Does going to college pay? Answer isn't simple (More questions about astronomical tuition fees)

Seattle Times ^ | 10/09/2007 | Scott Burns

[Badeye]

You make your own luck, and your own life.

No biggie about my spelling, it is what it is.

[SuziQ]

According to the College Board, it takes 14 long years before the college grad's income, net of loan payments, starts to beat what the high-school grad earns. During all those 14 years, college doesn't pay. High school pays.

Looking at net income, you might be right, but as soon as those college loans are paid off, that more educated income starts paying off. If one had only a high school income, that would continue.

One problem is that kids so desperately want to have an edge that they push to try to get into Ivy League or big name colleges, and are willing to pay the exorbitant tuition, when it's likely a second tier private college, or a State School would do just as well, for a lot less money. There are some exceptions, of course. If a student is going to a big name school for a particular discipline, because that school has the best program in what they want to do, that's a good investment. But dropping $40K or more on an Ivy League school to major in Liberal Arts is just silly. Our #1 son attended UMass Amherst, because he was offered a full tuition scholarship. He was also accepted at two top tier colleges, and the only question we had was would the State School allow him to get into a Master's program or Law School, if he wanted to do either of those at a big name school later on. We found the answer was yes, so our son did his undergraduate without having to incur loans, then went on to Cornell Law School. He did get loans for those three years, but is now employed as an attorney with a nice salary that will help pay them off.

Our #2 son, on the other hand, wanted to major in Computer Science, and knew he wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon. He got in, and got his loans, and finished with a double major in Comp. Sci and Psychology in 3 1/2 yrs, because of his AP courses in high school. He's now in Grad School, and wanted to teach college upon graduation, but realizes he'll have to do some work in the real world first, to pay off the loans he's amassed. He'll do fine, though, because CMU was the best school for his undergrad work, and his fellowship at UT Austin is serving him well, too.

[SuziQ]

I went to college 8 years to do what I do. He joined the force right out of the Marines.

Heh, he got his degree from the School of Hard Knocks. ;o)