California Prison Academy Is Better Than A Harvard Degree
Thank the student loan industry for out-of-control costs at U.S. universities. As a point of reference, I started my first year at the University of Virginia in September 1984. Tuition was $7,000 per year for out of state students and $7800 4 years later when I graduated. I was also accepted at Stanford in 1984 where tuition was $15,000. In 2011, UVa tuition for out of state students will be approximately $33,000 per year and Stanford $50,000.
What used to cost a nice car now costs a home. When any smart 18 year-old with a pulse can get $200k in student loans in exchange for her signature, is it any surprise that college tuition rates have skyrocketed.
Meanwhile...
- Lifeguarding in Orange County is lucrative; some make over $200k
- WSJ - California Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree
Prison guards can retire at the age of 55 and earn 85% of their final year's salary for the rest of their lives. They also continue to receive medical benefits.
Roughly 2,000 students have to decide by Sunday whether to accept a spot at Harvard. Here's some advice: Forget Harvard. If you want to earn big bucks and retire young, you're better off becoming a California prison guard.
The job might not sound glamorous, but a brochure from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations boasts that it "has been called 'the greatest entry-level job in California'—and for good reason. Our officers earn a great salary, and a retirement package you just can't find in private industry. We even pay you to attend our academy." That's right—instead of paying more than $200,000 to attend Harvard, you could earn $3,050 a month at cadet academy.
It gets better.
Training only takes four months, and upon graduating you can look forward to a job with great health, dental and vision benefits and a starting base salary between $45,288 and $65,364. By comparison, Harvard grads can expect to earn $49,897 fresh out of college and $124,759 after 20 years.
As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683 collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and he's not even the highest paid.
Sure, Harvard grads working in the private sector get bonuses, too, but only if they're good at what they do. Prison guards receive a $1,560 "fitness" bonus just for getting an annual check-up.
Most Harvard grads only get three weeks of vacation each year, even after working for 20 years—and they're often too busy to take a long trip. Prison guards, on the other hand, get seven weeks of vacation, five of them paid. If they're too busy racking up overtime to use their vacation days, they can cash the days in when they retire. There's no cap on how many vacation days they can cash in! Eighty officers last year cashed in over $100,000 at retirement.
The cherry on top is the defined-benefit pension. Unlike most Harvard grads working in the private sector, prison guards don't have to delay retirement if their 401(k)s take a hit. Prison guards can retire at the age of 55 and earn 85% of their final year's salary for the rest of their lives. They also continue to receive medical benefits.
So you may be wondering what it takes to become a prison guard. For one, you have to be a U.S. citizen with a high-school diploma or equivalent. Unfortunately, you can't have any felony convictions, but don't worry, possession of marijuana is only an infraction in California.
Jul 22, 2011 at 4:28 PM
Reader Comments (10)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-futures-decline-in-electronic-trading-2011-05-15?link=MW_story_latest_news
How to spot the next commodities trading shock
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/protect-your-silver-gold-oil-from-margin-hikes-2011-05-13?link=mw_story_kiosk
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/05/15/20110515republican-presidential-contenders-negative-reaction.html#ixzz1MUIdgK80
http://seekingalpha.com/article/269962-22-high-quality-undervalued-dividend-stocks-worth-considering
The question is how they intend to deal with it.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-more-free-lunch-for-commodities-investors-2011-05-15?link=mw_story_kiosk
I remember writing my first semester tuition check to the Duke Bursar--$6,200.00 (Sept. '85). Wow, have times changed. Now, that check would be ~$22,000.00. That's one semester, undergrad tuition. And kids are sold that it's worth it (by the schools themselves, by SallieMae, and by the Federal govt/Education dept, among others), and many take on crushing debt. By the way, did you know SallieMae's CEO, a Penn State grad with likely no student debt, just built himself his own 18 hole golf course? Life is good at SallieMae!
My take? It's better to spend big bucks, if you are going to borrow, on graduate (in a job-producing discipline) or professional level schools. I just cannot justify the costs today for an expensive undergraduate education. What is the ROI for that? It seems to me just another type of "McMansion" syndrome--bigger house (debt), "better" car (debt), private high school (debt), "elite" college sticker on the back window of soccer-mama's car (debt)...
Ivy league graduates have controlled our government the last 30 years. Harvard has done more harm to our nation, currency and freedom than any other institution. I support a complete lockout of Ivy League graduates from our government. I also support investigations into the Harvard endowment trust with their relationship in the banking fraud.
no i did not, josie...thanks for that little tidbit...
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benny...larry summers just called...he wants you to stop talking badly of the harvard endowment...
Aint no way she can aford anything nice for the rest of her life, thanks to the goverment. Very sad how they talk her and everyone else into the frad of You must go to Collage and Deep in debt.
Its just one more trick in Obamas deck of cards. It was bad before Obama, but now its a trap for life............................P.S. I dident know she was that good lookin under that full face Blue Mask........?