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| Yes | 48% | 109 votes | Total: 227 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesCollege is expensive. There is no doubt about that, but so is your first car, your utility bill, your health insurance, your groceries, your gas, and often times your recreation. Life is expensive, but without a college education you will not have the same standard of living as those who do have college degrees in most cases. Most careers paying the average US salary of $75,000/year require a bachelor's degree. Of course, there are alternatives to college, but nothing quite replaces that degree. Certifications, for instance, are a good way to advance your career, and in college your advisers and professors or instructors will definitely encourage you to back up your degree with certifications. Whereas you can easily make your way through college doing last-minute studying and cramming for exams, most certifications take a lot of self-discipline to acquire.
There are two different kinds of colleges, and there are varying opinions on them. There are private colleges, often somewhat misleadingly termed "for-profit" colleges, and there are public colleges that can offer lower tuition because they receive state funds. Private colleges are more expensive, but there are some misconceptions about them that can bring up debate. Private colleges don't always have professors, because profs have doctorate's degrees. Private colleges may instead have instructors, who usually hold master's degrees and have at least three years of experience in the field they teach. Where the debate comes into play is whether or not someone really needs, or should be required to have, a doctorate degree to teach college. Often times people with doctorate's degrees don't have the same work experience as those who did not obtain doctorates. Many times having a doctorate's makes them overqualified for the jobs they need to gain the same experience as others teaching in the field. The misconception is that professors (people with doctorate degrees) are better than private college instructors.
Too many times, there is not enough direction in college. For instance, in public colleges there is still the relatively useless "liberal arts" degree, which you will not find in private colleges. A degree in Liberal Arts truly is when college is just an "extension of high school." Private colleges, on the other hand, may offer specialized degrees, but you must be wary of "accelerated learning." This is a term to describe that you will take one five-week class at a time. University of Phoenix, American Intercontinental University, DeVry all offer accelerated learning online. This is somewhat of a bad idea for your average person who will be overwhelmed by the workload and not be given enough time to absorb the material. Kaplan offers ten-week courses online that are exceptional for students new to a field of study, but often times an all-online school hasn't the experience of teaching in-class, because that is not what they do. All-online schools, as opposed to schools with a mixture of online and campus education (like ITT Technical Institute), can leave a student with great grades but little skill. This is because the student does not actually have the same in-class learning, and may not have the same self-study skills as other students.
All colleges need to offer more education. The US is becoming more self-aware that their educational standards do not hold up against colleges in other countries. There is a lack of fundamental and advanced curriculum. It can easily be said, college just covers the basics, or college only tells you what you need to learn and study rather than actually teaching it. Certifications as an alternative prove that you have the self-discipline to succeed in a manner of learning and studying on your own, but usually having only certifications alone will only get a job applicant an entry-level position. Employers need to be more aware of the value of certifications. Colleges need to offer more learning on the same level as certifications.
Is college cost-effective? Yes, but the success of the graduate remains their responsibility. If a graduate has a degree that is deemed utterly useless to him, he needs to work on building the skills and experience to back up that degree. Too often while in college students are more concerned with recreation and socializing with their peers, but when the student is still in attendance at a college is the time to build his skills, not after when on-the-job. Experience comes by doing and applying what you learn. Internships, work-study programs, even career-related volunteer work and societies contribute to a student's experience.
Loan consolidation, earning promotions, starting off in a job with more responsibilities is the best way to repay college loans. Many people fear that they will be unable to pay off college loans, but a potential student can't fall prey to discouragement. Management cannot justify hiring someone on a high school diploma and paying them $75k/year, and an employer would not know why they should hire someone without college credentials for such a salary and position either. College degrees are proof of a person's interest in an area of work. Certifications not only often count as college credit, but they may mean the difference between getting a job and not getting a job. Summarily, in today's workforce, you can never have too many educational credentials.
Learn more about this author, Douglas Gross.
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No
Here is a way to figure out if the cost of a college education is cost effective. The formula is $=+/-{[college]+[edu cation]}. Or the total, all-inclusive cost of a college education is equal to the value of the college's reputation plus the student's academic output over time in college. Go figure it out. It might not be worth the sum saved or borrowed. What was high school like? It might not be any different in college.
Is college education cost effective? The sum of money banked or borrowed to pay the college bursar over four years to acquire a college education for a son or daughter may not be cost effective. As parents of college graduates understand, and graduates themselves do or will at some point, the job in terms of wages may not be adequate for quite a long time before one is able to return the cost plus interest if any to the education underwriter.
College education is no longer cost effective. It is not cost effective for those students whose parents are paying he whole freight including all amenities for some. It is no loner cost effective for those parents or students borrowing all or a portion of the price of each of the four years of college education
Nowadays, the only college students for whom a college education is truly cost effective are those students who are attending college under full scholarship or those students guaranteed a sizable scholarship combined with assurances of continuing financial remuneration in exchange for service completed. The latter can range from waiting on tables to being lab assistants. But to truly earn the capital equal to the cost of a college education, one would have to have a job paying a salary in excess of any earned by many students who have long dreamt of earning their way thus assuring them of the ability to pay all loans without penalty or default.
If this is not disquieting to most high school juniors who know that they will have to pay their way if they truly want to attend college, then they should be told that they need to earn at least the average cost for a 4 year college education, $20,000, more or less, for each year in college. Figuring out how to do that in today's economy might substitute for work experience in lieu of educational credit for "How to Survive in College While Really Trying."
Fifty-five years ago, a Korean War Veteran, using the GI Bill college benefit could marry, attend college with children while living in campus family housing on the $140.00 pr month stipend and still have to line up in Fall and Spring outside the Bursar's office to get a few days postponement on paying the fees, $140.00/ semester for a full 18 credit schedule. The government check came a few days after registration and there was never enough money to pay on time. The bursar heard each individual's plea, but never failed to grant the requested extension. What happened between then and now is the ever-increasing cost of inflation relative to cost and the ability to pay for it. Our standard of living rose, but the standard price rose faster and far ahead of our ability to pay.
Today, those students who must borrow go largely in debt to the tune of many thousands of dollars that has all to be repaid, very often, with great difficulty on schedule. There is no telling how those students in a default rate pool will ever be able to engineer there way out of these terribly disturbing situations. For some paying debt will become a lifetime mind worrying activity. There is equally no telling how impossible for many who owe debt to ever be able to pay it back. Debt always belongs to the debtor as well as the family when there is one; they all share the problems as well as the solutions which often mean having to make great sacrifices for a good many years and sometime never acquiring those assets that were easier for their parents to acquire over the years, money in the bank, insurance coverage, a home to call their own. These will undergo bankruptcy and another chance if at all miraculously possible.
Fifty years ago, it was likely that one went to college with or without financial support and emerged even in the worse of times for job opportunities with a decent job in one's major and still manage to earn a living wage which was expected to go up over time. And it did. Recent years have found that even the best educated cannot find a job which holds a promise for the kind of advancement and security in learning and hold down a job for the long haul. The whole job scene has turned into a mishmash of market demands. Some careers developed within the college major are dead before they even start.
As Jay Leno might have said, "Do you really want to know how bad the economy is?" Well, it's so bad that half of this year's Harvard graduating class is cleaning tables at "Tim Hortons" this summer. That's how bad it is!
Are college students getting the education they want or thought they were getting for the price that they or their parents paid? Or, are college students working as hard as they can while matriculating or are they slacking and working still about as hard as they were during "senior fever" in high school? These lost souls may as well go home and let their parents adjust to the idea of having them home while the kids take a job to pay back the money lost. There is no two ways about it. It costs much too much to attend college. Alternatives are, join the military and tie down a bonus or the current GI Bill for further education after service or attend a junior college until the student makes up his mind that education requires one's full time attention. It's hard work. It might also help to delay college education until such time as the student to be knows his own interests, strengths, and character traits that might possibly lead to success. Then again, the world is your oyster, as they say. The pearl is flawed.
Learn more about this author, Gerard Coulombe.
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