michaelrobertson.com — In 2005, young people (ages 18-25) in the US gambled $67 billion. Not in Vegas or online poker rooms, but on a betterment program called college. Their hope is that the monies they are spending will allow them to earn more money over their lifetime. Many are paying for this wager by amassing a mountain of debt that will take years to pay off.
Dec 7, 2006 View in Crawl 4
mouskyDec 8, 2006
The math around median income is flawed. It takes a starting salary, in this case 2004 median income data from the US Census Bureau and increases it by an annual income growth percentage. This is seriously flawed in that it ignores promotions, people taking jobs with better pay and so forth. I'm making twice as much money than I did 15 years ago. Mr. Robertson data shows a doubling in salary over 30 years. I don't think so. Marked as inaccurate.
ccarsonthompsonDec 8, 2006
College is definitely worth it -- just look at the regions that are rapidly growing. What do they have in common? Lots of college graduates. Look at the regions of the U.S. with lousy economies, lots of crime and declining incomes. What do they have in common? Not many people with a college degree.
pr0t0Dec 8, 2006
The rates went up in July 2005 (I think). I locked mine in at 3.65%.I'd like to add my $0.02 to the conversation regarding whether or not school is worth it. I have about $50k in student loans. Unfortunately for me, I have the same job at the same company I had before I went to school. I believe this is primarily due to timing...I graduated just as the tech-market crashed...and had only educational background in programming/networking. I can't tell you how many interviews I had where the tech interviewer wanted to know how much experience I had coding complex enterprise applications in Java. I just graduated man! Also, you apparently had to have been working with Java when it was called Oak.So as an investment in my financial future, school was completely worthless. I really enjoyed writing code too. Oh, well. But what school did teach me is that I can do just about anything. I worked 45+ hours a week and went to school full-time. Sometimes I took more than the 'normal' allowable credit hours and had to get permission. I gave up nights and weekends and busted my ass to get a 3.92 cumulative GPA. That's pretty good under any circumstances, let alone while working full time.I think you get out of school what you put into it. If you are looking for a fast-track to money...it's not school. Experience is the mantra of today's hiring managers. School does give you credibility though, even if it isn't really deserved; any moron can get a degree. As an investment I would rate a degree as a poor investment strictly speaking. You can do much better with that money by delving into real estate, rental property, or possibly starting a small business.
hunleyDec 8, 2006
I agree with you that in college and throughout life networking plays a larger role than many people think. The networking/friends that I made during college have already opened many doors for me in terms of job and travel opportunities and more. College is a great venue to develop networking skills. I would also agree with others in that the true value of college isn't in the classes, although I did learn a good amount, but in the life experiences and lessons gained. Too bad I couldn't have paid a little less for this knowledge.
mutatronDec 8, 2006
Buried as lame. As almost everyone here has pointed out, college is more than just a cash investment, it's something you do to enrich your life.And who the heck pays retail? My daughter got most of her $32,000/year private school fees paid for by scholarships. Part of it's paid for with a small loan, but the loan won't be anything near the author's $38,000 per year.And then she's decided next year she wants to go to a State university, which will be far cheaper than $19,000/year even without scholarships.
Closed AccountDec 10, 2006
@allengeerYou really shouldn't like those returns... If your return is 1231% over 45 years you're only making about a 5.75% annual return which is actually quite s**tty and just a little over what you would get for making a risk free investment these days... maybe you should have skipped college...
Closed AccountDec 10, 2006
Stop wasting your time on your calculations. Like sc1n said, you're missing the point of the article, which is the fact that you could take money you would invest in college, invest it in something else and make more money than you would make if you were to go to college. If you take your 120k and invest it at 10% and discount it back to today using your 7% interest over 45 years, you're going to get an NPV of $415k for your investment in college which kind of destroys your point.
macisaintDec 10, 2006
bad math. Look at the Excel sheet. He is comparing the ROI of the tuition versus the increased earning power of the grad over the HS grad. BUT he charges the tuition against the university grad. He has to do one or the other, not both.
testcaseJan 31, 2007
I take it you mean by that that you went to college without a clue about what you wanted to do, right?
smjacobSep 2, 2007
How couldn't it worth it? The financial piece is a little more hard to swallow but it will pay off. What is the alternative? Getting a fake diploma: <a class="user" href="http://www.nd-center.com/">http://www.nd-center.com/</a> ?
expertbloggerMar 9, 2008
Here I am, 12 years out of college, and maybe 10% of my college friends are actually employed in the field they enrolled in college. The folks who took sciences are now in IT. The arts folks went back to school and took something useful, or found a trade. The top 3 salesman in my our office right now majored in biology, arts, and criminology. A college education is an expensive gamble in what you learn and how you learn to apply it. What is missing from the original article is that not having a college education is also an expensive gamble in getting a job today, and being employable in the future sea of college graduates 20 years from now. <a class="user" href="http://bassyeve.info">http://bassyeve.info</a><a class="user" href="http://bimbokue.info">http://bimbokue.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://blandbis.info">http://blandbis.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://blufflaw.info">http://blufflaw.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://bullyfop.info">http://bullyfop.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://busbypye.info">http://busbypye.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://champwag.info">http://champwag.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://chewskaf.info">http://chewskaf.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://chuckyay.info">http://chuckyay.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://cladepia.info">http://cladepia.info</a>
expertbloggerMar 9, 2008
I would like to know where he got the lifetime income numbers. Most college grads enter the work force 4 years later than non-grads and many retire earlier. I do remember a study showing that grads make anaverage of $23K more a year than non-grads (but it did not factor in non-grads had 4-years more experience). All employers are looking for is proof that you were smart enough to get in and finish. They are going to train you anyway. So enroll in the shortest, cheapest, and least taxing program, get your piece of paper, and get on the job market ASAP. <a class="user" href="http://tafiawab.info">http://tafiawab.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://tammydit.info">http://tammydit.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://tibiacab.info">http://tibiacab.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://triedpoh.info">http://triedpoh.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://tunaspow.info">http://tunaspow.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://varasraj.info">http://varasraj.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://viralnoh.info">http://viralnoh.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://wakenlek.info">http://wakenlek.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://waukseon.info">http://waukseon.info</a> <a class="user" href="http://wealdpac.info">http://wealdpac.info</a>
sbdogNov 29, 2008
Nothing is guaranteed. Better to have a cert than nothing. Education is a stepping stone to climb higher in society. Else just like <a class="user" href="http://www.sportsbetting1stop.com/">http://www.sportsbetting1stop.com/</a> betting one's future.
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airbanditFeb 27, 2010
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