As we officially launch Global Degree, I want to welcome you.
Ours is a simple mission--to offer families a path to higher education that doesn't place undue financial burden on either the student (whose life is stressful enough) or the parent, who is likely to be closer to retirement than the start of their career.
Other college admissions counselors focus on getting students into schools with the best possible reputations. We do that too, but our real emphasis is on getting students into schools with the best possible return on investment. Of course, there are some very expensive schools offering a positive ROI--Harvard, MIT, and CalTech all spring to mind--but admission to those schools becomes more unduly competitive with each passing year.
My inspiration for this project sprung from the success of my international and business-minded son who, when faced with the possibility of having to take on significant student loans to attend U.S. schools, decided to set his sights on European schools. The cost of programs he applied to there ranged from free or nominal (public universities benefitting from a much more substantial level of government support) to relatively modest (private universities priced to compete with those public schools).
Several of them are counted among the best universities globally--but tend to be easier to get into than their U.S. counterparts (particularly for international students). For instance, if the University of Edinburgh was in the United States, it would almost certainly have an acceptance rate under 5% vs. its actual acceptance rate of about 45%. Such is the competitiveness among U.S. college students--and international students eager for the U.S. college experience--to attend what are perceived to be top schools.
The most expensive European program my son looked at was still considerably cheaper than our in-state flagship university (to which he also applied). It was also a tiny fraction of the cost of the more expensive U.S. schools he applied to (a few of which exceed $80,000/year before financial aid and grants). Over the entirety of his degree program, he is poised to save more than $340,000.
I'll make a bold statement here (but suspect many would back me up): Once you get outside of the very top tier of U.S. schools, spending a fortune on college becomes a bit wasteful. Where you go to school might have some bearing on how quickly you land your first job, but from that point forward, you'll be trading on your merit.
More on these topics later, but thanks for looking in. I hope we can be of service!
Jamie Thomas
Co-founder & Advisor
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