<p>There was an article written in today's Washington Post ( 9/10/2010) noting that "bypassing college, might be the best move of all." It was supported by financial gurus who noted that the cost of getting a college degree is becoming less beneficial for the price that you are paying. It is a very illuminating article. If you can't access it, do a search in the Washington Post's site. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that for the same $200,000 that college costs today, folks may be better off trying to start businesses and to search for other horizons such as being a chef. This is particularly true for some lower paying majors such as anthropology etc. I am not sure that I agree with all of the article, but it was an interesting read.</p>
<p>OMG, if I read one more story about how not going to college is better for you financially, I’ll vomit. This is the new “trendy” topic for financial writers to go on and on about. Yes, if people had all $200,000 all at once, they might be better off starting a business or investing or doing something else with that. But most people don’t just get the whole $200,000 nest egg right away. THey have some saved, some comes from loans, some comes from parent’s income throughout the course of the year, some from scholarships. So most people don’t have that money when they start college, thus they couldn’t do something else with it. </p>
<p>Also, I reject the idea that there are “low-paying” majors. Just because you major in anthropology or English doesn’t mean that you become an English teacher or an anthropologist. Someone who studies anthropology and then gets a job in say, Corporate giving heading up a project of giving to 3rd world countries, could do pretty well.</p>
<p>Everyone isn’t cut out to start a business, either.</p>
<p>If D can’t get a job after graduation, I am going to suggest that she write a book about how worthless college is (she is a good writer after all). Seems to be a popular topic for college educated people to write about.</p>
<p>Another consideration is that most people don’t pay $200,000. They attend in-state institutions for $80,000. Or, they attend a private college with merit and/or need-based FA. I think this argument also ignores that college is not just an education in order to get a job and earn money. It also has a lot to do with the maturation process and becoming independent. Are they suggesting that an 18-year-old should live at home and his parents should hand him $200,000 and tell him to start a business? I’m sure that would work well.</p>
<p>Why there is this premise that the goal of college education is making more money?</p>
<p>Sure, it has been found that on average college graduates earn more that those without a degree, but that is not the reason most people go to college (or at least it shouldn’t be, IMHO)</p>
<p>Who the Hell pays $200,000 to go to college? I’d love to see statistics about who attends these $50k/year colleges? I have always suspected that they were in the minority, and that the majority of college graduates attend community colleges and in-state publics (or a mixture of the two) for less than half of the cost. These articles always focus on the same type of person (upper-middle class, usually white, usually urban) as if they represented the vast majority of Americans. </p>
<p>On the first page alone, the guy in question attended Cornell and was apparently full-pay until his parents lost money. What percentage of Americans attend or could have attended an Ivy League college and paid full price? You might as well publish an article written from the perspective of Paris Hilton, for all the relevance this has to the majority of people who could read it.</p>
<p>^Well, there are plenty of colleges with50K/year COA, and about half of the students pay full freight even at the top ones (which offer the most generous fin aid)</p>
<p>In the first place - it is going to cost a lot more tha $200,000 to “become a chef” and then “start your own business” - open a restaurant.</p>
<p>Second - how does “being a chef” equate to being educated? A chef can be an educated person and an educated person can be a chef, but become a chef does not make one educated.</p>
<p>Finally, one does not have to pay $200,000 to go to college (See CC Financial Aid forum)</p>
<p>The genius who isn’t sending his daughters to college is an investment fund manager. I might pay some attention when an article like this is written by parents who are public school teachers or postal workers.</p>
<p>How many small businesses fail in the first two years? How many restaurants? For restaurants, it’s over 50%. Not a good investment, sorry. </p>
<p>I don’t know many 18 year olds who are capable of starting and running a business. Those who are generally have some sort of passion or idea for an invention and they go forward with it. But the average kid? Not gonna happen.</p>
<p>I get tired of these articles because they dismiss the value of education for its own sake.
Not that you need to spend 200k to get an education, but a four year degree is more than a ticket to a job, if it is even that.<br>
I almost wonder if those who are singing the praises of no college degree are trying to knock out the competition and clear the way for their own kids, lol! There will always be those for whom college isn’t the best option, but for the average American kid coming out of high school, a college education offers the best hope for future success.</p>
<p>This summer I spent time with several groups of parents from both Europe and Africa. In both groups they discounted the American idea of an education for its own sake. Higher education if you have the aptitude plus the goal of a career where higher education is needed otherwise get a good secondary education and after do some training for a vocational career. Granted in both groups they felt their HS secondary education was rigorous. Not sure in the US we can all say that</p>
<p>I have to apologize here; I didn’t mean to imply that it was a bad choice or that people who do spend that amount on college are wrong, only that it was probably an uncommon choice. These articles automatically assume that all students attend colleges that cost much more than the cost of attendance at most in-state publics, an assumption that I find unreasonable because I believe that the majority of students attend in-state publics or community colleges (or have some sort of financial assistance to attend more expensive universities). Therefore, such a sweeping claim (“bypassing a college degree is often a good idea because you can save the $200,000 for something else”) is probably not going to apply to the majority (perhaps even the vast majority) of the people who will read this article. Most people will never have to face that choice so it’s very irksome to see that almost all articles on this subject ignore that.</p>
Chedva hit a point I was thinking of - part of the benefit of attending college is in maturing, expanding one’s general knowledge, expanding specific knowledge, perhaps attempting/failing at certain tasks, realizing the effort that needs to go into other tasks to be successful, etc. I think for most (not all) people there’s a difference in the individual between entering as a 17 y/o and the grad. </p>
<p>And anyway - who’s going to hand an 18 y/o $200K or even $100K cash to fund a very risky venture (assuming they could even come up with one before the money disappears)?</p>
<p>A friend’s child would get a free ride at his college. Upon learning this, said child asked “So, if I don’t go there, do I get $200,000?” . Well…no.
I’m just thinking about how strange it seems to just hand over $200,000 to an 18 year old and say ‘Okay - go start a business.’
That being said, I do see kids who really don’t need a college degree. I’d like to see the return of more voc-tech programs, for example and more apprentice programs.</p>
<p>The notion of giving the average high-school graduate $10,000 or more to start a business is just silly. Sure, a small handful of them will have the smarts to spend the money wisely, but the majority of them will quickly lose the money through poor decision-making, partnering with the wrong people, etc. The only lesson that most of these unsuccessful entrepreneurs will learn is failure.</p>
<p>It seems to me that many of the folks Ive come across both on CC and in real life have the right idea. They try to help their sons and daughters make the right choice (whether or not to go to college, what to study) and then to help select the most cost-effective institution for them to attend. I dont know a single person who is paying anywhere close to $200,000 for their child to attend college.</p>
<p>“This summer I spent time with several groups of parents from both Europe and Africa. In both groups they discounted the American idea of an education for its own sake.”</p>
<p>Not sure I want America to be more like Europe or Africa.</p>
<p>believe it or not, america can learn a lot from both europe and africa (and vice versa). jingoism aside, this topic is silly. why the sudden push/attempt to devalue higher education? i suspect a political agenda.</p>
<p>In one way, this is part of the problem in US education. There are many out there who does not value education at all.</p>
<p>In most of the “discussions” about how to improve the US public education, you see some argue it is the teachers, some said it is the parents, some say it is about the school etc etc. I say, it is about the culture. If the society does not value education, no matter how much money you put in, it wouldn’t change. You just can’t teach someone who does not want to learn.</p>
<p>Now aday, all the TV and print media talks about movie stars, the football players, etc. How many times did you see a show or a moive about the benefit of education.</p>