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| Yes | 48% | 110 votes | Total: 230 votes | |
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Add to Favorites"Broke college student" use to be an honorary title. It meant that you lived on pizza and cheap beer while working on your degree. You might have not showered in a few days or did laundry in a month. You studied all the time because you had to, but also because you didn't have the money to go out. But being a broke college student also meant that, once you graduate, you would be set and could enjoy life.
In recent years, however, the cost of college has gotten so high that you may graduate and still be a broke college student trying to pay those loans back. College students slave away on term papers and exam preparations for four years, only to graduate with a mountain of debt and bleak job prospects due to the economic downturn. This has led some people to wonder whether getting a 4-year degree is even worth it. The answer is yes, of course. While a college education is more expensive, it is also more valuable than ever.
Recent legislation, such as Income Based Repayment, is making repaying college loans a little easier. Congress and President Obama have recognized that this is an important issue and are working on solving the problem. While one can't sit around and wait for the government to solve the problem, it is encouraging to see everyone agrees that college is getting too expensive. That's the only way the problem will be solved.
Is college really too expensive? The average 4-year student graduates with $19,237 in debt, according to Finaid.org. Many students end up with more debt than that, and a lot have to get financial support from their parents. That may seem like a lot of debt on the surface, but when the numbers are analyzed further, college education starts to look like a good deal. According to the U.S. Census bureau, the average worker with only a high-school diploma made about $32,000 in 2007 while workers with a bachelor's degree earned an average of over $57,000 in the same year. That is an income gap of $24,000 in a single year and more than the debt of the average college graduate.
Further extrapolating these numbers, the U.S. Census bureau estimates that over a worker's lifetime, about 40 years of employment, those with bachelor's degrees will earn $2.1 million while high-school graduates will only make $1.2 million. The numbers get bigger with ever higher levels of education. Those with Master's degrees are estimated to earn $1.3 million more than high-school graduates. And when it comes to those with professional degrees, such as lawyers and doctors, the earnings are $3.2 million higher than those of high-school graduates.
If money is the only factor, it is clear to see that education does pay for itself many times over, even if the student loans and amount of debt may seem scary to some. But money should not be the only consideration when deciding to go to college. It is true that we are now in a global knowledge economy. Gone are the days of graduating high-school and going to work in the same factory where your parents or maybe even grandparents earned their living. Manufacturing jobs are being shipped to more cost effective locations and labor unions are on the decline. Those with only high-school diplomas have fewer options to make a middle-class income and support their family.
Competition for jobs, especially in the current economy, is also an important consideration. The unemployment rate is at record highs, and there are a lot of college graduates who have a hard time finding a job right now. But consider the plight of those with no college degree. They have to compete for jobs with more educated people, and usually they get the short end of the stick. In May 2009, the national unemployment rate was 9.4%. But for those with just a high-school diploma it was already in the double digits, at 10.9%. The unemployment rate was even worse for high-school dropouts, standing at 15.5%.
So, it is obvious that getting a college education is still very cost effective, even if the price tags of degrees keep climbing. Furthermore, a college education is important because it opens up doors that remain firmly shut to those with less education. Sure, you can get a high-school diploma and make some decent money in a trade such as plumbing, carpentry, construction, or electrical work. But going beyond that will be a lot harder. Some people are content working a job to make a living. But others want to work jobs that bring them enjoyment, a sense of meaning in their life, or a sense of satisfaction. Without a college degree, one is limited to working the jobs that are available based on their experience and the current economic situation. Few people with a high-school degree have a real career, and it is hard to put a price tag on something like that.
Learn more about this author, Henry Case.
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No
Demand is the key word in any cost benefit analysis. The demand by students for a college education has risen to an all-time high. As this is occuring, the cost of that education has risen at an almost exponential rate. The question is really whether the benefits of the college education have risen at an equal or higher rate than the cost. In today's economy, the answer is an unequivocal no. Companies that once hired college students straight out of school are now downsizing through attrition and lay-offs. Large financial companies that span many different industries have filed bankruptcy or become completely insolvent. Some of the largest companies in the world have fallen prey to the economic downturn. Now, the demand for jobs has increased which decreases the benefit of the college degree as people are more willing to accept lower pay in order to have some pay at all. In the next few years, college graduates will be faced with the worst job market in many years. Yet, the economy is cyclical and perhaps in the future the rewards for college degree may again be higher than the cost of their schooling.
Second, there are now more college students than ever. Education has been a focus over the past couple of decades. Now, anyone can get a college degree. With the proliferation of student loans and grants, the flood of people who, in the past, could not afford college has been almost eliminated. With that in mind and the money that can be made, schools have lowered their standards in an effort to get more students through the program. Now, we have college students that have less of an education at higher costs competing for the same jobs and with the same degree than someone who had a much harder time but received a better quality education.
In the end, a college education may get you into the door of a company but in general, what you do for the company while you work there is much more important to them than any degree. It is the ability to adapt to changing situations that is in demand. In the future, the demand for more education may again be of utmost importance. Right now, in many cases, the survival of a company itself may not mean hiring those with advanced educations but those with proven experience knowledge of internal processes.
Learn more about this author, Jamie Pierce.
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