Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
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Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#2It seems overpriced unless you're very serious about a career in something like engineering or something else that's likely to pay for itself.
We've started talking about it with my daughter, who is in high school, and... we'll see, I guess. I want whatever she does to be intentional rather than just 'what the done thing is'.
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#3I worked in this space for years. There are some colleges and majors that are a wash and a very few that are net negative, but the majority are net positive and the best are typically net positive several million in lifetime earnings even counting the hole you dig paying tuition and fees.
Hate them if you want but the vast majority are a fantastic investment.
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#4as they should
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#5The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan explains this well
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#6It seems overpriced unless you're very serious about a career in something like engineering or something else that's likely to pay for itself. We've started talking about it with my daughter, who is in high school, and... we'll see, I guess. I want whatever she does to be intentional rather than just 'what the done thing is'.
Many anecdotes advocating for college tend to be "I learned so much there" or "I made many friends and connections there" but over 4 years you'll do that anywhere.
Continuing an education and staying in the same community as your peers has benefits. However, the advantages of expensive niche schools seem to be entirely anecdotal outside of very specific academic fields or career paths.
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#7It seems overpriced unless you're very serious about a career in something like engineering or something else that's likely to pay for itself. We've started talking about it with my daughter, who is in high school, and... we'll see, I guess. I want whatever she does to be intentional rather than just 'what the done thing is'.
Many anecdotes advocating for college tend to be "I learned so much there" or "I made many friends and connections there" but over 4 years you'll do that anywhere. Continuing an education and staying in the same community as your peers has benefits. However, the advantages of expensive niche schools seem to be entirely anecdotal outside of very specific academic fields or career paths.
The US government produces reports that show average income for degrees offered by institution by field of study. You can find it here: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data
You can check the average earning ten years post graduation and construct an estimate of life time earnings while also factoring in the 4 or 5 years of tuition and fees it requires to get on that path.
Then take the data from the census and/or BLS for earnings for high school graduates (https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat07.htm) and extrapolate a lifetime earnings.
You will find that while there are some outliers, most colleges give you a higher lifetime earnings.
Benefits like healthcare aside as a gross simplification, this chart will tell you the same (https://www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-educatio...)
- high school: 45k/year for 47 years --> $2.1m lifetime
- undergrad: 75k average for 43 years --> 3.2m lifetime
Now we can subtract the cost of a 5 year state university degree. Let's take NY as an example. (https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/tuition-and-fees/) of 9k per year net on average.
- undergrad: 75k average --> 3.2m - 0.045m --> 3.2m lifetime
On average university graduates come out 50% ahead (more than a million in lifetime earnings) of those with just a high school degree.
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#8The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan explains this well
The main argument being that universities don't teach they certify attributes that employers value.
Employers value higher education and will pay a premium for it. I'm not sure that diminishes the argument in favor of it.
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#9as they should
Why should they? The overwhelming evidence says that a degree in higher ed is a financially great decision.
Re: Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College
#10The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan explains this well
The main argument being that universities don't teach they certify attributes that employers value. Employers value higher education and will pay a premium for it. I'm not sure that diminishes the argument in favor of it.
Main argument is that if one person stands from his seat in a concert he can see better, that doesn't mean if everyone stands everyone will see better.