General Discussion

Orrex

(67,116 posts)

47. Short answer: probably not for most people

Tue Feb 28, 2012, 10:08 PM

Feb 2012

Figures claiming hugely increased earnings over one's lifetime are grossly exaggerated and wildly unrealistic. They also have the added bonus of making you feel like shit when your degree doesn't actually net you a million more than the plumber who fixed your sink.

It's largely a scam preying on young people who are generally ill-prepared to anticipate the realities of decades of crippling and inescapable debt.

In short, college can be worth it, but it sure as hell isn't any sort of guarantee of future success or earning potential.

Anyone who claims otherwise is either lying, poorly informed or delusional.

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Is college really worth it? [View all] moparlunatic Feb 2012 OP

Ask your son. If he does not know what he wants to do maybe he wants to join the Peace Corps Vincardog Feb 2012 #1

OVERALL, degrees greatly increase lifetime earnings. REPORT: "Lifetime Earnings Soar with Education" Hissyspit Feb 2012 #2

data compiled through 1996 using 1999 projections...LOL WhaTHellsgoingonhere Feb 2012 #44

May 2011: "Employment rates for new college graduates have fallen sharply... WhaTHellsgoingonhere Feb 2012 #49

Here's an analysis that I find more realistic: Orrex Feb 2012 #57

Ha, I had actually read that before! Hissyspit Feb 2012 #62

The unemployment rate among people with college degrees The Velveteen Ocelot Feb 2012 #3

Not when that degree gets you $10/hr in a lot of cases. hobbit709 Feb 2012 #72

I think he would have a better future with a college education. AlinPA Feb 2012 #4

There is a very hard cap on non college grads professional potential. Ed Suspicious Feb 2012 #5

In theory, hughee99 Feb 2012 #6

I'm wondering how he is going to pay for the house if he doesn't have a degree. Hissyspit Feb 2012 #10

The house would be paid for by the college money.. Fumesucker Feb 2012 #23

I am wondering the origin of the college money. Hissyspit Feb 2012 #27

The first line of the OP.. Fumesucker Feb 2012 #30

Oh, yeah. Hissyspit Feb 2012 #32

I was assuming that this was money that had been put aside hughee99 Feb 2012 #28

this is exactly moparlunatic Feb 2012 #29

Yeah, but at 18 nobodyspecial Feb 2012 #40

Yeah, got it. I read the OP once about an hour and a half ago and forgot to Hissyspit Feb 2012 #34

I heard on a radio show the other day, that a college degree is worth cbayer Feb 2012 #7

See post #2. That is a report from 2011 based on 2000 population data. nt Hissyspit Feb 2012 #8

I saw your post after I posted mine. Yours has all the data. Good job. cbayer Feb 2012 #12

Yeah, I was editing it when you were posting. Just wanted to make sure you saw it. Hissyspit Feb 2012 #19

This is a great question... K&R midnight Feb 2012 #9

I'm 37 and a college freshmen Ed Suspicious Feb 2012 #11

Great post and I agree completely. cbayer Feb 2012 #16

Ed and cbay, kudos to you two WhaTHellsgoingonhere Feb 2012 #45

Thanks. Ed Suspicious Feb 2012 #59

YES, Absolutely yes. It improves the quality of your entire life. Just having all that knowledge Laura PourMeADrink Feb 2012 #13

the hubs and I got married and had a child first THEN went to college. We WISH we had college first demtenjeep Feb 2012 #14

we went from living on 12-15 thousand a year to 150 thous a year WITH retirement demtenjeep Feb 2012 #18

I think it is, and it also depends Ilsa Feb 2012 #15

College is great but you do make some good points. bluerum Feb 2012 #17

My thought was moparlunatic Feb 2012 #24

Brace yourself for the tax implications of doing this nobodyspecial Feb 2012 #31

Question #1 ...Does he want to go to college? JoePhilly Feb 2012 #20

I went three AsahinaKimi Feb 2012 #21

If he goes to college, which is good, he should try to determine a specific idea of what RKP5637 Feb 2012 #22

If he is going to study something he loves. grantcart Feb 2012 #25

Given that he doesn't have a clear sense of what he wants to do. enlightenment Feb 2012 #26

There is No Need for Him to Go to College Immediately On the Road Feb 2012 #33

that really depends hfojvt Feb 2012 #64

You didn't need a college degree when unions were strong pstokely Feb 2012 #69

Why does an 18 year old a house? pstokely Feb 2012 #68

I think it depends on when a HS grad goes to college. rug Feb 2012 #35

I think your son should go to college if he is academically capable nobodyspecial Feb 2012 #36

I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a marketable degree. Manifestor_of_Light Feb 2012 #60

Food for Thought: Robert Reich - No Longer Home Sweet Home: The Ongoing Housing Crisis and Hissyspit Feb 2012 #37

2 years at community college rucky Feb 2012 #38

This Betty88 Feb 2012 #71

college is for snobs Liberal_in_LA Feb 2012 #39

Don't go to private school and major in philosophy on your dime pstokely Feb 2012 #70

If he knows he wants to go to college but doesn't know for what, stay local and stay public Massacure Feb 2012 #41

If he isn't a screwup... JSnuffy Feb 2012 #42

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and the only thing that can't be taken from you bhikkhu Feb 2012 #43

I agree with most of what is said upthread XemaSab Feb 2012 #46

Short answer: probably not for most people Orrex Feb 2012 #47

If he has an academic inclination..absolutely The empressof all Feb 2012 #48

I have sort of a different take... WiffenPoof Feb 2012 #50

Exactly! The empressof all Feb 2012 #51

It depends on what your son wants paland99 Feb 2012 #52

Yes bigwillq Feb 2012 #53

Yes!!! It's worth it Paulie Feb 2012 #54

Not if it's unfocused. A generic degree is not the way to spend that money. Yo_Mama Feb 2012 #55

a lot of people need to move in order to find work Enrique Feb 2012 #56

Here is one suggestion that hasn't been made yet: Brigid Feb 2012 #58

If the kid is a "go getter" Go Vols Feb 2012 #61

College teaches you how to think. Zoeisright Feb 2012 #63

Certainly didn't teach Santorum that. hobbit709 Feb 2012 #74

He is not an idiot, he just plays one on tee vee. Warren Stupidity Feb 2012 #82

It is terrible that you even have to ask that question. In most advanced countries college Fool Count Feb 2012 #65

Send him to a community college and than a state school if he needs college pstokely Feb 2012 #66

A plumber can make more than a philosophy major pstokely Feb 2012 #67

I majored in philosophy... meaculpa2011 Feb 2012 #75

They don't have cheap college today, even community colleges are expensive pstokely Feb 2012 #76

My son's tuition is... meaculpa2011 Feb 2012 #77

Anecdotes like yours are why I can't work up any outrage over diploma mills. lumberjack_jeff Feb 2012 #79

This used to be a no-brainer.. sendero Feb 2012 #73

Why go into possible 100s of thousands of dollars of debt for "no real idea"? just1voice Feb 2012 #78

For me, if I didn't go to college and live on my own I would have been a mess. Jennicut Feb 2012 #80

we shipped most of the low education skilled work overseas. It isnt coming back. Ever. Warren Stupidity Feb 2012 #81