It really offends me that coming out of high school in the early '80s, making little better than minimum wage, I could put myself through community college while living at home. Now? Forget it. Six credit hours is over $500 before books and additional fees. New Mexico has lots of grants if you maintain good grades, some funded by the lottery system - we're a very poor and low population density state.

Fortunately I don't pay for up to six hours per semester as my wife is a university employee and I get a spousal tuition benefit. I should be completing my core classes for a library science Associate's degree this semester, but I have to knock off a communications class over the summer before the degree is done. Then to see what I can put together for a bachelor's. The library program is moribund: all classes end at the end of 2020, and no bachelor's degree or MLS was ever offered here.