I feel like I graduated just in time. Well, just in time for an employment bust, but also before it all hits the fan here in Colorado in terms of higher education.

I was a very non-trad student (41, 42 in a few days!) and I just got a BS in geology, minor in GIS from a small, cheap, kind-of-mediocre state college.

I breathe a sigh of relief everyday that I was able to get enough "free" money every semester that I didn't have to take out any loans. Every year I applied for every grant and scholarship that I could. I kept my GPA (3.8) up to get the good scholarships. I got enough money most every semester to pay f/t tuition ($2000-2500) and some living expenses. I usually worked p/t on campus.

The Boy graduated with the same degrees from the same college in 2006. His 4.0 GPA helped get him plenty of scholarships also.

We have been working as sub-contractors lately, kind of p/t. We continue to live cheap and we won't starve.

We are starting to consider grad school. We'd like to go somewhere where can both go and coordinate our schedules.