my son is anything like his father or me, he might find himself in college pursuing various degrees for anywhere from 7-9 years. My head hurts just thinking about it all. And in fact, I’d be lying if I said one of the many reasons we’ve decided to have only one child is the vast expense that comes along with raising a kid today. While I’m sure my son will be taking out loans like we did, I’d still like to limit those amounts if possible. And, despite squirreling away money every month into an education fund, I’m still getting the vapors as I figure out just how in the heck we’ll be able to afford higher education at the rate it’s increasing.
Could the answer possibly lie in reality television?
