What's More Expensive Than College? Not Going to College

Parent Cafe
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<p>"There is a cost to not educating young people. The evidence is around us and all over the world.</p>

<p>If you want to feel optimistic about the state of things for unemployed, disengaged, and dissatisfied youths in America, here's a way. Spin a globe. Stop it with your finger. If you touch land, the overwhelming odds are that the young people in that country are doing much worse ...</p>

<p>... Take out that globe one more time and give it a spin. I challenge you to land on a region where education gains aren't translating to productivity and income gains. The highest-income countries have the highest rates of enrollment in secondary school and the smallest share of informal employment that is vulnerable to an economic downturn. There is a cost to not educating young people. The evidence is literally all around us."</p>

<p>Good stats, graphs, and facts.</p>

<p>What's</a> More Expensive Than College? Not Going to College - Derek Thompson - Business - The Atlantic</p>

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<p>Note that $100,000 for four years is a lot less than the full list price of many private and out of state public universities; the rate of return would be likely be less favorable if one spent full list price at the most expensive universities. What it means is that, unless one comes from a very wealthy family that can easily and willingly spend up to the full list price at any university, looking for the best value for your educational needs is important. Also, the rate of return can be affected by choice of subjects studied, and the popular view of which majors pay well is not necessarily the same as reality.</p>

<p>Also note that the rate of return for an associates degree is higher than that for a bachelor’s degree in the chart. This is likely because one can study to an associates degree at an inexpensive community college, while learning skills that can significantly upgrade your job prospects compared to those with no additional education or training beyond a high school diploma (depending on the subject studied, of course).</p>

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<p>How about an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico for where a college education doesn’t matter much.</p>

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<p>^ Having lived in Houston before and known quite a few guys who worked on oil rigs, I would say that a college education could be very helpful to many rig workers in helping them realize that they really should sew up the holes in their pockets.</p>