The Influence of a College Education

As the cost of a college education rises beyond the grasp of many people in the U.S., an alternative scenario is playing itself out.  As noted in a recent NYTimes article, there are many ambitious youth who are choosing not to go to college - who firmly believe in the “get rich” scenario that the internet and social media can bring – and has brought – to some of their peers.   It isn’t just Mark Zuckerberg  and Bill Gates who achieved incredible success without a college degree – there are others, such as the founders of Tumblr and of JetBlue airlines.   

It's daunting to face the prospect of taking on tens of thousands of dollars of debt, for a degree that only “promises” success.  Meanwhile, the media play up the stories of those who chose another path – without a college degree.  So it’s not surprising that many of today’s youth are thinking twice about college.   And yet the numbers are not in their favor… statistically speaking. 

To quote one source: “Georgetown University…  found that 14.3% of those with a high school diploma or less earn as much or more than the median college student. That works out to a one in seven chance of out-earning the median college student.”  Not great odds, are they? Further, according to a Gallup study, “of those with college degrees, roughly eight in 1,000” make more than $500K per year –  0.8%.  For those without a college degree, the odds drop as low as three out of 1,000 – or 0.3%.  Another way of looking at it is the “return on investment” of a college education.  “College tuition provides a 15% return, much better than stocks (7%) and real estate (1%).” 

So what to do about the hype of the non-college route?   And the very real skyrocketing cost of tuition?  It’s time to deal with both – from the realistic perspective and the concept of what constitutes a good college education.  Perhaps it’s more a matter of achieving a goal – a college degree – at a place that can provide a valuable degree without costing so much it creates a hole you can never escape from. 

Indeed, there are horrific stories of people taking out loans that balloon into payments multiple times the worth of the original loan.  There’s no reason to be “in debt for life” because of the promise of a college degree.   

If college really is the “answer” for many students, the “question” needs to be (a) where and why am I going to college and (b) what am I going to have at the end, aside from a diploma?  For example, there are institutions that have great reputations with companies that hire.  In addition, there are programs with internships built-in, and other opportunities to explore that will create a more “employable” solution at the end of a 2 yr. or 4 yr. degree.  Perhaps just a “college degree” isn’t enough anymore – or at this cost. Perhaps it’s a plan for the future, for all four years and beyond…

It will be interesting to see how the lure and influence of the internet plays out among the current generation of high-school graduates in years to come.