Connecting Degree Return-On-Investment with a Better Financing System

While some nerdy people like me thought that college was fun, and so stayed in it for life, for most people it is a chore to be completed with the goal of higher income. College is a big investment—of time, of expenses such as tuition, and of wages unearned due to one’s being in school.

When we invest in a retirement fund, we see lots of data about rates of return. There is no guarantee about the future, but you can see the returns on various funds and stocks from previous years. No one buys expected losers. Colleges, however, generally avoid providing information about their return on investment. Instead, there is happy talk about how “rewarding” college is, though the truth is that some degrees are almost sure losers.

Students today are thinking more about the costs of and returns on their investment in education, as well they should. Fortunately, more information is available now than in the past.

The University of Texas System now provides information about average returns earned by graduates for each degree at each school. For example, at my school, UT-Arlington, you will see that the median first-year earnings for someone gaining a BS in economics (the best degree at UTA!) are $50,000; median earnings five years out are $68,000; and median earnings after 10 years are $81,000.

A prospective student can compare that to, say, mechanical engineering, where the median earnings are $63,000, $82,000, and $103,000 on the same timeline. If the calculus in that program is scary, one could consider the math-less discipline of philosophy, where the median earnings are $33,000, $56,000, and $57,000.

He will be starting his 2nd year this fall, his long term goal is to work for an OEM. The UTA experience has been really good.

Congratulations to you on taking on such a great field, and hope you do very well.

Circa 1983 the oilfield crashed and burned. My geology degree most valuable and experience on the drilling rig no longer had value. I sold my house and airplane. I was 35 years old and needed a high paying job quickly. I became a pharmacist in only 2-1/2 years by going to school year round. I already had all the basic math, chem, physics, biology, etc. I went straight into pharmacy school with no pre-pharm courses. Upon graduation and passing the state boards I had an immediate high paying job. I made value judgements on my educational choices. It worked. I was broke the last year and took out loans, 8000 dollars about 20,000 in today’s money. Paid it off early!

At that time pharmacists were in short supply. One chain pharmacy in Louisiana would come and interview students one year from graduation. They offered considerable money if one signed a contract for a couple of years work at which time the loan was forgiven. I did not take it but it was fair offers. “Aint” capitalism great?

If Joe Biden forgives student loans, I want my 20K back! That will not happen.

It should be noted that at my hospital (I am now retired) we had pharmacist students trainees that had 200K of student loans.

I forgot to add a buddy of mine in pharmacy school was also ex oilfield. He to had no marketable skills anymore. His degree was in biology he as I had all the prerequisites for pharmacy school. His job in the oilfield was as a pipeline welder. He was making a hell of a lot more money than teaching biology. He did well also.

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