Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling

Tough decisions for student & parents.

In general, a good education makes a big difference, but in this economy, if you're not rich, how do you justify the expense of college?

If college is an investment, it doesn't look like it's paying off right now.

For a top student, attending a top school, it still makes sense. But I wouldn't take out of loans to send an average student to an average school right now.

 

You need a degree now worse than ever. And you need to be networking like crazy during college.

 

Some college will add an average of $7,000 per year to your salary.
A two-year-degree will add an average of $10,000 per year to your salary.
A four-year degree will add an average of $1 million in salary over the course of a lifetime.

 

High school was considered a waste of time at one point.

 

I don't doubt this, but I have never understood why it is the case.

Obviously there are exceptions, but for the most part, I would look at "some college" as a negative. Why should I be impressed that you started and did not finish something?

I wonder how much money is just pissed away every year in the United States by people who start college but drop out after a year or two?

I think that the main key for success in college is having a plan and sticking to it. That's hard to do when you are 18. But I think that the most successful graduates have an idea of what they want to do - whether it's a job in a particular field, or graduate school afterward. They go to the right school for them. They get top grades. They make the right relationships. They gain the right experience. Within any single university, people who will technically pick up the same degree at the end are attending vastly different schools.

 

With journalism, of course, bringing down the average of the four-year degree. Considerably.

 

If I were starting out again today, I would be taking pre-med courses, probably supplementing them with a philosophy degree, and never looking back.

 

My brother-in-law didn't finish high school, got his GED and now makes six figures as a tradesman. I did well in high school, did well in college with plenty of networking and internships and now I make $35,000/year. Anyone want to tell me my $17,000 in loans was well spent?

 

This. I wish I'd known back in the day that this degree I worked so hard to get was going to be completely devalued by so many employers.

 

It must be hell for them. I would not want to be in their shoes.

Wait until the student loan bubble bursts. That's one of our next crises.

 

Well, a friend of mine went to a trade school to become a welder and he started out at $50k a year/benefits/everything else with about the same debt as myself.

I work in journalism and make no where near that.

Honestly, I would probably tell kids to go more of the trade route (maybe not what I would have done).

My whole generation was brought up to be scholars. However, what do you need more...people who can wire your house, unplug your toilet or fix things you broke? Or people who can tell you the theory of relativity?

In other words, thank goodness I'm not in college now or graduating. Even teaching now looks like a tough option in some states with budget cutbacks.

 

I've wondered the same thing, but it is very hard info to distill.