Posted on 02/04/2010 11:57:43 AM PST by bs9021
How Much is My Bachelor’s Really Worth?
Bethany Stotts, February 4, 2010
Mary Pilon writes for the Wall Street Journal on February 2 that researchers are questioning whether college graduates actually gain $800,000 or $1 million in additional lifetime earnings over those with only a high school degree.
“In recent years, the nonprofit College Board touted the difference in lifetime earnings of college grads over high-school graduates at $800,000, a widely circulated figure,” Pilon reports. “Other estimates topped $1 million.”
“But now, as tuition continues to skyrocket and many seeking to change careers are heading back to school, some researchers are questioning the methodology behind the high projections.”
In her article Pilon incorrectly attributes a $280,000 lifetime-earning advantage estimate to Mark Schneider, a Vice President at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and an AEI visiting fellow. “Dr. Schneider estimated the actual lifetime-earnings advantage for college graduates is a mere $279,893 in a report he wrote last year,” she writes.
Actually, the $279,893 number comes from Spellings Commission Chair Charles Miller in his April 2008 letter to College Board President Gaston Caperton, as excerpted by Higher Ed in 2008....
(Excerpt) Read more at academia.org ...
Oh about $19.99 + S/H
mine is worth about $1.29...
A buck-oh-five.
Throw in Grade Inflation in this country and the fact that everyone can get a degree making them pretty worthless IMO.
If I had a child, I would send them out of the country for their education. I simply do not see the value here (and I have a degree BTW).
It depends on what the degree is in, and the person holding it.
Degrees don’t earn anything — they get you in the door and give YOU the opportunity to earn something. Success is more about the person than the degree. Some people with degrees will always be broke ... some people without will succeed.
A degree is only worth what you can do with it.
SnakeDoc
If you invested the cost of college instead of using it to pay tuition . . .
By the time you retire, it would have grown to a lot more than a million dollars.
Drafted out of HS and first actual paycheck was $26 (a twenty, a five, and a 'one')...the 'one' went to a goddam barber in boot that took my hair... still don't have it today, but for a different reason, ha!
Flash forward 8 years to 1976...I ended 8 years at about $6K/year....worked a year at $150/wk and then got accepted to college...graduated with a BS.....I now pay significantly more in state tax (6%)than I made in my entire last year in service.
Since I graduated in 1980, have I benefited? Have I made more? You bet your ass....haven't totaled it up but it's pretty damn good.
Also, your co-workers may do the exact same work you do but you get paid more because you have a degree. Not only are they paid less but they are pissed off too. Its best to have a degree and not need it, than to need one and not have it.
After spending 6 months finding another job, and getting settled in at the new place, I went back to school in 2005 and spent a year completing my Bachelors degree in Business Information Systems, graduating magna cum laude in June 2006. The company I worked for at the time immediately boosted my salary by $25k and gave me a promotion to Sr. Vice President at a very large financial institution.
In 2007 I left the bank for another large bank with a substantial salary increase and bonus potential.
In 2009, I W-2'd more than triple what I made in in 2006, not counting my performance bonus and incentive plan target bonus which took me well above that.
Was the Bachelor's worth it? IMO, yes it was. I also believe that having a college degree vs someone who doesn't in the same company is often the distinguishing factor between who gets laid off when the economy turns south vs. who doesn't. I was laid off in 1990 and 2003 during the last two bad recessions - I didn't have a Bachelors degree then. Coincidence? I think not.
It only earned me the right to work a minimum wage internship until I proved myself enough to move up. After that, I had to work for each promotion along the way.
When it comes time, I’ll advise my kids to offer $1,000 to a HR manager in exchange for a good entry-level position.
Spend the rest on reading materials and to buy lunches for successful peers - to make connections and learn from their experiences.
$5,000 tops will yield greater results than $250,000 in college tuition and theoretical class credits.
Throw in Grade Inflation in this country and the fact that everyone can get a degree making them pretty worthless IMO.
&&&
So true.
Try this: Look at what you made 20 years ago, and compare it to what you make today. Now look at the taxes you pay today vs. what you made 20 years ago.
I damn' near broke down and cried when I saw I pay more in TAXES now than I used to make in an entire year. Those dirty rotten thieving bastards in the government .........
>> Its best to have a degree and not need it, than to need one and not have it.
This is generally true, though it does depend somewhat on how much you spent on the degree. I will never understand people that spend $140K on a Masters Degree in Social Work ... for the privilege of earning $35K a year.
You should at least run the numbers before you pay for the degree.
SnakeDoc
Depends on the degree. After all a degree in Women’s Studies is worth nothing. Same with a few other feel good degrees.
Math and science degrees pay off fairly rapidly.
Shoot! I have a pissant credit line for overruns of my monthly AMEX bill that averages 4-5K that is more than that...... damn, just damn!
If you have no degree and have something to offer, some skill and ability, the sky is the limit! (think Bill Gates, Rush Limbaugh here).
You mean the same dirty rotten thieving bastards in the government that are trolling conservative websites and sending out spiders to look for "terrorists" and other patriots opposed to the "ONE"... Hmmm better get that service... LOL
A BA in Medieval French Literature, probably not much. A BS in Chemistry, probably a whole lot.
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