<p>As a high school senior, I have been thinking about college. I have researched stories, like this one Some</a> Debt-Laden Graduates Wonder Why They Bothered With College - ABC News, about many people getting themselves into debt just to get a degree that does not guarantee a job that will pay off the loans. So, is it orth getting into any kind of debt just to go to college or is it better just to get a job or learn skills another way, like an apprenticeship?</p>
<p>It is worth going into debt IF you carefully control the amount of debt you take on. Taking out a total of $25,000 or so in loans is manageable, as part of an overall college payment package.</p>
<p>Where people run into trouble is when they borrow tens of thousands of dollars every semester, running up totals of $75,000, $100,000 or more. That amounts to payments of sometimes $2,000 a month, which is completely unsustainable on almost any entry-level college-graduate salary.</p>
<p>How much debt?
Which school?
What field of study?
What are your goals?</p>
<p>Those four questions all have to be answered before a definitive conclusion can be reached.</p>
<p>I think I worded my post wrong. I mean is college worth it overall, not just concerning me. Is college worth it to those who have to take out huge loans to go to college, or those who are not majoring in something practical? However, I will tell you my plans for college anyway. I plan to go to some undergrad college, what undergrad college that is and how much it will cost is currently unknown to me. Afterwards, I plan to go to pursue a M.D.-PH.D. I guessing the free tuition and stipend will help with the M.D-PH.D., and I am thinking about going into private practice (still not sure what it means, but people say that is where the most money can be made) to pay off my student loans. Finally, I then plan to transfer to a job in academia to do research, unless I can do more in my current job.</p>
<p>^ And I’m telling you that it’s a pointless, unanswerable question. It’s like asking whether it is “worth” buying a house instead of renting. Nobody can answer that question without some information about the house and the buyer.</p>
<p>Having finished my BA with a little bit of debt (I borrowed about $9,000 in undergrad), I think it was worth it. Over a lifetime on average bachelor’s degree holders make money than people with just a high school diploma - although of course there are vocational programs that can train you to make a decent salary (electrical work, construction work, plumbing). In addition, there are certain kinds of jobs and positions you can only do with a bachelor’s degree, and most of the things I am interested in require at least a BA if not a master’s.</p>
<p>You also can’t attend a PhD program without a BA, and that’s what I’m doing right now, lol. But my total debt load is under $25,000 right now so I’m pretty happy with myself 
My monthly payments over 10 years will be less than $300 a month, and I plan to go into management consulting after I finish my PhD.</p>
<p>I agree with noimagination, it depends on your career goals and how much you plan to borrow. If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, professor, or something else that requires professional or graduate school you need to get a BA anyway. If you don’t care what you do as long as you are making money, then it might be more lucrative to get an apprenticeship in a skilled labor career. Regardless of whether your toilet breaks in a recession or prosperity you’re going to get it fixed, so a plumber is a pretty recession-proof job :)</p>
<p>Large debt should be avoided. Usually there are less expensive and good alternatives are available.</p>
<p>College degree is necessary for even basic jobs…debt is not necessary for being the manager of Wawa,or the like…you get what you pay for,but taking significant debt to get that degree that separates you from the masses is debatable…</p>
<p>jussmall, if you read enough of those articles, or the stories on the Project on Student Debt website, you’ll start seeing a pattern to be avoided. Many of those grads borrowed way more than the average (which is in the low $20’s) using private loans in addition to Staffords, and many took longer than 4 years to graduate because they switched schools/majors or had other life events. Then, faced with low-paying jobs and high loan payments, they either requested forbearance or deferred their loans to go to grad school, thereby incurring even more debt. The worst case scenarios just stopped paying altogether for a time and their loans ballooned with penalties and interest…some balances doubled and almost tripled! Unfortunately, for them, hindsight is 20/20 but there are clear lessons in their stories that wise kids (and parents) can learn from!</p>
<p>Much of that can be avoided by using common sense and carefully researching your options. In our family, we’ve had a kid who didn’t have any idea what they wanted start at a CC and then transfer “up” when ready, two started at universities and changed majors in freshman years, and one who likely do an AOS and an apprenticeship. It’s a very individual process and always the kid’s choice, but the one thing I won’t allow is big debt and my kids know early on that pricey “dream schools” must come with big scholarships and aid or it’s a definite non-starter! </p>
<p>We try to do lots of research/career exploration in 11th-12th grade so they have an idea of what different careers entail and what the pathways might be to get there. While I do see complaints that the college’s placement office hasn’t been up to snuff, what I rarely see in the “horror” stories (people with degrees only finding work they could have got with a HS diploma) is people saying they kept their gpas high, did quality internships, networked through professional organizations, etc. In other words, I don’t get the sense that they really positioned themselves as well as possible.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in a career in medicine, I would suggest you contact your HS guidance office and see if they can help you set up shadowing or volunteer work that will give you exposure to healthcare jobs. Our HS has a great allied health program for seniors which does give them credits where they rotate through every medical department at the local hospital and a separate non-credit program that my D participated in which is just for shadowing various professionals (medical, legal, dental, research, etc). Incidentally, this experience and her related volunteer work, made a dandy essay topic when it came time to apply and she received some nice comments about it on her acceptance letters. Anyway, many pre-med students never actually end up as MD’s but I suspect a fair number who have the “heart” for healthcare discover their true calling in related fields.</p>