Bill Bennett: Is College Worth It?

You need to evaluate the money "invested" as you would any other investment.

Is your investment going to pay off?

http://www.amazon.com/Is-College-Worth-Secretary-Education/dp/1595552790

 

Should be titled, "Is your major worth it?"

I can't imagine, say, a nursing degree from any college would be a bad investment.

 

Is paying $50,000 to get a degree worth it? Unless most college grads make newspaper wages, than then it's likely worth it.

Even a $450,000 difference is significant.

http://online.wSportsJournalists.com/article/SB10001424052748703822404575019082819966538.html

 

Than?

 

Read the article.

In the push to get everyone to go to college, we've got literally (Joe Biden™) millions of people taking on student debt, and not receiving a degree.

About half who start a four year degree program don't finish. So, they get all the debt, and almost no benefit.

And, half who do graduate are, "either unemployed or radically underemployed and in debt.”

 

I'm not going to buy Bennett's book, so what does "either unemployed or radically underemployed and in debt" mean besides being a nifty pull quote?

 

These are based on averages:

I keep reading about the growing "income gap".

Don't you think the folks graduating from the best programs and receiving degrees in high demand fields are inflating those averages?

So, the "average" really doesn't apply to the "average" student.

 

Sounds to me like they're not even making enough to pay off their student loans.

 

1999 averages. The peak of the peak of the peak of our economy from an employment standpoint.

There wasn't a trend to slash higher salaried people and bring in recent grads at low salaries like there is today (at the newspaper industry, at least).

Would be interested how that $19,000 gap stacks up now. I suspect it has closed somewhat --- unless the outliers (extremely successful college grads) are helping to keep the gap artificially inflated.

 

College is worth it if you take a statistics class that prevents you from losing nearly eight-figure sums gambling.

So for Bill Bennett, not worth it.

The fact that conservatives continue to listen to that jackass is one of the more hilarious parts of the political world.

 

I heard Bennett -- who has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Political Philosophy -- interviewed on the radio yesterday.

He pointed out that there are 14 schools in Texas alone offering post graduate Philosophy programs:

http://www.gradschools.com/search-programs/campus-programs/philosophy/texas

It does make one wonder if we have a need for so many philosophers.

 

That website has a counting problem.