By: Joey Thomas
From a social standpoint sure, college is worth the money, but what about from an economic standpoint? Today, economists say college costs have a negative effect on the economy. As the cost of education continues to rise (4-6% per year) at twice the rate of inflation, higher education becomes too expensive for most people. Unless you get a degree in health, science, or engineering, there’s no way to graduate college without a huge sum of debt. However, think about the benefit that college students and graduates have towards the economy.
“The average bachelor’s degree holder contributes $278,000 more to local economies than the average high school graduate through direct spending over the course of his or her lifetime” (brookings.edu). When cities promote higher education, the end goal is to increase economic growth. Since the cost of tuition is so high, the problem is that good students from poor families aren’t likely to attend college which is fewer people to help increase economic growth. Take Harvard for example. In 2000, the price to attend HU was $33,000/year and now costs about $68,000/year. Today, most really smart students aren’t attending Ivy League schools just because of the cost. They can get the same degree at a highly reputable university for half the cost. Thus, these smaller, cheaper colleges are seeing boosts in the economy of the community because more and more students want cheaper education.
Unfortunately, with the cost of college increasing, graduates have been unable to attain increasing salaries. However, with a higher education, companies are willing to pay their workers more money because they have more skills to perform their job on day one. It’s sort of a domino effect where education is the cause of higher incomes, and people with higher incomes spend more money. Essentially, the measurement of the effect of education on economic growth is the difference in spending and consumption of college grads and non-college grads. According to table 2, “Graduate degree earners spend more than twice as much on local goods and services as high school graduates” (brookings.edu).
Source: https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-colleges-do-for-local-economies-a-direct-measure-based-on-consumption/
Works Cited
Rothwell, Jonathan. “What Colleges Do for Local Economies: A Direct Measure Based on Consumption.” Brookings.edu, The Brookings Institution, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/research/what-colleges-do-for-local-economies-a-direct-measure-based-on-consumption/.
VOA. “Economists Say College Costs Hurt the Economy.” VOA, VOA, 4 Feb. 2014, learningenglish.voanews.com/a/college-costs-hurt-economy/1840989.html.
I do believe that college is worth the money. You just have to be smart about what career option best suits you and then look ahead in the future at the potential job growth there is for the job you want to go into. Even though that college is so expensive there are many other ways you can get help to pay for college, like the army or other scholarships. Luckily there are numerous ways to have people who can't right out of the gate pay for a year's worth of tuition, obviously the majority of college students are going to be in debt. You have to make sure that when you are out of college you find a good job quickly so you can pay off your debt and then start earning more money on a yearly basis than someone who is working right out of high school.
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ReplyDeleteCollege is only worth it if you’re certain that your degree can offset the debt you’ll be getting in the process. A degree in something like health, engineering or statistics might be a good bet (given that the industry isn’t over-saturated), but any degree that ends with “studies” may not be so good for your long term economic plans. It all depends on what job you get so you know how you plan to pay the bills.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard for everyone to go to college. Even engineers, science and healthcare come out in debt. Healthcare especially because a lot of the higher paying jobs including being a doctor or surgeon require more schooling and then a residency where you aren’t paid as much when you are finally able to practice without supervision. There are definitely benefits to college but it’s not for everyone so spending the money to go into debt when that’s not what you really want is not worth the cost but if you know what you really want to do and going to a 4 year or beyond university will help you reach that goal then college is a good investment.
ReplyDeleteCollege is worth it if you go to college for something like healthcare, or engineering. If you go into college for something like theater, then I don’t really think it is necessary to go to college for it. I’m not saying it won’t be helpful, but you can actually go very far in this world without having to go to college. I think that there is a sot of social stigma nowadays that if you don’t go to college, you didn’t do well enough, or you didn’t reach your highest potential.
ReplyDeleteLooking at college on the level of the individual, yes, there are the explicit costs of tuition, room and board, food, personal items, etc. that on their own, act as a deterrent in going to college. However, one must also take into account implicit costs. Instead of going to college, a person could be getting a job and already earning money. Not only would they not be in student debt, but they would be bringing home a paycheck each day. Now, it could be argued that going to college opens the doors to future careers that will offer more money in the long run. However, an individual will not see a "profit" from those earnings until they pay off their debits, and like many firms of perfectly competitive or monopolistically competitive markets in the long-run, they are working towards breaking even. It's up to the individual if they are willing to work through this period of "normal profit" in order to start making a "positive economic profit" that will probably be greater with a college degree-worthy job than a salary from a job straight out of high school.
ReplyDeleteCollege is a higher level of education that you would be receiving from professor's and from university staff to complete a better understanding of what you want to do life after school. The schools offer great programs and more opportunity to end up in the eyes of a place you want to work at and build a career out of. Considering that most people that go to college and earn a higher salary at that new place of work, it shouldn't be too hard to make a decision on whether or not to go to college. If you have the opportunity to learn more about what you want to do in life and find a company that will pay you an above average salary, then the extra money you are spending on tuition is worth the cash. We all know how expensive colleges are nowadays but to really be considered to work at a specific career choice, college graduation and attendance is extremely important.
ReplyDeleteCollege is worth the cost a majority of the time. For now, as high schoolers, it’s looming over our heads, along with the huge sum of money that will need to be paid off. However, you have a better chance at getting a better job, and getting more money, and being able to pay off your loans sooner. Arguably, if you receive a higher salary, you’re more than likely attending college for a longer period of time, spending more money. It evens out. College is worth it in the long run, but this current period of time of high school to the first couple of years of your job, the debt is daunting. College education is worth the cost, but there comes a point where the cost is too high for many to afford.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that the cost of education continues to rise (4-6% per year) at twice the rate of inflation! It’s crazy to see how expensive it’s getting to go to school. Also it is hard because after you spend all that money on a degree, you aren’t guaranteed to get a job. It’s very easy to lose a lot of money just by going to an expensive school and/or getting a degree in a field with low demand for new jobs.
ReplyDeleteI agree that college really does put a large financial burden on most people, but I think that the education you receive in college in invaluable and that education may help you in the long run. College offers opportunities that to me just cannot be offered if you have a high school diploma. I agree that college is valuable for someone going into health or engineering, but I think that having a college degree no matter where from can highly increase your chances of having a larger job come into play down the road. Debt will pay itself off over time with hard work, but the experiences and not to mention degrees received from college can't be missed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that higher tuition is causing a drop in incoming students at these top notch universities, but one reason why they raise the price is because people want to go there, there is a demand for that college, for example everyone in our high school wants to go to Madison, if they raised their tuition price students are still going there. It almost now seems that smaller colleges are rising up the table, and there is now this balance in how much colleges are earning. These high school students that are exceptionally smart that can't afford for example Harvard aren't getting the best education, they aren't pushing themselves to be better, and later harms the economy in that the incoming millennials can't contribute to economic growth as much as if they had a better education.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that college costs too much money, and it's a vicious cycle that only increases the price over time. The unfortunate reality is, however, that not many people nowadays can really get anywhere in life without going to college for something, even if it's a 2-year degree or something. Most jobs you could get without some sort of degree are either hard to find, require extremely specific needs, or just don't pay as much as you need. The college system was made back when tuition was like $500 a semester, which seems like a pipe dream now. The system has *not* aged well, since it was never made to account for inflation or rising costs of anything.
ReplyDeleteOne of the goals that thriving countries meet is education. When people of a nation are educated, the correlation with a strong economy is prevalent. The cost of education is high in the United States, however with certain degrees, they can pay themselves off quickly. Another that is interesting to look at is the cost to attend universities in other countries. Countries like China and much of the European Union have extremely low tuition compared to the United States. Could the US make certain cuts or increase taxes so that Universities are more accessible to people no matter their income?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the tuition and how high its gotten also high school kids are the ones eventually paying this amount of money in their future so kids not attending some colleges due to the cost of tuition. Not everyone can afford upwards of 20,000 dollars a year. Also students that are very educated aren't able to go to high academic colleges and jobs are so college based now and the struggle of getting a job without a solid college degree is rare to none now a days.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a big problem in our world today. Everyone thinks that you need to college to be successful in life, but you can make a lot of money in other situations as well. The price of college goes up every year and people are stuck in a bunch of student debt. So sometimes you don't need to go to college to be successful.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it isn't the students from low income households who aren't receiving higher education it's the students from middle class families because schools offer financial aid for intelligent students who cannot afford college, but what about the people who are not overly wealthy but not eligible for financial aid. That could cause a greater threat to our economy because that is a large percentage of our population who may find education in other places rather than 4-year institutions. Another piece to note is with college, the explicit costs may be "expensive" when you factor in the tuition, meal plans, and housing. However the implicit costs of not going to college at this time would leave your job pool to be very small with limited income you can make. Which means that even though the cost of college is continuing to rise people will continue to attend universities.
ReplyDeletePeople decide to go on different paths all the time, some more successful than others. However, in the long run, most end up in the same place. Some of the world's most successful people, like Steve Jobs, didn't attend college. However, it is proven through the high college graduate rates that the education is worth the cost. It's sad that people have to pay such high prices just to receive an education that will determine their success in the future. When deciding, you have to consider the opportunity cost. What would you be giving up in attending or not attending college? It is important, though, to recognize that the economy of the community in which the college is located, is determinant on how many people attend and how they can contribute. It makes sense that as people receive a higher education, the have more money, and are, furthermore, able to shop, dine, and participate in events in a community, therefore, helping its economy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that socially, college is the right choice for many. When most attend college, everyone comes out with their unique degree and personality to add to the economy. But some of the worlds smartest business men and women didn't attend college. For example, Steve Jobs didn't attend college and you see the empire that he added to the economy. Although after taking a few months of econ, you have to know that students take into account the opportunity cost of attending college. They think about how much money they be making without college?
ReplyDeleteSo we are wondering is college is really worth the price because of the high inflation rates of the college tuition. The way I look at it is a very similar approach to global warming and the law on conservation of energy. If the inflation price of college tuition is rising then where is this money then being put to is your salary does not also increase at the price of school increases. Its like all the money is getting stuck somewhere and isn't making it full circle.
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