College often not worth time, money

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | Thursday, February 24, 2005 | Mike Seate

[Willie Green]

A waitress at one of my favorite Strip District restaurants last week used one of the industry's oldest cliches. She delivered a meal and reminded me that she "really didn't do this" for a living.

Waiting tables, she explained, was simply something she was doing until a well-paying job opened up in the field she studied during six years in college.

While this is rote conversation for wait staff in places like New York and Los Angeles, where everyone with a tray of linguini in their hands is waiting for a slot on NBC's "Fear Factor," it's unusual for Pittsburgh.

Or is it?

The waitress, it turns out, spent all that time and nearly $150,000 of her family's money studying social sciences, but after graduating she became disappointed with the entry-level salary of her chosen field.

"I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables," she confided, "so I'm probably going to just stay here."

[redgolum]

You know a RN that works 3 days a week? Most I have met work 6!

Seriously though, if you getting a degree in social sciences, you either better be planning on teaching or becoming a social worker. Same with most art majors.

The exception is a friend of mine. He wanted to be a graphic artist, and approached his classes like I approached my engineering ones. He has done rather well for himself.

[biblewonk]

This just in.

[kittymyrib]

If you want your children to be rich, get them into a trade school for air condition/heating, diesel repair, plumbing, electrical work or auto repair. Lawyers are a dime a dozen and getting cheaper as the unemployed go home to live with their parents.

[Sloth]

Having ANY BS degree in college virtually guarantees a $25k a year job in SOMETHING.

I graduated in 1998 with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering. The best job I could find for a year and a half paid about $19K, and I was lucky to get it.

[Willie Green]

4 years full time at Penn State: $10,000
degree: accounting
two years later: passing CPA exam and practicing accounting

Not sure where you got that info.
A quick check of PSU's Tuition Rates shows it's roughly $10K per year for state residents, and TWICE that amount for non-residents.

Then you have to add room & board, not to mention various other fees and living expenses.

[TankerKC]

...while those other subjects merely require scholarship...

...sometimes.

[nuke rocketeer]

and is why a degree in the fuzzy subjects pays much less!

[Maceman]

This article is just one further piece of evidence that the quaint old 19th-century Progressive-era college education distribution structure we all presume to be eternal is headed for the ash heap of history.

Ward Churchill is even more evidence.

My long-held prediction: "College" as that term is understood today, will not exist as a dominant education modality after 2015.

[ContemptofCourt]

The title of this article is so misleading....it should say: "Spending $150K on a social worker degree is not cost-effective."

I was in a similar situation...I graduated with a degree in psychology. Now, if you have any brains, you know that the BS degree is worthless...if you intend to make any money at all, you need a MS at the very least, or a Ph.D more likely.

My first few years out of college, I made $15K as a social worker. However, I went to law school and now make much more than $15K. Moreover, my earning potential is limitless.

Some people are just clueless...and they deserve what they get.

[eastforker]

Agreed, pipe-fitters, plumbers, boilermakers, carpenters, cabinet makers, satellite techs, home theater techs and a variety of other vocations pay very well.

[ruiner]

That's nuts man. I started in ChemE at Texas Tech, but didn't like it much.

What school did you go to? I work in environmental consulting, what industry are you in?

[bvw]

If you get a BA in basket-weaving, don't expet to get a salary like someone who majored in Finance and gets a Job as a Jr. investment banker with Salomon Bros.

So someone who actually makes something, as oppossed to someone who waits for other folks to make somethng and then grabs the value of the trading of that thing so made -- that maker of real things -- just a peon. Of no value.

Unclean! Beneath contempt. Not worthy of "education".

[An Old Marine]

It comes as a shock to many kids that all that time and money spent on college only allows them to start at the bottom somewhere.

And I question whether college is really worth the investment these days. First I question that college prepares many people in many disciplines to actually do something that pays. Secondly I have come to see that many jobs requiring huge educational benefits really do not pay. Perhaps the colleges should review their "product" is not defective.

My youngest son passed up a college education to start his own business (making reproduction antique autos) and hasn't looked back. I think he is right.

[dawn53]

What about certifications?

Do you have Cisco certifications?

My husband had a two year degree and was doing pretty well in the field, but when he got his Cisco certifications (he studied on his own and then took the tests) it really helped advance his career.

[Conservatrix]

Wow. How a propos.
I am 43 and finishing grad school with 6 kids. IT has been very tough. I went back to school (and even finished my undergrad) late in life because financially my husband is not well enough to work much of the time.

Anyway, what is dspressing is that in my field I can barely break the 40K mark-- with a MASTERS. WHat is even more pathetic is that a person with a doctorate in my field is barely making 43K... with all of THAT!

I probably would have done something in computers if I had realized... I really did not realize how tough the market was when I went back to school. I though things were going to be relatively easy for me, but they are NOT!!!
If you guys are the praying kind, pray that the right position will open for me so that I can provide for my children. I will be graduating in May. THANKS.

[Monterrosa-24]

Reminds me of Jay Leno's line, "The unemployment figures are down to record lows...why today even a history major got a job".

[FBRhawk]

I was a professor at UNLV in Las Vegas and I actually did have an "exotic dancer" in one of my classes. She was making six figures as a stripper but knew that she had a limited time span to work (She was 26). After graduation she got a good job and accepted the 60k/year pay cut.

[Names Ash Housewares]

"partying and finding spouses were valid reasons for going to college. Pathetic."

I have noticed that some women seem to use it for husband hunting, though I dont think intentionally. They graduate get a good job, marry, have kids. Quit working and stay home with the kids. Was the degree necessary? Maybe. Might help in raising the kids being well educated. But it funny how school and career oriented they were before the kids. And how into being Mommy they become after and forsake the career. Now this is because the were able to marry well by finding the achievers in college for husband material. Am I crazy on this? Maybe Im imagining things.

[ContemptofCourt]

Are lawyers a dime a dozen? Yes.

Are good lawyers a dime a dozen? No. BTW, good lawyers are not getting cheaper, but rarer and more expensive.

[Iron Eagle]

This woman is an idiot! She is making cash, having her salary undoubtedly underreported. Not having SS withheld at the proper rate -- ripping herself off if she lives long enough. Besides, what's the salary ceiling for a waitress in Pittsburgh. Not much, and it won't go up with age.

Of course one starts at an entry level job with a low salary -- Surprise!!!! 14 years ago my wife started from college with a communications/marketing degree. Her first job paid her 21K. When she left the market place two years ago to stay home with the kids, she was making close to 90K.

When I went back t school at night at age 24, I had a full-time job making 26K after 7 years! I earned my degree, got an advanced degree (law) and in 10 short years increased my 6 fold. (If I had decided to stay with my pre-college job, I would be at about 34K right now. Hmm -- what a dummy I must be.

Then, let's also consider some other factors. Mr. Waitress -- unless she is hitting on the customers -- has not really increased her prospects for meeting a high income earner. (not that income is everything, but professional tend to meet people where they work, fall in love in and among the same circles, and the rest is history. Who is she dating, the busboy?

One thing seems painfully obvious, this woman's family wasted its money on her! And, one more thing seems obvious, I will wind-up supporting this woman if we both live to old age.

Next time I am in the Steel City, I will leave her a tip. "think long term"

BTW -- my brother spent 7 years going to school. He started at age 32 -- with three kids. He made pizzas and cut lawns. He graduated three years ago, finally. He took a pay cut that first year too. He just passed his CPA license and he now makes 15K more than he did before, and he has benefits, 401k etc.

Every single analysis shows that projected over time, getting a college degree dramatically separates one from those with a high school degree as time goes by. The parties often start near parity -- depending on the degree of course -- with degree holds doubling the salaries within 15-20 years.