The author, Michael
Carr, argues that investing in a college education is a business decision that should
be made much like other business decisions—with an eye toward return on
investment (ROI).
Carr referenced PayScale's college
education ROI formula, which is a little sketchy, I think, in that it merely
looks at a school’s tuition and then compares it to the average median lifetime
earnings of graduates from the school. That sounds like a formula with a decent
margin for error, but okay.
After a
review of the data, Carr concludes that:
Of course, Carr isn’t the only one who’s concerned about
student loan debt getting out of control. If you’re a parent who isn’t
independently wealthy with college-age or at-some-point-to-be-college-age
students, I imagine you’re worried. I
know I am.
Entrepreneur Mike Rowe, founder of Profoundly Disconnected, has a
whole bunch to say on this topic. During a recent interview on Mike
Huckabee, Rowe asserted it was nuts
that we’re “lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back to train
them for jobs that no longer exist.” Rowe says that we should put more effort
into supporting the skilled trades, and his foundation aims to do just that, by
providing scholarships to students who are part way through an accredited trade
school or apprenticeship and who need financial assistance. As someone who just
recently paid a plumber $250 for an hour of work, I can’t disagree with Rowe’s
position.
However, I do have a bone to pick with Carr, who makes it
sound as though college is an outrageous luxury and students are deciding willy nilly to
go.
Again, I can get on board with Rowe. If the trades
interest you, by all means, get thee to the nearest program. We need more
skilled trades people, and they surely make a good living.
But if you’re interested in any type of white collar
position, a college degree is not a luxury but a necessity, especially for
people of color.
And these kids didn’t create the environment. Hiring managers
and HR folks did. Nobody should have to spend $120,000 to learn how to be an
administrative assistant, but that’s the way this game is being played now.
For example, recently I’ve seen two ads for an HR
Manager—Manager, not Director, not VP—with a Master’s degree as a requirement.
That foolishness is not the fault of college students.
So, I take issue with Carr’s somewhat cavalier assessment of
kids who decide to get a college degree, even while I agree that it behooves
students (and their parents) to think seriously about how to defray the cost of
education, perhaps with the aggressive pursuit of grants and scholarships and a
deliberate strategy, such as going to community college for two years and then
transferring to a university. Of course, any parent who can afford to should
begin saving for his child’s college education as soon as possible, maybe
taking advantage of a Section
529 Savings Plan.
In the meantime, I sit patiently, waiting for the
revolution. I have to believe that there’s a tipping point here, that college
tuitions can’t keep rising as they have, remaining unchallenged by the masses.
At least, I hope not.
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