Is College the Right Choice?

Is College the Right Choice? As college tuition reaches an all-time high and cheaper alternatives to university proliferate, it raises the question: is it economically feasible to invest in a bachelor's degree? THE REAL COST OF GOING TO COLLEGE College tuition has been increasing at record rates from an average of $3100 in 1980 to $18,497 in 2010 The Student Debt Epidemic Rising tuition rates aren't the only financial concern for students; the majority of students are graduating with a very large amount of student loan debt College Tuition Rates 20000 15000 7 out of 10 college Student loan debt has nearly doubled since 2008, going from 650 billion to 1.2 trillion 10000 students graduate with debt 5000 2013 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 1.2 How Much Is Your Time Worth? 2008 The average debt load for the class of 2012 was Trillion %24 650 Fewer than 40% of students graduate within 4 years $29,400 Fewer than 60% of students graduate within 4 years Billion At a 6% interest rate and a 10 year pay back period, this $29,400 would tack on $9,800 an additional $9,800 in interest How Much Are You Learning? There is no denying that students will be learning specific skills related to their majors. However, how much are they learning in terms of general skills such as critical thinking? A recent study by the University of Chicago found that 45% of college students showed no gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning or written communication after 2 years of study. The Rise of Cheap Alternatives The internet has led to a surge in alternatives to university. Anyone who has a computer can now watch lectures from MIT, write assignments designed for Harvard courses and listen to world renowned experts... for free! Here a just a few of your options. oursera Coursera is an education website with hundreds of different online courses you can enroll in. Some will even give you credit towards a University degree! Coursera has 6.5 million users as of March 2014. KHANACADEMY YMBCADANAH Khan Academy is a massive library of short instructional videos and exercises which touch on everything from how Genghis Khan rose to power to what a stock option is. It has over 4500 videos, 100,000 exercise problems and reaches approximately 10,000,000 students each month! Udemy is a marketplace for online courses. The platform currently offers over 8,000 courses, with over 2 million enrollments and 4,000 independent content creators! Academic Earth is a huge collection of university lectures from schools such as MIT, Harvard, Yale and Princeton. You can watch lectures on anything from Astronomy to Entrepreneurship to Political Science! The Benefits of a College Education The Million Dollar Difference Starting Salary Prospects Your starting salary strongly depends on your field of study. Here is what you can expect to make from some of the more common majors. Many studies have found that on average, college graduates with a bachelor's degree make about one million dollars more than someone without a college degree over their lifetimes. The difference is even greater for more advanced degrees. Engineering - $62,600 Lifetime Earnings (In Millions USD) Doctoral Computer Science - $59,100 Master's Business - $55,100 Bachelor's High School Math and Sciences - $43,000 1 3 4 Education - $40,500 Your Employment Prospects The unemployment rate for recent graduates is high. In fact, about 13% of people under the age of 29 with a bachelor's degree are unemployed. However, the situation is much worse for recent high school graduates. Social Sciences - $38,000 Final Thoughts Unemployment Rate Going to college still makes sense for alot of people based on the simple fact that your earning potential and employment prospects increase dramatically. However, it might not be the obvious path it used to be. Rising tuition costs and the availability of good alternatives have made the non-college route a very reasonable option for many рeople. 30% References U.S. Census Bureau National Association of Colleges and Employers U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Education The Chronicle of Higher Education Institute for College Access and Success 8% National Center for Education Statistics Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Recent College Recent High School Please e-mail [email protected] for any questions about the methodology or sources. Graduates Graduates Find more infographics and cool things at: Www.TutorGrams.com %24 %24 %24