Is College A Good Choice For You?
A discussion of economic issues relating to education, including the demand for education, the financing and provision of education, and the comparative efficiency of various educational programs and policies.
It used to be that a college degree was a virtual guarantee of a good career. The common path was to work hard in college, graduate with good grades, score well on the ACT and SAT, and attend a reputed four-year university. Students that followed this path were, overall, well-prepared to enter the job market and start making a living.
College tuition fees in the USA are among the highest in the world, yet there persists a belief that gaining a degree is the only way to get ahead in life. While it’s true that a college education can unlock job opportunities with decent salaries, not all graduates become wealthy later in life, and investing in university is often not worth it. The tuition fees alone for four years at a private university costs just under $140,000 when you factor in the average annual price increase, but perhaps the biggest cost associated with college is time.
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There’s a common perception that a college education results in a high salary and quality of life, but dropout rates and crippling debt often go unconsidered. Nowadays, a significant portion of college graduates struggle to find work, and high university fees and loan interest rates can affect a person’s income for many years after graduation. Skills-based training, on the other hand, costs significantly less than a bachelor’s degree and takes two years to complete rather than four. Could skills-based training be more beneficial for today’s high school students? Or, should people still believe that they must aim for university?
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A high school graduation is a significant milestone in many lives, and it often coincides with a young person beginning the final transition into adulthood. In the past, what that meant differed for many people. Today, however, the predominant path involves immediate entrance into college. Many high school students spend their senior years in a chaotic rush of college and scholarship applications, after all. Despite the growing real cost of studying in a university, attendance rates continue to increase. The explanation often goes that earning a degree ostensibly makes one more valuable as an employee, so the tuition, fees, and other associated costs are a justifiable expense.
[Read more…]Check in with a high school senior early in the school year, and you’ll find many of them doing two things: fretting about college decisions, and worrying over scholarship applications. Many students receive heavy encouragement to apply for as many scholarships as possible — why is that? The reality is that rising tuition and material costs associated with college continue to increase the financial hurdles facing students. The conventional wisdom, though, is that a college degree is worth the effort and the cash. Is that true? Do the end results justify the current price tags, or is the cost of college too high when compared with its potential benefits? A careful look at the facts shows that circumstances profoundly influence the answer.