Here in the oil patch If you have a degree in petroleum engineering, petroleum geology or petroleum land management and augment it with an internship you are pretty much guaranteed a job after graduation paying up to $100k.
An excellent college in our area (Grove City) has their own group of lenders and don't allow their kids to get hooked on the easy to get into debt terms of Fedzilla. I believe Hillsdale College in Michigan does likewise.
If lenders charged loan rates commensurate with risk, kids would be paying 10% or more to go into useless majors like Ethnic or Gender Studies and 2% or 3% to go into useful majors such as nursing and engineering.
No, it is not. It is intentioned to get more business for the now government student loan business, to get kids more indoctrinated by socialists, to get people to thinking that they are too good to be skilled tradesmen like Plumbers and Electricians who can earn much more than your average liberal arts college hack.
Although I'll admit that it will definitely pay off if you are going for a Government job... Especially if you are also a member of a 'protected minority'.
I’m just about to graduate with a major on Women’s Studies? Does anyone know what kind of ROI I might get for this degree?
“College brings higher pay: $1,053 a week for the median bachelor’s degree holder last year, versus $638 for a high school graduate with no college”
I tend to believe the difference in pay has more to do with motivation and intelligence than it does with “collage”, per se.
I’m a high school drop-out but have worked my way into a $100K a year job.
But that took a lot of work and self-starting.
I don’t even have to read the comments to know that there will be some who mindlessly say: “Well, they should major in a worthwhile degree, any of the engineering disciplines.” These ignorant statements assume that everyone off the street can handle an engineering curriculum and that just ain’t so.
I have a sister who has a masters degree in material science engineering from a brand name U. She sure did get a high paying job right out of school but then life happened and she got married and started having kids. When the kids were all in school she went job hunting for a part time gig found a town clerk job and then went to the state labor board to get her pay raised to minimum age. Right now she is back in school to get an RN. Those engineering degrees need upkeep and cont ed along the way. I have told my college age kids to skip all the drama and get their RN right out of high school at the local comm college then they can go pretty much anywhere get a job if needed. I think they both would really rather have businesses to run but the RN is a good back up just in case.
Bachelors $1,053 a week. What crack is this author smoking. Ill be lucky to get that for an MBA when I graduate. I have 20 years employment history..
College degrees aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on unless it’s a specific professional degree. And even then, it’s suspect. I hire attitude and work ethic, degrees dont mean sh!t anymore. Sad but true, most kids have zero work ethic. It’s refreshing on the rare occasion that you find it though.
Government schools do not cost less, they cost more when all the various taxpayer subsidies are added in. The price is cheaper, not the cost. We'd all be wealthier and better off without them.
Good article. College is an investment, and often not a good one. I graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree, and have spent the last 14 years wondering the food industry. Very blessed to do it.
Many aren’t that lucky. My wife has a lot of debt outstanding, and with a teachers salary that wasn’t a good investment. I know of a large number of classmates who have left the field, and still have a huge amount of debt.
The parents need to sit down and be frank with their children about schooling, their own ability, and cost.