by Moe Zilla

Created on: August 15, 2010

It's smarter than you think - and it's even more important in today's economy. There was a time when your high school's guidance counselor would insist that you should always go on immediately to a four-year college. But new statistics have raised an even bigger question: whether a four-year degree is even worth the money. Besides four years of your life, you also give up four years' worth of tuition. This means when you finally enter the work force, you'll then spend most of your twenties trying to back your student loans!

Of course, you can reduce the cost of a four-year degree by taking the first two years of classes at a cheap local community college. And some will argue that you'll end up with more money if you go straight on to college, because you'll earn much more in your first year out of college after obtaining your degree. But even this gambit only works if you're absolute sure that you can graduate. Otherwise, you'll rack up years of student loans, and still end up without a college degree. Then you're actually worse off than when you started, because you're no closer to a high-paying "graduate"-level job. But you've now got these extra student debts to pay off.

Here's some cold truth. One of the big reasons people drop out of college is because they're spooked at the enormous debt that they're piling up. So if you enter college with some savings, you're better equipped to deal with expenses as they come along, and you're actually more likely to graduate. Plus, spending money that you earned can be a very positive experience that puts your education in perspective. It gives you a very personal answer to the age-old question: Why, exactly, are you working so hard for this degree? You'll know, from hard experience, that it's to avoid the miserably low-paying jobs that you first tried after high school!

If you're actually going through four years of college, you'll make decisions that affect your career for the remainder of your life. A job can give you valuable work experience in your chosen field, which will later make you more likely to beat the other candidates for those crucial first entry-level jobs. But it can also give you a chance to experience that occupation in the real world.

Sometimes careers that sound exciting in the abstract are, in reality, not as fun as you'd think!

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