Is college worth the cost?

College costs have risen over 1,100% since 1978, and many students are finding it harder and harder to find work right after college. Many have debt upwards over 25,000 dollars.

And with a job market that doesn't seem to care that much, people are wondering if college is even worth the cost.

Yet at the same time, college students were told that a college degree is the next high school diploma, and many employers agree.

Yet when I was growing up, we were told a college degree = job. And now its looking like its not the case.

And with the possibility of federal student loans (Which you can never escape from) going up to...I think 8.4% in July unless Congress gets something done (lol)....

Is college becoming too expensive for too little worth?

I think it depends on what you study. I believe it's mostly the arts/humanities that are no longer worthwhile as far as getting a career is concerned, but engineering/science is still going strong. I don't have any data handy, though.

It comes down to what skills are in demand and are marketable. There aren't many wealth-producing jobs that require a degree in art history or classical literature.

Honestly in the USA as of 2013 the answer is a clear no.

If you're personally footing the bill higher education in America is a seriously raw deal. With the exception of a few specialist careers it simply won't offer a return to the colossal cost of time, money and effort. Not to mention the cost of not being in the workforce full time.

This isn't to say college isn't worth going to. But it's not worth beggaring yourself over.

hashtagsarestupid

It really, really depends. If you're a serious academic performer, your field of choice isn't getting outsourced right now, and your program of choice has a lot of career outreach stuff, it's usually worth it but can still fuck you over if your internship doesn't go straight into a job.

If you're thinking about liberal arts or something, lolno.

Pretty much the only professional field I can think of that actually has any entry-level demand whatsoever right now is IT and webmastering. Anything else, you may well be better off hunkering down in the country with low enough living expenses to be paid by retail, and waiting for the shitty economy to blow over.

edited 1st Jun '13 1:08:36 AM by Pykrete

I've spoken to people form Europe who said their college education was completely free

I wanted to kick a puppy.

And if the economy doesn't blow over? Because there is no sign of this train stopping.

edited 1st Jun '13 1:53:22 AM by Thorn14

I (or rather, my parents) have to pay a sum for some services the university offers to me (public transportation, reduced prices for meals etc) and a higher arbritary sum which we now get rid of.

Sounds better than the system of "What you didn't get a scholarship? Well enjoy being in debt forever!" we have right now.

The sums are definitely not that high, even with the fee we have now. Do you have to pay everything of the financial help back?

You have to pay all federal student loans. And cannot even escape them with bankruptcy.

We have some financial help which we usually don't have to pay back in full and which depends on our social situation. The American education just sucks in that regard.

Not only did the British government foot the bill for my degree, they also gave me a loan on ridiculously generous terms to pay for my living expenses, which I didn't need to repay for about ten years, and collection of which was so laxly enforced many of my friends simply never bothered to hand it back.

Kick a whole kennel.

In general though, unless you are very wealthy or you are doing a degree with serious employability at the end of it, were I an American student, I'd just go and make my way in the world. I believe some people enlist in the US military after college and pay off their debts with their sign-on bonus. The downside of that is you have to serve for several years, which many people may not want to do. Or, enlist before college and get tuition assistance.

edited 1st Jun '13 2:25:58 AM by Achaemenid

Schild und Schwert der Partei

I hate my country. I'm going to sleep.

Problem is there are health problems that can keep you out of the military, (I have several friends who didn't manage to make it in for that reason) and jobs are rare right now in many places so business are either gonna put the experienced one or the guy with a college degree and experience, (because they managed to find a similar job to support themselves) to work. Employers got their pick right now.

Not impossible to make a living now in most places just harder.

METAL GEAR!?

Piece of advice: go to Canada. Even with our ridiculous international student fees tacked on, it will STILL probably cost you less than going to an American university.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

Heck, the (now ex-)government of Quebec tried to raise the cost of education and the students went batshit insane and manifested for months to cancel the plan. Fees in Quebec are stupidly low when compared to the US.

But there's the matter of learning french, so there's that.

Protests were basically the same here in Germany. They still got it through for a time, but they never were popular and still cheaper than in the US. You could come study here, if you're prepared to learn German.

Its kinda at the point where even your professors will tll you the costs likely wont ewver get you a fancy super-swish career. Most of my art professors mainly make the argument that if you're majoring in fine art of some nature its more for love of the subject than the financial gains. Because most artists/actors/photographers/musicians these days that dont hit the big time generally make their living either in other fields or as assistants.

Does anyone know more about going to Quebec for college? I'm currently studying French, and I intend to become fluent.

Well, I'm a native so I can't tell you my experience as foreign student, but try reading this page by the government of Quebec.

Hope that helps.

I think it is too expensive, but at at the same time it's like a catch 22, most jobs expect you to have a bachelor's degree in something.

This.

Course, they also expect you to have already been employed in the industry for 2-3 years

this is where half the current catch 22 lies.

College grads dont have experience. and older employees with experience dont have degrees. So neither gets jobs.

edited 1st Jun '13 12:11:12 PM by Midgetsnowman

Yeah that's the problem. There are plenty of jobs out there, but almost none of them are entry-level.

A while ago I talked about one of the job hunt sites my colleges works with. Clicking the filter for 0-1 years of experience drops the list from thousands of jobs to less than a hundred, most of which are on the other end of the country.

edited 1st Jun '13 1:02:20 PM by Pykrete

Dog-people around the world are going to hate me for this... Practically speaking yes. At least in Aalto university the only costs are the student union fee (<100€/a) and books. And those and a lot of living expenses are covered by KELA: Aid for students, study grant.

Edit: always forget whether the link comes first or second.

edited 1st Jun '13 2:14:36 PM by Qeise

Laws are made to be broken. You're next, thermodynamics.

and its like that in every industry across the board.

hell, even for art majors like me, technically theres a lot of open jobs for graphic design and photography.

The problem is most of them expect you to have a bachelors and 2-3 years of experience working in the field already.

You can try freelance by looking for clients or advertising on craigslist, but even than it's a little limited depending on the area and level of competition.

METAL GEAR!?