Last week, we attended the Smart Money Conference by Dave Ramsey.

In it, he touted the benefits of Liberty Online University, suggesting that the tuition rates were half of other universities.

Curious, I compared the cost of tuition for getting an Accounting degree (bachelor’s).

Let’s compare vs. A regular in-state school.

Both require 120 credits for the degree.

Liberty: min. Requirement 120 credits @ $360/credit
$43,300
Without books.
Living at home would save
$24,000 overall

$67,200 if on campus in VA.

State University:
$52,000 tuition and fees
Without books!
Add $24,000 for room and board

$76,000 total for 4 years.

I’m really surprised.

The one advantage liberty might have over an in-state school would be “living at home” if one were a freshman without access to community college to get the basics. That would save tremendously on room and board. $24,000 overall.

The average starting salary for an accountant is $47,000. It goes a long way in states like Texas, where the cost of living is low, but not very far in states like California or New York where to cost of living and taxes are high.

If I had to get student loans (which are not bankrupt-able-they can garnish your wages) for the in-state school, my payments upon graduation would be $800/month while my take-home pay would only be about $2937/month.

Ouch!

Guess I would be going to community college as long as possible, applying for every scholarship in sight, taking the SAT over and over to get a scholarship, try to test out of classes and working during school.

In short:
*Community college as much as possible, live at home
*Online as much as possible
*8 roomates maybe?…
*Working
*Testing out
*SAT, SAT, SAT