Is College Worth The Cost?

The average college graduate holds at least $35,200 of debt and has spent four years out of the workforce, where he or she would be otherwise gaining experience. All this for a piece of paper that by no means guarantees a job. The question that potential and current college students need to ask is: Do the financial costs, opportunity costs, and other factors justify the cost of college? For a select few, the answer may be yes. For a surprising number of people, it will be no.

Does the financial cost justify going to college? It depends on what you want to do in life. If you want to go into medicine (average debt of $170,000, average salary $150,000-$200,000+), law (average debt of $100,433 , average salary $113,310), or engineering (average debt of $52,596 , average salary $91,810) the answer will be yes. This is for two reasons. First, today you cannot work in those fields without a college degree. Second, the average income of those professions quickly pays off debt (assuming you can get the job).

But what about individuals who want to go into art, business, music, humanities, languages, or other fields? The answer will most likely be no. There are alternative options that can prove to be far more useful and financially wiser.

Business students who want to start their own businesses would be far better off leaving the theory back in the classroom and diving in head-first into real-life experience. Most of what an entrepreneur needs to learn can be learned from reading books, taking advantage of free online educational resources like Khan Academy and TED talks, and joining college alternative programs like Praxis. I’ve opened two businesses and I learn more from the few months of work I put into them than all the “professional” education I’ve received from my business classes combined.

Real life is the best teacher there is. The average cost of a specialized music school (one most likely to get students a job) can be $81,000. The average salaries of their graduates is around $29,222. Instead getting of a music degree (and tons of debt along with it), students passionate in music should make their own music and post it on YouTube and sell their music on iTunes or other sites. People like Christina Grimmie and Lindsey Stirling have proven the model works, without college.

For learning music, a personal tutor or teaching yourself by using online tools can be just as effective as paying for a college degree. Instead of spending tens of thousands for a degree in philosophy, history or political science, go to Amazon.com and buy a dozen books for a hundred or so dollars and join an online book club to discuss what you read and learn. Or, write a blog or join a forum site to have conversations with other interested individuals. Go other sites like iTunes U if you want to hear lectures from experts for free!

There are cheap and free alternatives to learning the same things you would earn if you went to college and spent tens of thousands on and went into debt for. And this way you can pick exactly what you want to study, study at your own pace and not waste time on pointless projects.

What about the other benefits of going to college, the networking, the friends, the “college experience” and getting a degree to get a job? This may be the best justification for going to college, but it’s still not that strong. Most people who graduate from college get a job not because they have a degree, but because they met someone who was able to get them in the door at a company for an interview. But you can meet people at networking events that are held all over the country!

Go to trade shows or industry conferences and network with people there to get a job. Employers are dying for employees with real life experience (I know I am for my businesses). If you can prove that you can do the real life work, they will over look the absent piece of paper. Most people end up working in fields they don’t major in. This is because employers don’t care about your major, but care about what you can do.

If you feel “the college experience” is worth massive debt, go for it. If you want to save money, go further in your profession, and start your life early, then rethink going to college. There are so many alternatives that are offered thanks to the freedom of the internet it’s a shame not to take advantage of them. Degrees don’t make you standout anymore, experience does. Get out of the classroom and get started on your real life.

To Theodore R. and the others, who replied:

I wasn’t in MedTech, but I WAS in a field very close to it. Essentially, what has happened is that many of the research groups left both the US and Canada during 2009-2010, when the economy withered, and many of the traditional sources of funding did likewise. The few groups that DID survive mostly relocated to several overseas locations (especially Singapore).

Had I been smart/had the foresight, I would have slid over into nursing instead. Unfortunately, I don’t have the financial/funding means to do so. I’ve even looked at oil patch/fracking jobs, but they want hard chem. and eng. degrees. So, for the moment, I’m stuck, but I AM looking for stuff all the time, and I’m not fussy. I’ll go wherever I need to.

Tell me about it. I quit a $72,500/yr. job (salaried, 40/hr weeks)at age 24 to go to college, just to have the economy tank a year before I finished. I was looking at $38k max salaries when I got done.

With a little persistence and literally being willing to move all around the country, I’ve done much better than most...but wasted a lot of income potential in the meantime.

My only hope is that my top end will be considerably increased. Financially, I’m several years behind my goals of 10 years ago.

That’s how much it is if they live on campus or off campus.

Tuition is only $7303.

They estimate $1700 for books, but you can figure out ways to save on books (ebooks, used, etc).

They estimate it cost $4300 to live at home which is BS. That depemds on factors like if parents own a home or rent.

They estimate $1700 for transportation, but that’s BS because you can get a bus or light rail pass for cheap.

They are just trying to get people to live on campus and spend more money at the college.

No, college isn’t for everyone and it is too expensive.

There are vocational and technical schools where skills can be learned that last a lifetime and insure a good salary. But no one seems to want to learn to be a plumber or a heavy equipment operator, a medical transcriber or an x-ray technician.

Most are to year programs and students cam work while going to school.

A short stint in the military earns the G I Bill which is money for school.

I don’t understand why the college costs should be paid by the taxpayers. I had to pay for my children to attend the university of their choice.

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