Posted on 02/26/2013 5:22:52 PM PST by eagleye85
People with an Associates degree may earn less in their lifetime, but they might just be earning more right now. New data shows that an Associates degree may impart the middle skills which are the ticket to the middle class. Nearly 30% of Americans with associates degrees now make more than those with bachelors degrees, according to Georgetown Universitys Center on Education and the Workforce, reports Jon Marcus for CNN Money. In fact, other recent research in several states shows that, on average, community college graduates right out of school make more than graduates of four-year universities.
However, Although these figures vary widely by profession, associates degree recipients, on average, end up making about $500,000 more over their careers than people with only high school diplomas, but $500,000 less than people with bachelors degrees, the Georgetown center calculates. Keep in mind that a bachelors degree costs a lot less and can be earned later in life. A two-year community college degree, at present full rates, costs about $6,262, according to the College Board, reports Marcus. A bachelors degree from a four-year, private residential university goes for $158,072.
Many young Bachelors degree-holders are currently drowning in debt, either underemployed or unemployed. A recent study issued by the Harvard Institute of Politics indicates that 9.7% of Millennials are unemployed. 31.2% of these Millenials work on a part-time basis, according to the study.
The CNN article portrays community college as a ticket to the middle class. The increase in wages for community college grads is being driven by a high demand for people with so-called middle-skills that often require no more than an associates degree, such as lab technicians, teachers in early childhood programs, computer engineers, draftsmen, radiation therapists, paralegals, and machinists, writes Marcus. With a two-year community college degree, air traffic controllers can make $113,547, radiation therapists $76,627, dental hygienists $70,408, nuclear medicine technologists $69,638, nuclear technicians $68,037, registered nurses $65,853, and fashion designers $63,170, CareerBuilder.com reported in January. However, it is still telling that those will an Associates still earn, on average, a half a million less in their lifetimes.
Start with your local technical school...get a good trade. Work your way through college.
You'll be more mature, have little or no debt, and you'll always have a trade you can fall back on when (not if) times get tough.
And finally, when in college, major in something you really love.
Better to work in a good trade than slave away at a desk job you hate. No amount of money can compensate for your day to day misery.
Better to be a plumber or electrician by day and archaeologist or historian by night...than be in a day job you hate.
The smart money goes to the community college to fullfil the basic degree reqs and moves to a 4 year college, for the final degree.
$154,0000 for a B.S. degree...nonsense. One can do it for less than $20K
Amen to that. I (like many others) have done just that. My bachelor's degree is from the 4 year university I attended for junior & senior years even though I paid (all out of pocket) about half of what it would have cost to go there all 4 years. Community Colleges do serve a purpose for those who know how to utilize them wisely.
It’s middle IQ, middle money. And all the corollaries. No matter how many billions we spend to try to fake reality.
I went through a couple of tech college programs after 4 years in Uncle Sam’s Yacht Club.
My first round involved television production which combined class and tons of hands on with the local PBS regional station where I hung out as much as possible. After graduation, I lucked out and got a job at the headquarters here in Columbia. As far as anyone could work out, I was the only grad of Teleproduction to ever get a job at SCETV headquarters right out of school and one a few ever known to have ever worked there at all. I started in studio production and later moved to Engineering.
It was in my last few years in the sort of fun but low paying world of public broadcasting I started looking for something else to move into that paid better. I opted for a short series of classes in computer repair at Midlands Tech.
I got my A+ and a couple of MS certs after getting through it. I am glad I did that. After suffering some ups and downs over the years due to this wonderful economy doing a lot of contracting which some was quite good, I got one that led to a full time job paying a little over 50K.
God bless you and keep up the good work!
Your positive attitude will serve you and your family well!
However, it is still telling that those will an Associates still earn, on average, a half a million less in their lifetimes.
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Using old data
That saves a ton.
I am faced with sending my two daughters to college. One this September and another in three years.
I came home from work this evening and my elder daughter informed me that she was looking to go into National Guard and go to college. She's in JROTC now and feels a need to serve our country.
I am a proud papa tonight.
My wife and I both worked our way through college, and we have talked in the past (not constantly by any means) about how much more value we got out of our education because we paid for it.
I am able to pay for her schooling, but I have lacked the guts to say she needs to find a way to do it herself.
This is a constant internal battle that I have had with myself because I truly believe that if she was paying her own way she would make better choices and apply herself in her studies. On the other hand, I want to give my child the best opportunities that I can afford.
I may come off on FR as a hard ass sometimes, but I find it difficult to tell my kids that they have to pay for their own college when they are surrounded by a school full of so-called rich kids that will go to Penn, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins and the like when my kids know we can only afford Penn State.
Now my daughter tells me how she is going to pay for her school and serve her country. I couldn't be happier.
Maybe, just maybe, some of the things my wife and I have taught our kids has made its way into their minds full of mush.
Community colleges are colleges...tech schools teach a trade.
Until the world returns to normal...a very basic trade is more valuable than a class in English, History, or Humanities.
Even more important than a trade at Tech School is just knowing how to make a fire and cook and purify water...and chop wood and hunt.
I don't mean to be an alarmist...but alarms are going off and until they stop, we shouldn't relax.
That is great news, congratulations! Best of luck to your daughter.
I went to a community college for three years while working (in a factory) and taking every course I could afford towards the degree requirements at the institution I wanted to attend. I had the catalog of the college and an adviser there.
When I had gone as far as I could I transferred into Cornell with a 3.8 GPA and continued to work in that same factory for another 4 years until I met the degree requirements. With the college president’s consent (on my knees begged) I attended other 4 year institutions nearby (Ithaca College, Syracuse, LeMoyne, Hobart, and Colgate) to get degree requirements met in order to stay on track. Sometimes I would get bumped from 1st shift to 2nd shift or to 3rd shift, and had no choice in the matter.
Sports, fun, vacations, etc. were never part of the picture until I was 26 years old.
I had no other choice at that time. Loans were not on the table, and my parents had no cash.
It’s do-able, but one has to be dedicated. That dedication (and excellent grades) is what ingratiated me to my advisor and the college president.
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