The above title was from a Consumer Reports Magazine cover article. Lots of articles on this. ‘Most Americans with Student Debt Regret it?’ is a similar story in Motley’s Fool Magazine.‘[i] College remorse: nearly 75% (college students) wish they’d made different decisions’ about college and loans.
I keep coming back to this theme throughout the book. College VUCANs and their parents are mired in old paradigms, believing any college degree will pay for itself even though there is little marketability for it.
The risk/return value of a college education is questionable. The hurricane of creative destruction is overwhelming higher education. In the U.S., the cost of college education has risen much faster than earnings. Currently, there’s a huge debate on the value of a college degree in terms of personal investment in time and money. Or simply, is college an experience to find yourself worth it?
“Specifically, for business and other liberal-arts majors, the prestige of the school has a major impact on future earnings expectations. But for fields like science, tech, engineering and math, it largely doesn’t matter whether students go to a prestigious, expensive school or a low-priced one—expected earnings turn out the same” says New York Times.[ii]
Another discussion is the value of an elite college degree always leading to employability and higher salaries regardless of the degree. A study was conducted analyzing thousands of college graduates and their salaries 10 years after graduation. The Wall Street Journal reported:
“Diplomas from prestigious schools boost future earnings only in certain fields, while in other fields they simply don’t make a difference.”[iii]
Work Lesson Earned: College is an investment. College has a Return on Investment (ROI). If your family is mega privileged, (1 percenters) then live the dream and spend lavishly to find yourself in college. For the rest of us, the other 99%, get real with yourself and your family. Otherwise, you’re in for a life of indentured servitude to college loans.
[i] Most Americans with Student Debt Regret it?, Motley Fool, February 20, 2019.
[ii] ‘Do Elite Colleges Lead To Higher Salaries?: Only For Some Professions,’ New York Times, January 31, 2016.
[iii] ‘Do Elite Colleges Lead To Higher Salaries?: Only For Some Professions,’ New York Times, January 31, 2016.