Is College Worth It? Moving Forward (Part 2)
“We don’t want the next generation’s four years to cost them the next ten”
In Is College Worth It? (Part 1), we explored the purpose of colleges, the rising cost of tuition over the past few decades, how the pandemic has affected the higher educational landscape and how its effects are here to stay. The question still remains, is college worth it in today’s world?
The answer will vary from person to person, but there are factors like how much money an individual can earn with a degree and the costs and risks of a degree that should be considered. We don’t want the next generation’s four years to cost them the next ten.
An underlying assumption in the U.S. culture today is that debt is normal, and sometimes good. This mindset translates over to student debt, which has resulted in our 1.6–1.7 trillion student loan crisis. There was a time where a student could accrue debt, work a part-time job, and graduate debt free. Due to the rising costs of tuition and fees within institutions in the past three decades, this is no longer possible or extremely difficult to achieve.
An underlying factor for this “debt mindset” is simply a lack of information provided to high school students when thinking about college. Unfortunately, most students attend college because “it’s what you’re supposed to do”.
In part two of this two-part article series, we challenge the traditional idea of attending college and inform any student, or family, considering if higher education is the right path for them. Let’s take a look at some factors students should know when considering if college is the option for them.
Tuition Vs. Wage Growth
An important factor most Americans consider when attending college is their rate of return (ROI) on their degree. Decades ago, the price of college was relatively cheap which allowed students more flexibility regarding career exploration and deciding which institution to attend. Additionally, most college degrees awarded students with a fair wage in their respective fields. However, in the past two decades, there has been a shift as we can see in the chart below.
Between 2000–2010, the average tuition and fees at four year public institutions grew by 72% while the average salary of someone with a bachelor’s degree, between the ages of 25–34, decreased by a total of 14.7%. An argument could be made that the steepest drop in wages and increase in tuition came around the 2008 recession. This does not change the fact that tuition and fees were still increasing by 5.6% annually (average) while wages decreased by 1.6% (average). Even if the recession never happened, the average value of wages earned from public 4 year institutions would continue to decrease. This affects roughly 11 million students, or 66%, of total undergraduate enrollments (NCES, 2021).
“With prices like these, why would someone decide to go to college? While tuition costs are at an all time high, there are certain career paths requiring a degree that offsets these costs.”
ROI On College Degrees
We have all heard that college earners make more money than high school graduates, and on average this is true. The median 2018 earnings by degree were:
- High School: $40,500
- Associate’s: $50,100
- Bachelor’s: $65,400
- Master’s: $80,200
- Doctoral: $102,300
- Professional: $120,500
(New Evidence Documents That A College Degree Pays Off — By A Lot, 2020)
Additionally, employment status of adults between 25–64 years old were:
- 69% for high school graduates
- 73% for those with some college but no degree
- 78% for individuals with associate degrees
- 83% for holders of a four-year degree
(New Evidence Documents That A College Degree Pays Off — By A Lot, 2020)
Lastly, degree holders earned additional economic benefits such as:
- More likely to receive employer-provided retirement plans
- More likely to receive employer-provided health insurance
(New Evidence Documents That A College Degree Pays Off — By A Lot, 2020)
While I think these statistics are important, I believe it’s critical to analyze them further. While college earners seem to make more money ensuring a positive ROI, they are not distributed equally between a chosen field of study. Unfortunately, degrees aren’t worth the same anymore, but they are priced the same amount.
In Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?, the top 50 college degrees are broken down by comparing starting salaries and mid-career medians (10 years in).
Of the top 20 majors, 16 were STEM related, 3 in business, and 1 in the humanities.
The bottom 10 majors on the list included a majority of social science and humanities majors.
If you want to see the full list, check out Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?.
Not all college degrees have the same “worth” in the marketplace (and I use that term very loosely). While the difference between the top major (chemical engineering) and bottom major (religion) was about $30,000, their mid-career median salaries were significantly different. On average, a chemical engineer will have a salary increase of about $45,000 in 10 years compared with someone with a religion degree who will only earn about $18,000 more in the same time period. It’s important to note that if two students obtained these majors at the same school, they would be paying the same price tag for their majors. This mismatch in earnings by major plays a significant factor to our student loan crisis.
As you can see, the degree someone receives impacts the amount of money a student earns on average. Of course I want to acknowledge that there are other factors that affect a salary such as gender, race & ethnicity, location, age, and other factors.
The fact remains that high school seniors should develop something similar to a “pro vs. con” list before enrolling into college to make an informed decision. This leads us to our next point.
The Benefits and Risks of Higher Education
There are benefits and risks associated with attending higher education and as you have read, many factors that should be considered. Unfortunately, these conversations are not happening in high schools or at home and this is no fault to any party involved. Teachers and guidance counselors already have too much to juggle and parents may be misinformed or not have the proper knowledge to discuss with their children.
Our culture in America highly influences how society thinks about college. We often hear, “the name of the school matters”, “a little debt is normal”, and my favorite, “if you don’t go to college, what are you doing with your life”. In order to change our cultural perspective, we need to begin having these conversations in school and around the dinner table. I hope this article as well as my social project can help begin the conversation.
In order to change our cultural perspective, we need to begin having these conversations in school and around the dinner table.
Coming from someone who has a Master’s degree and loves being an educator, I don’t believe these cultural messages are positive. While there are benefits for obtaining a college degree, as we have already read, there are additional factors to be considered. Let’s take a look at some of the statistics.
***Before diving into these statistics, I encourage you to continue reading the rest of the article. I understand that some of the things you read, you might not agree with and trust me, I am with you. They are solely meant to provide considerations in order for everyone to be more educated on this subject and spark conversation.
- -The typical college graduate will earn roughly $900,000 more than the typical high school graduate over the course of their working life.
- -74% of college graduates will make at least $500k more than the typical high school graduate if they have no college costs, though this drops to 56% for those who pay $50,000 a year.
- -The net present value of a college degree is $344,000 for the average person.
- (Is College Worth It? Going Beyond Averages, 2018)
As you can see, obtaining at least a Bachelor’s degree can lead to the possibility of increasing lifetime earnings significantly. However, this is making the assumption that a student has no student loans and actually graduates.
- -There is little payoff without a degree, and 6 in 10 students who start don’t ever finish.
- -When you take into account the significant number of students who start but don’t graduate, there is a 78% chance that attending college will “pay off” if there are no costs. But it is basically a coin flip if your annual costs are $50,000.
- (Is College Worth It? Going Beyond Averages, 2018)
As mentioned in the previous section, a student’s major is another factor when weighing out the risks and benefits of attending a university. There are many benefits of obtaining a college degree today and it is still valued in the workforce. A degree can help change the trajectory of someone’s life and as an educator, that is what it did for me. However, the full picture doesn’t get spoken about.
These statistics help shed a light and illuminate that simply attending a college doesn’t guarantee success. The price tag associated with the school and debt can actually be a hindrance. In When College Doesn’t Pay Off, Georgetown University conducted a study and found that in nearly one-third of institutions, a majority of students earn less than those with a high school diploma when considering their student debt as a factor.
Assuming this assessment is correct, the college a student attends shouldn’t be a significant factor in their lives but rather the degree they obtain and completing college within 4 years. However, why do we as a culture encourage students to attend “good” colleges and what defines a college as good?
Does The Type of College I Attend Matter?
What is better — a state or private institution? Do ivy league and “elite” schools provide more benefits than community colleges and state universities? The answers to these questions will depend on your definition of success. However, most can agree that graduates are looking for a good paying job (relative to their location) with benefits.
Throughout the history of education, elite institutions provided prestigious education for their students through renowned faculty, provided resources for students, and a network to assist fellow graduates into the workforce. These factors steeped into the general public and created a culture where some schools were valued more than others (hence the price tag). However, there has been a shift during the past few decades. With the rising costs of tuition, better faculty distributed throughout academia, and more resources provided by community colleges and state universities, the playing field has been leveled.
In It Doesn’t Matter Where You Go to College, a study by economists Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale is referenced. They compared students who attended ivy league institutions to students who attended “moderately selective” institutions over a 20 year period post graduation. The results were that graduates “differed little or not at all” regarding job placement or earnings. In a larger follow up study following 19,000 graduates, similar findings were concluded and job outcomes, in terms of earnings, were unaffected.
What’s interesting regarding these studies is that the determining factors for success are related to the motivation to improve one’s skills, developing one’s character, and persistence. Do you really need a college degree to develop these skills?
Historically speaking, most of human advances were done by individuals who didn’t have a college degree and still exhibited these characteristics. To be fair, colleges and universities have been trying to build programs through internships and more funding in their student life divisions to provide more events outside of the classroom. The problem is, as we have mentioned, the price tag for these experiences.
In conclusion, where someone obtains a college degree does not determine their success or future earnings. What a graduate does with the degree is the most important thing. The interest to help students develop real life skills through real life experiences seems to have increased due to the pandemic and should be emphasized by institutions. Finally, we can ask the question….
So, Is College Worth It?…..It Depends
As mentioned earlier, the answer to this question depends on your view of a college degree. Is the degree meant to promote critical thinking and if so, what is a fair price? Maybe college is meant to be a transition time for upcoming generations but if that’s the case, why would we put them in so much debt?
I believe so far during this pandemic, most people view college as an investment. The ROI should be worth the time and money spent on tuition and fees. As we have explored in both articles, that price has become steep for most Americans and if prices continue to increase, more and more students will have no option but to opt out.
Enrollment has gone down by almost one million students since the beginning of the pandemic according to Enrollment Marches Downward. The two major contributing factors for this was the loss of jobs and uncertainty of the future, causing students to hold off pursuing their degree as well as students having more time to think about why they are going to college in the first place. Many people around the world realized that our time is finite and we should pursue endeavors that make us happy, and that looks different for everyone. Whatever decision a student makes, I hope this helps families make a more informed decision about their future.
One pathway students should consider are the trades. According to Mike Rowe, best known for his roles on “Dirty Jobs” and “How America Works”, for every five tradesmen retiring there are only two replacing them. This creates an open market to building a career. Check out this List of Trade Careers to learn more. There are endless possibilities in today’s world. It’s as easy as searching a career path on Google or YouTube and learning from experts online.
One documentary I encourage families to watch, especially first generation/low-income students, is Borrowed Future: How Student Loans Are Killing The American Dream. It’s an easy watch that helps students think about how they can graduate from college debt free. Awareness of these issues and the factors associated with them are what inspired me to write this series of articles. One of the solutions to address the question “is college worth it?” can be solved by providing information to students currently in and transitioning out of high school and I hope this can be a great first step.
Thanks for reading,
A Curious Educator
