Is a college education still worth it?

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It used to be assumed that a college education was well worth it as the cost was paid over many times by increased earnings power. Considering that higher education is increasing at a rate of 4 times inflation and student loan debt is NOT relieved in bankruptcy (it is with you until you pay it off or die), we may be coming to a turning point in which the cost of education and interest on that cost is greater than the value it provides. Student loan debt is higher than credit card debt for the first time in history.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/college/story/2011-10-19/student-loan-debt/50818676/1
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']You can, go to edit and advanced and then there's an option to delete.[/QUOTE]

I don't see it. I know that you can do that for a post but I don't see where to do it for a thread.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/opinion/the-college-graduate-as-collateral.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Thought this was an interesting idea. Rather than take out loans, students could opt into a "voluntary taxation" where the creditor gets some % of their future income.

Makes it less of a burden for students who don't get a high paying job versus being stuck with five figure debt, and gives creditors, financial aid counselors more incentive to provide good information on career prospects as the creditors make more if the person gets a degree in a field with good job prospects from a reputable school. Rather than say a degree in philosophy from a shitty online school.

Of course, conservatives wouldn't like it as those who make higher income would pay a lot more into the system and subsidize those in lower paying fields or those who choose to become housewives/househusbands despite having a degree etc.
 
Boy this comes up every 6 months or so now. I don't remember this ever been a discussion the 10-15 years ago I was in college.
 
Tuition and average amounts of debt taken out were a lot lower then, and state funds going to higher education hadn't been slashed 35%+ like they have over the past 5 years or so.
 
We need a public (read tax funded) university system. Why taxpayer funded education stops now at the high school level I don't know. It's no secret that going to college is practically required for a decent career these days. By cutting people off at the high school level we're basically saying that's good enough, and it's just not.
 
Yep. And instead it's going in the opposite direction.

A ton of state universities (including mine) are not "public assisted" rather than "public" as they get less than 50% of their funds from the state now.
 
I just think that our education system (like a lot of things in this country) hasn't kept up with changes in our society. We have an education system that was fine for quite a while, when a high school diploma was more than just a ticket to college, now it's a ticket to poverty for the most part. Hell, even a college degree is worth less than it used to be, what does that say? If anyone event thinks about not going to college they're pretty much screwed unless they land on a field that has other paths to entry like certifications.

All anyone focuses on is how much we're spending on education, no one talks about actually reforming the entire system to cope with these new realities. Who cares how much we spend if it's doing no good? Pouring more money into a system that cuts everyone off at high school won't do any good, taking money out sure as hell won't either. I don't are if it's done at a federal or state level, everyone in this country should be able to attend college at no charge just as they did K-12. Keep in mind I do mean tuition, not money for food, dorm fees etc. I'll never understand why people complain about the cost of college and then you find out they went out of state when there was a perfectly good school a couple hours or so away. I know some states do have programs for people who remain in state, but that will vary of course.
 
I predict that in 10 years, college presidents, administrators and professors will be just as vilified as wall street CEO's are now. When the student loan bubble bursts, it will dwarf the housing bubble in terms of economic impact since student loan debt is not dischargable.
 
[quote name='dopa345']I predict that in 10 years, college presidents, administrators and professors will be just as vilified as wall street CEO's are now. When the student loan bubble bursts, it will dwarf the housing bubble in terms of economic impact since student loan debt is not dischargable.[/QUOTE]

This post perfectly exemplifies that no matter how much education or money one makes in a certain field, it doesn't mean that it'll transfer over to other subjects.

Or am I wrong in assuming that you agree that vilification is justified? What you're positing is akin to blaming hospitals for high healthcare costs when there are a multitude of other things that influnce costs way before a patient even walks through the door.
 
Like most things in life, higher quality ones are worth it.

The problem with college degrees is that there are so many shitty colleges and they'll take anyone willing to take a loan. So a college degree has been devalued. Not because of the degree itself but because of the overabundance of degrees issued by crappy "companies."

Think of it as shovelware on the wii.
 
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