Is college worth it?
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Maintenance workers fix a refinery during a shutdown. As the cost of college is increasing, trade schools are a possible alternative.
May 4, 2018
According to the U.S Department of Education, 3.6 million students will graduate high school this year. Of those 3.6 million, 65.9 percent will enroll in college the following fall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Those who choose to go on to college are faced with a hefty fee. According to data from Collegedata, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2017–2018 school year was $34,740 at private colleges, $9,970 for state residents at public colleges, and $25,620 for out-of-state residents attending public universities.
[T]he statistics ignore the proverbial elephant in the room — student loan debt.
— Op-ed Editor Mitchell Smith
Those prices do not include room and board, groceries, books, and other miscellaneous costs of college. Also, the statistics ignore the proverbial elephant in the room — student loan debt.
The average debt for students in 2017 was $37,172, with an average interest rate at 6.94%. Research also shows that the average person will work to pay off student loans for 20 years. Those numbers only encompass undergraduate degrees, and do not include possible master’s degrees, medical school, and other forms of additional training or certification.
After graduation, the average salary for someone with a bachelor’s degree is $50,556, before taxes. Those who choose to attend college expect to spend up to hundreds of thousands of dollars on tuition, room and board, and books, just to obtain a salary of barely $50,000 a year.
What happens to those who do not choose to attend college?
A popular choice is attending trade school. The average trade school degree is $33,000 dollars. Comparing that to a $127,000 bachelor’s degree yields a savings of $94,000.
The average salary for a trade school graduate is $42,000 a year, which is less than the average undergraduate degree. However, those who graduate from trade school do so with less debt, and enter the workforce two years earlier.
While a college degree is needed for some jobs — lawyers, doctors, and other professional fields, it is not a necessity for everyone. Not everyone will choose to enter a white collar career.
College is not for everyone, and it is not a requirement for a career. There will always be a need for technical careers, such as mechanics, welders, and other blue collar jobs.
Every person is not cut out for a four-year college degree, and the debt incurred may not even be worth it.
