Do you believe college is worth the investment?

[poopman]

Do you believe college is worth the investment?

[Maria92]

Let's take my future profession of pharmacy as an example: Total yearly estimated cost, without scholarships: $12,000. With scholarships: $7,000 Total years of schooling: 6 Total estimated cost: $42,000 Average first year salary: $80,000+ Yup, I'd say it's worth it. Of course, there are other lucrative professions that don't require a degree, but none that I like. EDIT: DV fails so spectacularly hard...

[Alric]

Assuming you pass, and you get a degree you are actually going to use, then yes. The biggest problem is people who get degrees that have nothing to do with what they want to do. While I can respect learning just to learn, that is a pretty expensive way to go about it.

[Spartiate]

Assuming you pass, and you get a degree you are actually going to use, then yes. The biggest problem is people who get degrees that have nothing to do with what they want to do. While I can respect learning just to learn, that is a pretty expensive way to go about it. There are however a lot of jobs that just require a university level degree no matter what the field, so the employers aren't much better.

[Maria92]

Assuming you pass, and you get a degree you are actually going to use, then yes. The biggest problem is people who get degrees that have nothing to do with what they want to do. While I can respect learning just to learn, that is a pretty expensive way to go about it. And I shall and I will and I'll be making more money than god. ^_^ But yeah, in this day and age, it sucks to be yet another psychology or business major. Learning for the sake of learning can probably be achieved over the internet in most cases. Wanting to actually become usefully skilled and certified in an area pretty much demands college, though.

[Xei]

Well, from a financial point of view, it depends. If you do a challenging degree of some worth, like... mathematics, you will, if you want, be able to earn much more than you would have otherwise. However if you do a 'soft' degree in something like modern art or... hotel management or something, it's probably not worth it financially. Whether or not it's worth it academically... well that's up to what you choose and what your interests are. If it's worth it socially... probably, unless you end up really poor conditions somehow.

[Samael]

Yeah, my fine arts degree? Probably not so much.

[juroara]

Uh.........BFA.......hasn't done much for me yet. Can I stop paying the loans now?

[DuB]

The very question of whether college is "worth the investment" frames the issue in strictly financial terms. However, as Xei pointed out, people go to college for other reasons as well. I would attend university even if I had no want of money, ever. In fact, if I had the means, I would attend indefinitely. Maybe I'm a bit of a nerd but I love the collaborative learning environment.

[greenhavoc]

I would attend university even if I had no want of money, ever. i agree

[Alric]

Well the thing is, most people don't have extra money sitting around. So there is a legitimate concern that if you are going to go into debt for years, that you are going to come away with some ability to help you pay off that debt.

[Replicon]

A: Depends on whether you live in the US, or a place with reasonable prices.

[DuB]

Well the thing is, most people don't have extra money sitting around. So there is a legitimate concern that if you are going to go into debt for years, that you are going to come away with some ability to help you pay off that debt. Of course. I certainly don't have a lot of extra money lying around either. I'm only pointing out that there are multiple ways to approach this question.

[spockman]

As long as you are attending college, the student loans don't start yet. So if you can stay in school the rest of your life, and rack up hundreds of thousands in debt, the debt won't matter since you will NEVER have to pay it! This is a win-lose scenario, where you win. But no, I am kidding. To be serious, it depends where the credits go. My brother in law, for example, almost got a machining degree. Then he decided not to be a machinist and went for a pharmacy degree. Then he decided not to be a pharmacist. He is on a career path right now that he enjoys and I really think he will stick with as he has had the chance to work at what his job will actually be and enjoys it, (that was the problem with his last ex-majors.) But now there are a lot of credits floating around, (that means money,) that he isn't using and never will and for the most part didn't particularly enjoy. (He liked some of the machining classes.) So basically, a lot of cash went down the tube. If you are going to put money in a class, not counting gen eds or classes you are taking for sheer educational value/enjoyment, make sure it involves something that you want to do! Otherwise, no it is probably not worth the investment. College is a great time in a lot of people's lives, though, and does things for them socially that they were promised high school would do but it never did. So, there is probably a social value to school. But if you are going to be at college anyway, it may as well be in something relevant.

[ninja9578]

Yes. It costs $40k to go to college, but that degree will earn you an extra million in your life time. I make more in a few months than a friend of mine parents combined all year, and they've been working in the same place for 20 years. I've been at my job less than a year. You also get a lot of the life experiences that you wont get any other way. College life is fun.