Posted on 09/02/2014 7:03:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
College starts today for students across the country.
With tuition costs surging, we can't help but ask, "What are they thinking?"
In a new note, the New York Fed's Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz write that, looked at one way, these young people are making a sound investment as it now takes fewer years than ever for graduates to recoup their investment.
While you used to have to work nearly 25 years to earn back what you'd fronted for your degree, only about 10 years on average are now required.
"Despite the challenges facing today’s college graduates, the value of a college degree has remained near its all-time high, while the time required to recoup the costs of the degree has remained near its all-time low," they write.
However, that 10-year time-frame has not really budged since the late '90s.
Similarly, the value of a college degree has not increased since 2000, and has actually been decreasing of late.
"We estimate that the value of a college degree fell from about $120,000 in the early 1970s to about $80,000 in the early 1980s, before more than tripling to nearly $300,000 by the late 1990s, where it has remained, more or less, ever since," they write.
That value of college has stayed near all-time highs despite rising tuition costs and falling wages for graduates actually has more to do with plummeting wages among high school graduates.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I think the breakdown of that by Major would present a different and far better picture for some, more dismal for others.
Yep. It is probably the key. Fluff Studies graduates are not only looking at lower pay, they are looking at a longer time and lower chance to actually land a job in their field.
Here’s what you can do to keep college costs from ballooning out of control to begin with:
1) Attend a public university as opposed to private one.
2) Select a university close to your home and commute to campus.
3) Avoid fraternities and excessive partying.
4) Keep borrowing to an absolute minimum.
5) Work several part time jobs to cover costs and expenses.
It worked for me. And I’m sure it could work for others.
I can’t easily verify this one way or another, but it doesn’t seem correct. 10 yrs. today vs. 25 yrs. in the 70’s to recoup? I would like to see college cost comparisons, adjusted for inflation, and subsequent salaries, also inflation adjusted. This just sounds like more journalistic lipstick being applied on the economic pig.
Right. That chart doesn't pass the smell test.
Yup. You could also go to a two-year school to get general education credits out of the way for less money and then transfer.
Maybe this is why Wymyns’ Studies majors are so bitter — they come out of college with a mountain of debt and realize that they will never make any money and that it will take them a lifetime to pay off their student loans.
Your item 1) is suspect.
The rack-rate for private universities is exorbitant, but good students don’t pay rack-rate unless their parents are very well-heeled, and maybe not even then. Top private colleges and universities have very large endowments and can grant scholarships almost on a whim if they want to attract a particular student — I suppose some internal accounting moves some income from the endowment into the student’s account so it is distributed internally as tuition dollars are, though, money being fungible, I’m not even sure they always do that.
Our daughter went to a highly ranked private college on the East Coast, and we paid essentially the same as to send her to a state school here in Kansas. Why? She came out of HS with enough college credits that at a state school she’d have entered as a second semester sophomore with her language, freshman comp and math requirements fulfilled, had a 4.0 GPA, and came from Kansas (a plus for geographic diversity, since fancy private schools like to boast of having students from “all 50 states and N foreign countries” for some N > 10). They gave her fat scholarships and grants that brought the actual cost down to state school rates.
Nah, Wymyn’s Studies majors were bitter when the chose their major — no one well-adjusted would actually chose that major.
I'd advise any College student today to profile what they can do with a major, what their prospects are, and what sort of pay they can expect--and match the best outcomes with their aptitude and interests.
If they don't know why they are there, maybe they should consider waiting and working, provided they can get a job.
That said, it is important to do what you love, what you have a passion for. Do so and you'll never 'work' a day in your life.
No paycheck is big enough for a career you hate.
You hit the nail on the head. Inflation.
$20,000 was a lot of money years ago. It would buy a year at a private college or 4 Volkswagons. Yesterday’s dollar is not today’s dollar.
Hey, if the private college is cheaper than the public university, fine. Go for it.
All I know is that I come from a family of modest means, and private universities were out of the question for me. While I had reasonably good grades in most subjects, I was certainly not a straight A student and therefore I was not presented with any scholarship opportunities.
I paid my college loans from the early 80’s off in 3 and half years.
There are VERY few private universities that are worth the extra money. So unless your kid can get into one of the Ivy league schools, MIT, or a few other private engineering technical schools save your money. I went to a SUNY college right next door to Syracuse University. I took classes at both. SU was a rip off in my opinion.
The other way to save is do the first and second year at a local state school as long as you can transfer the credits to a private school for the junior and senior year.
The other benefit at smaller schools is smaller class size and teachers that speak English as their first language. The problem I saw at Syracuse was most of the primary courses were taught by TA’s(teachers assistants). Try taking calculus 1, 2 & 3 from someone who can hardly speak English.
Same thing goes for many of your science courses. At SU I took Astronomy(I wanted to boost my GPA)on Wednesday nights from 6-9pm. There were 400+ kids in the lecture hall. I was just a number. Three of my buddies and I all took it and got an easy A. We were all paying SUNY tuition. If we were paying for private tuition, I would have been pissed.
Government schools full of Democrat hirelings are always much more expensive to operate than private schools, and less efficient at teaching. They just seem cheaper because the costs are offloaded onto other taxpayers. The thing is, if most everybody does it then nobody comes out ahead. You will pay the real costs of your socialist indoctrination via much higher taxes your whole life.
I think that chart is upside down or a chart made at the behest of colleges trying to justify their very high costs.
There is a certain degree of idiocy in living on campus to get a feeling of “independence” while doubling the cost of college to achieve it, before living at home for four or five more years AFTER graduation to pay for it.
RE: I went to a SUNY college right next door to Syracuse University. I took classes at both. SU was a rip off in my opinion.
Syracuse is now the NUMBER 1 PARTY SCHOOL in America.
SEE HERE:
I remember seeing that. Probably has to do with the fact that they get lake effect snow all winter long. Nothing to do all school year but hang out and drink.
Seriously, though how do they figure that out, alcohol consumption/student?
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