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Is it worth it to go to college?

Tucker Case said:
+1000

Smart money gets the associates degree at a CC before moving on to a 4-year institution if they are going to anything less than an elite school (or a science major, then it might be a little trickier). Then move on to a state school for the Bachelors.

I'm getting my Masters now at a state school and this first year cost me less than 6K for the fall, spring and summer semesters combined. The whole program will cost less than 13K.

said and done, I'll have gotten my Associates, Bachelors and Masters for less that 35K I think.
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That is an amazing price for a masters. The masters programs I am looking at (in state schools) are around 21-25k.
 
Tucker Case said:
Maybe Illinois schools are cheaper.
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One thing hurting me price wise is that my poor excuse for a governor is slashing the education budget anywhere he can due to his unholy hatred of teacher's unions.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
What do you do that is worth that much money?
I mean seriously $20k+ better be ****ing worth it.
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Having a masters can easily get me at least 25k more per year as I would be more able to get a middle to senior management position. Right now, I don't have enough years experience to qualify for those kinds of jobs yet, but I want to have a masters by the time I do. The best I can seem to do in this market is about 70kish (I just got called for an interview with the pay is in the 70s, so I guess that my benchmark now). I would love to break 100k though.
 
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megaprogman said:
Having a masters can easily get me at least 25k more per year as I would be more able to get a middle to senior management position. Right now, I don't have enough years experience to qualify for those kinds of jobs yet, but I want to have a masters by the time I do. The best I can seem to do in this market is about 70kish (I just got called for an interview with the pay is in the 70s, so I guess that my benchmark now). I would love to break 100k though.
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$70k.......:shock:
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
What do you do that is worth that much money?
I mean seriously $20k+ better be ****ing worth it.
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First, It's not all about the money. If one is picking a career that they will love, then the price is a factor, but it isn;'t the only one.

If one is going to school for purely financial reasons, it is all about recapture. If you pay 20K for a job that will end up starting with a 5K a year increase in wages compared to the status quo, it pays for itself in 4 years and it's probably worth it if you plan on being in the field longer than that.

Pay 80K for that same degree, and it's a really stupid move.

If the increase is about 10K per year, then its even more worthwile at 20K, but still not so bright at 80K.

Now, for me, the primary occupation I've had throughout my adult life is construction. As everyone knows, this industry got ass-raped by the recession. I don't really have to look at recapture because if I break even but gain more job security, it's worth it to me.

As it stands though, I should recapture my own investment within 2 years.
 
megaprogman said:
Having a masters can easily get me at least 25k more per year as I would be more able to get a middle to senior management position. Right now, I don't have enough years experience to qualify for those kinds of jobs yet, but I want to have a masters by the time I do. The best I can seem to do in this market is about 70kish (I just got called for an interview with the pay is in the 70s, so I guess that my benchmark now). I would love to break 100k though.
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For a 25K increase, 21K for th emasters is totally worth it.
 
Tucker Case said:
First, It's not all about the money. If one is picking a career that they will love, then the price is a factor, but it isn;'t the only one.
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That's my problem though.
I think I would love a great many things but I've never tried any of them so I can't know until I qualify for that particular field, which happens to mean I have to go to college.

A ****ty catch 22, the only way for me to judge what is best is by monetary return.


Tucker Case said:
If one is going to school for purely financial reasons, it is all about recapture. If you pay 20K for a job that will end up starting with a 5K a year increase in wages compared to the status quo, it pays for itself in 4 years and it's probably worth it if you plan on being in the field longer than that.

Pay 80K for that same degree, and it's a really stupid move.

If the increase is about 10K per year, then its even more worthwile at 20K, but still not so bright at 80K.

Now, for me, the primary occupation I've had throughout my adult life is construction. As everyone knows, this industry got ass-raped by the recession. I don't really have to look at recapture because if I break even but gain more job security, it's worth it to me.

As it stands though, I should recapture my own investment within 2 years.
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That's wicked.
I hope I can pull that kind of cheese one day.
 
megaprogman said:
Having a masters can easily get me at least 25k more per year as I would be more able to get a middle to senior management position. Right now, I don't have enough years experience to qualify for those kinds of jobs yet, but I want to have a masters by the time I do. The best I can seem to do in this market is about 70kish (I just got called for an interview with the pay is in the 70s, so I guess that my benchmark now). I would love to break 100k though.
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Just wondering. How many years are you out of school. Did you have a pretty good starting salary. Good these days I think would be in the 40-50 range.
 
College is only beneficial if you plan to go to higher levels like a masters or phd for doing research, or if the degree is part of a potentially lucrative career. Liberal arts degrees are mostly useless, unless they are government related. A bachelor's degree is generally not worth much anymore. The market is so saturated with undergraduate degrees that now it's a masters degree that sets people apart. What next, a phd?

I've done both the university route and the community college route, and I have found the latter much more rewarding. University can sharpen your critical thinking and research skills, but apart from that I do not think it will give you much in life. Community college (just called "college" here in Canada) is where I did my 4 year TCM program concurrently and I found that it gave me more realistic skills for the work force.

I think post-secondary is usually a good idea, whether it's trade school, community college, or whatever, but I don't think that it's the most well-rounded experience. It's just as important to get life experience like working experience, and travel if you can fit it in. Getting your education from multiple sources is always the best bet. Volunteering is also an excellent way to enrich your life.
 
VanceMack said:
mox nix...

All I know is if you dont have certain degrees you dont get in certain doors. Right or wrong, regardless of it means anything about the individuals qualifications to DO the job...you cant DO the job if you dont HAVE the job.
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This is one of those things that true in very certain situations. If you want a job in Ibanking, it's better to have gone to harvard than to Suny Albany. However, if you just want a job as a teacher/editor/engineer or if you want to become a lawyer/doctor, there's no difference between someone who paid $200k to go to Pace for their UG degree and someone who paid $30k to get it from Suny Albany.

Tucker Case said:
+1000

Smart money gets the associates degree at a CC before moving on to a 4-year institution if they are going to anything less than an elite school (or a science major, then it might be a little trickier). Then move on to a state school for the Bachelors.

I'm getting my Masters now at a state school and this first year cost me less than 6K for the fall, spring and summer semesters combined. The whole program will cost less than 13K.

When all is said and done, I'll have gotten my Associates, Bachelors and Masters for less that 35K I think.

If I get the grants I expect to get for my PhD, I'll have my doctorate for only a small bit more.
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Exactly.

If I had paid full price for my UG education, it would have cost $200k. One of my law school classmates went to a CC for two years, spent 2 years at a good state school where he went on scholarship, and then got into the same law school. We both finished at about the same place in our LS class and are working at comparable firms where we're making identical salaries. We both have plenty of LS debt, but my life would be hell if I had taken on a full load of UG debt. He has no UG debt.

There are very, very, very few situations where paying exorbitant amounts for education is a good investment.
 
Orion said:
College is only beneficial if you plan to go to higher levels like a masters or phd for doing research, or if the degree is part of a potentially lucrative career. Liberal arts degrees are mostly useless, unless they are government related. A bachelor's degree is generally not worth much anymore. The market is so saturated with undergraduate degrees that now it's a masters degree that sets people apart. What next, a phd?

I've done both the university route and the community college route, and I have found the latter much more rewarding. University can sharpen your critical thinking and research skills, but apart from that I do not think it will give you much in life. Community college (just called "college" here in Canada) is where I did my 4 year TCM program concurrently and I found that it gave me more realistic skills for the work force.

I think post-secondary is usually a good idea, whether it's trade school, community college, or whatever, but I don't think that it's the most well-rounded experience. It's just as important to get life experience like working experience, and travel if you can fit it in. Getting your education from multiple sources is always the best bet. Volunteering is also an excellent way to enrich your life.
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So far I've gone to both a Community College(2 Year University) and a Technical School (In Canada I think it's a Community College).

The most informational parts I've been in, have been the degree related subjects.
Core classes are so damn boring in my experience.
Not to mention that every school here requires an Intro to Micro Computers class.
For goodness sake man, I've been using a PC since 5th grade.

The core classes (non degree related) are a rehash of high school and are incredibly watered down.
 
Great. Now I need to decide what I want to be when I grow up.


megaprogman said:
My stock advice about college is to go a 2 year and get a tech school grant (most states offer one), which will nullify tuition and book costs. Learn a subject, than go to college to finish up the core. You can graduate with very little debt.
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I would like to go to school online, but still and again; don't know to study what. Something to do with computers, I would assume.

Harry Guerrilla said:
You should be able to get the Pell grant.
It usually covers the cost of state school plus some extra cash for books, although you have to come up with the book money first.
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washunut said:
Just wondering. How many years are you out of school. Did you have a pretty good starting salary. Good these days I think would be in the 40-50 range.
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Depends on where you live, as the cost of living is something to be considered....I think it is low for experienced techs and/or starting engineers.
 
BDBoop said:
I would like to go to school online, but still and again; don't know to study what. Something to do with computers, I would assume.
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I understand that.

I've wanted to be a marketing, engineering, chemistry, computer support specialist, networking specialist, anthropologist, etc. major.

:mrgreen:

Think of something you may enjoy and that pays well.
 
RightinNYC said:
Most colleges are not worth it for most people. It's good to see that more and more are waking up to this.
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Perhaps, but college degrees are worth more than the value of the jobs you become eligible for as a degree holder. The intangible worth of being a college graduate exceeds the cost of a private college education.

I enlisted in the Army for college funds for 3 years and they gave me $40,000 over 4 years. Including room and board, my college education ran about $24,000/year. Other than the amount I contributed, plus about $30,000 in student loans, which I paid off over 10 years, the rest my parents paid for out of college savings.

Worth every penny.

As a Physics major I wouldn't have expected to make much money. I went to grad school on my own, worth $24,000 in additional loans, to get a MS in CompSci. That came with a good starting salary.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Think of something you may enjoy and that pays well.
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Scratch that. Just study what you enjoy. It is too valuable an opportunity to prepare yourself to make money. That will come later.
 
well, the problem is that we have accepted the premise the reason for going to school is to get a good job, marry someone who has a good job, raise kids to go to school and get a good job....

ya know, once upon a time people went to school to learn stuff. Many of the folks i know that went to college straight outta HS got good jobs but remained morons.

I left college in my first year when someone offered me a job. it a damned fool thing to do. but... young blood...

so, in my near dotage, i have returned to school. The most difficult part is dealing with the the irritating prevailing premise that i am doing so to get a job. what nonsense. no one is gonna hire me when there are scores and scores of young folk graduating every year.

and that is not the reason I am going. i am going to learn stuff. history and anthropology and art history... man... I am having a wonderful time. i work partime as a tutor and teach kids too.

yeah, there are good reasons to go to college even it it doesn't promise to line yer pockers like it did yer dad's.

geo.
 
reefedjib said:
Scratch that. Just study what you enjoy. It is too valuable an opportunity to prepare yourself to make money. That will come later.
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Flash forward four years and you've studied all sorts of medieval art history and have a new outlook on the world courtesy of your critical race theory classes. You also have $120k in debt. What do you do now?

I'm just saying that "study what you enjoy" should always come with the appendix "if it's not costing you a lot of money and if you'll be able to support yourself in a way you'd like to live once you're done."
 
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