Around the Water Cooler panelists this week answered the following: Newsweek asked the question, is college a lousy investment? Do you believe college has become a lousy investment?
Nants Foley: “My daughter, Ila, just graduated from Carnegie Mellon University. The tuition and living topped two hundred thousand dollars. It was a good investment in her future. But not everyone should go to college. It is an individual choice. Many young people would prefer and benefit more from apprenticeships or specialized training.”
Richard Place: “An education does not guarantee you a job; it is to improve your mind and give you more tools to become a better citizen. It’s not anyone’s fault if you pick a major that isn’t in demand. You should pick a major that will aid you in obtaining a job and a minor to satisfy your thirst for knowledge.”
Louise Ledesma: “NO. There is more to college than just a financial investment. My college years resulted in a decent job and an intellectual and maturity growth. My college, Lewis and Clark, also promoted international studies of which I took advantage. The price of college has also contributed to the decline of the middle class. Fortunately, students are able to attend junior colleges, apply for grants, work part time and then transfer to a four-year college. Money should not be a deterrent to college.”
Jim West: “Yes. If you mean dollars returned for dollars invested — college is a poor choice. A good choice would to become a well-trained hydraulic technician. You’ll be highly paid, never out of work and have a good union retirement at the end of your working life. While I wouldn’t trade my college experience for the world, my union friends are a hell of a lot better off financially today.”
Mary Zanger: “Only if one is looking through the lens of profit can education be a bad investment. We humans are not programmable computer robots. Something else about us requires mind growth with an insatiable hunger for intellectual expansion and truth seeking. In that sense I cannot place a price tag of any kind on the value of education. Education is priceless. True, the student can squander it, but that does not diminish its value. Education is never a bad investment in human potential.”
Ruth Erickson “Higher education has become so expensive that more than half of all recent graduates are unemployed or are working in jobs not requiring a degree. Many of them are living with their family and unable to make their monthly payments on their student loans. Those with a college education should make more than those with just a high school diploma but those with degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering, etc., are more likely to get a good job and earn a good salary. Trade schools and technical colleges deserve an important consideration for many students. Too many students are attending college to earn the credential rather than for the education. College can be a good investment when students take their higher education seriously, but with the understanding that with just the credential but not the skills, they need to be prepared to start as a trainee, if they do indeed find employment in their chosen field or in another occupation.”
