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Posted on 08/10/2012 7:10:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Anyone who has a kid in college knows that August can be the cruelest month. That's when the bill for the fall semester is due and usually it's higher than the bill for any previous semester.
Over the past decade college tuition and fees have been increasing much faster than the rate of inflation. The average annual cost for tuition, fees and room and board is $38,600 for a private 4-year college and $17,000 for a public 4-year college (for out-of state residents it's $30,000), according to the College Board.
These rising costs coupled with a sluggish economy are driving more students and their families to borrow for college. Outstanding student loan debt now tops $1 trillion, exceeding the amount of total credit card debt in the U.S.
An increasing number of those borrowers come from middle to upper middle class households, with incomes between $94,000 and $205,000. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of recent Federal Reserve data, 26% of those households borrowed for college in 2010, up from 19.5% in 2007. They owed an average of $32,900 in 2010 — 24% more than they owed in 2007.
"The middle class is getting squeezed on college costs," economist Gary Shilling tells The Daily Ticker in the accompanying video.
At the same time, college graduates are having a tough time finding work. A recent analysis of government data conducted by Northeastern University and the Economic Policy Institute for the Associated Press found that roughly 1.5 million, or 54% of recent college graduates, were either unemployed or underemployed — working at jobs that do not require a college degree. That compares to 41% in 2000.
"Going to college doesn't guarantee a good job," says Shilling, president of A. Gary Shilling & Co.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
I think we have beaten this issue to death. A “degree” guarantees nothing...a degree in one of the sciences, including math and engineering, coupled with decent achievement in school does give one a good shot at a decent income. So, if all one wants out of college is a well paying job, stick with the sciences. If one is going to college to have fun, pick the course that best fits your temperment and don’t worry about the post college enviroment which will include long periods of living in your parents basement.
If earning a good wage suits your lifestyle and you are somewhat mechanically inclined, go to a trade school.
If you want neither of the above and have a love of country, consider the military as a career out of high school.
If you are not mechanically inclined, don’t wish to pursue a rigorous college program, shun the military and have no large financial endowment, get prepared for a tough life. Maybe you will find your soul mate and live happily ever after but consider the soul mate you are looking for is probably looking to latch onto a provider, not another anchor.
By taking that route, you end up with a degree in less time, with far less debt and a very marketable skill set.
The only thing a college degree guarantees is debt.
“A College Degree Doesn’t Guarantee a Good Job”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
when ya come right down to it...why should it !!!!!/?
actually always was just a head-of-the-line pass for $ paid....
Anyone who attends college believing this, is a useful idiot. But the odds of getting a good job greatly improve based on the degree obtained, as should have been scrutinzed before entering college.
College was historically intended to be a place to furnish your mind—to explore the fine and liberal arts, to learn how to think logically and write gracefully, to become familiar with the languages and literature of the past, get in a few swordfights, run up some gambling debts, escape to the Continent in the guise of having the Grand Tour. It wasn’t meant to get anybody a job, because most people who went to university (except for aspiring ministers) didn’t anticipate having or needing or wanting a job, ever.
But we changed that. Now colleges and universities are like expensive high schools. They give you a costly piece of paper that says, “I now know the things I should have been taught in high school, so you can trust me to answer the phone in your office and start learning a business. Someday I will be less annoying to have around than I am now and may actually be productive.”
Maybe we should change the model back. Maybe colleges and universities should return to being places where you only go if you’re a real intellectual. If you want to spend four years drinking and fornicating, you don’t have to fork over $50K per year to do it. You could even go to community college or trade school to acquire job skills while you’re working.
But before everyone says what they always do on these threads—”College is a waste of money, you can get a good job without it!”—let me tell you that it’s not so easy. Just try getting a job with only a high school diploma in this economy. You will be laughed at. It will be very tough to get a job, and if you do, you’ll be paid $8 an hour. That’s not enough to support yourself in my area; it’s considered a sub-poverty level income for a single person.
Studies have found that up to 30% of recent college graduates are functionally illiterate - they cannot read a page of moderately difficult prose and answer simple questions.
This may explain a lot of the problem.
Shazam!
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