We can all remember our parents, high school guidance counselors, and mentors telling us “Go to college; you’ll make more money.” Well, perhaps, they were right on target. According to a U.S. Census press release last week,
“Adults with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $54,689 in 2005, while those with a high school diploma earned $29,448. Adults with advanced degrees earn four times ($79,946) more than those with less than a high school diploma.”
Download "By The Numbers: Diplomas Equal Cash"
posted by Steven
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:14 pm
This is an interesting counterpoint to Bob Herbert’s column in yesterday’s NY Times, about the cost of college going up, decreased federal support for higher ed, students taking on more debt, and what that does to their ability to experiment, travel or do public service work after graduation.
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Michael – This one I have lived. You nailed the students I teach. Most of them have taken on debt for college. And then more debt for graduate school. My Carnegie Mellon students would frequently tell that they had to take consulting jobs they didn’t want just to pay their debt and living expenses. Some would give me a call or stop by a couple, three years after graduation and tell me how they were forced into a Faustian bargain. Sometimes breaking down in tears, they would say they had to give up their true passion for money. They felt they had lost their way. What could they do to get back to where they originally wanted to be? This is a big issue. And you hit it right on the head.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Thanks but the insight isn’t mine, it’s Herbert’s.
If America’s competitiveness is based on creativity, and higher education helps creativity, but the cost of higher education creates debt that stifles creativity — then our system itself is perhaps the largest squelcher of our future. Not to mention the kids who don’t even try because they know that can’t afford college.
I didn’t come from a family where college was an expectation. My mother was the first on either side to graduate high school and I think I was the second. But tuition at UC Berkeley was $75/semester for California residents in 1961 and you could save that in a month at minimum wage. So a summer job could pay your tuition & a part time job covered your room and meals. I don’t remember knowing anyone with undergraduate debt.
But all three of my daughters had grad school debt. One is still paying it off at 36. She had a dance degree, but is now a physical therapist — and loves it, she didn’t want to dance professionally. But if she had….
March 26th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Steven,
I couldn’t agree with you more. While we DO make more money as college graduates, the sad thing is the amount of debt we accrue while attending school. I just left George Mason University with 22,150 in loans. Needless to say, I had to pay the bills and work while in school. I can’t imagine what school would be like if I didn’t have a place to stay (thanks to my parents).
March 28th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
I have done the math, and had I stayed at my job, not gone to grad school, taken the money I spent on grad school and bought a house or two (which is just what I would have done) I would be nearly $500,000 richer than I am now.
Combine that with the fact that every year out of school, that degree is worth just a little bit less.
Grad school was without question the largest financial blunder I have ever made.
(Your class was great Rich, but I’m not sure about half-a-million dollars great
March 29th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
John – You have my humble apologies…. And a reference, of course, should you ever need it….
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