I started this week with a heavy heart, having signed the first of three $20,000 checks for my daughter’s college tuition due this year. It’s stunning to me that tuition alone at her school, as with many top universities (and indeed, plenty of second-tier ones too), costs $60,000. Thank God she’s living in an apartment this year, splitting a $30,000 annual rent three ways, so my total bill for her school year will be a mere $70,000, rather than the roughly $90,000 it would have been if she were living in university housing and eating from a meal plan (I’ve given her $2,000 for food for the next six months and told her to experiment with veganism and maybe find a part-time job in a coffee shop or restaurant with free meals).
我怀着沉重的心情开始了本周的生活——我刚刚签了三张2万美元支票中的第一张，以支付女儿今年的大学学费。令我震惊的是，她就读的学校光学费一年就要6万美元，许多顶尖大学都是如此（事实上，很多二流大学也是如此）。感谢上帝，她今年住的是公寓，跟另外两个人分摊一年3万美元的租金，所以她这个学年的总费用只要7万美元，如果她住的是大学宿舍、吃的是学校的食堂套餐，那一年大约得9万美金（我给了她2000美元的伙食费，是接下来半年的，跟她说可以尝试一下吃素，或许还可以在咖啡店或餐馆找份包饭的兼职工作）。