Is College A Scam, or Is It Worth It?

Is college the right move these days? Or is it a scam, as some people claim?

College has gotten a bad reputation in recent years. With more high schoolers opting not to go to college, universities are pouring billions of dollars annually into advertising to keep enrollment rates high.

But is getting a degree from these esteemed establishments enough to deal with the high cost of attending? Is a college degree necessary anymore?

Well, it depends.

Let’s break down the good, the bad, and the ugly around going to college and what going or not going could mean for your future.

The Good

With so many people out there dragging college through the mud, let’s look at some potential benefits:

Higher Earnings

One of the primary reasons parents and adults tend to push people to go to college is because, historically, it meant making more money.

According to this Georgetown study, the lifetime earnings of a full-time, full-year worker with a high school diploma are $1.6 million. In comparison, workers with a bachelor’s degree earn a median of $2.8 million during their career, 75% more than if they only have a high school diploma.

Financial Security

Increased financial security is another reason your parents might be bugging you to go to college.

Most companies today require a potential employee to have a degree in the appropriate field before they employ you.

Example: Television news anchor jobs look for people with degrees in broadcast journalism.

It’s not a guarantee that you’ll get the job, but it increases the odds of getting hired and keeping your job.

BLS data from February 2022 shows that high schoolers with no college degree had a higher unemployment rate of 4.3% than those with bachelor’s degrees or higher, coming in at 2.2%.

Networking

There’s a common saying in the business world:

“Your network is your net worth.”

This means that the people you know and those who know you can impact your standing and earning capabilities.

Going to a university, especially one with a long history, can exponentially expand your network in your chosen field. Professors can write letters of recommendation to help you get hired. Other students can tell you about job openings or make introductions for you, and many schools host recruiting sessions on campus.

Specialized Learning

There are some professions in which college will always be essential.

If you want to be a lawyer? Go to law school.

If economics is your jam? Sure, you could learn it online, but good luck getting a job without that degree.

Anything in the medical field will need schooling. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a surgeon who learned how to operate from YouTube videos.

The Bad

Now that we’ve hit some good points about going to college let’s look at some cons:

Lack of Transparency

Not all professions require a college degree, but universities will never tell you that.

Remember, these institutions are businesses; any student is a potential money source.

So, if you want to be a rapper, the college won’t tell you that music producers don’t care about where you went to school. Producers just want to know if you’ve got the goods or not.

But the college will convince you that you need to attend their music school, pitching and convincing you that you won’t get anywhere without an education. Tell that to Eminem.

Lack of Clarity

School counselors will tell you it’s also okay if you don’t know what you want to do with your life yet. And you can study at the school anyway and declare a major later on down the line.

This is terrible advice.

Educationdata.org shows that the average cost of attendance for a student living on campus at a public 4-year in-state institution is $26,027 per year or $104,108 over four years.

$26K per year to party, waste time, and “discover yourself” while you figure out what to do with your life is awful advice.

Do not fall for this trap.

Save your money, use the internet to browse potential career paths, and then once you know college is the answer, go for it.

But only go to a school if you have clarity that you want to be there and you know what to do.

Time Investment

Most schools require you to attend for four years before joining the workforce. If you’re in the medical field, it’ll be eight to twelve years before earning a cent from your education.

That’s a long time!

As my previous point indicated, you have to know what you want to do because you won’t get that time back, not to mention your money.

While most of your college friends will move on with their lives after four years, you may be there longer. 

The Ugly

Okay, we’ve weighed the pros and cons, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on the hot topics surrounding college.

The Price

The cost of college has become astronomical.

Take a look at the above graphic.

With the help of Visual Capitalist, the average cost of getting a college degree has soared relative to overall inflation over the last few decades.

Since 1980, college tuition and fees are up 1,200%, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items has risen by only 236%.

That’s an enormous amount. How are people supposed to pay for this?

Here’s the answer: student loans. More on that in a moment.

However, due to the cost of college and the rising cost of goods from inflation, students have unrealistic expectations about how much they’ll earn once they graduate.

Unrealistic Expectations

A survey conducted by Real Estate Witch found that today's college students expect to make about $103,880 in their first post-graduation job. But the reality is much lower – as the average starting salary is actually about half that at $55,260, statistics show.

That’s less than almost half of what graduates are expecting.

It's not a great way to step into the real world, and many students quickly fall into depression because of the shock.

College Debt

And this ugly is quite grotesque.

College debt is at an unprecedented level.

According to the Federal Reserve, total student debt in the U.S. has nearly tripled in the past 15 years, from more than $619 billion in quarter one of 2008 to more than $1.77 trillion in quarter one of 2023.

Trillion, with a T.

And for the longest time, student loan debt was never “forgiven.” It stayed with a student forever, only being discharged upon death.

President Biden has been doing his best to cancel the student debt, but will that work for everyone without any consequences? Who knows.

The BMM Takeaway

Is college for everyone? No.

Is it useless and a scam? Absolutely not.

College can be essential depending on what career path you choose. However, it’s necessary to know what you may be getting into if you decide to go to university.

Regardless, know what you want to do with your life before enrolling, and always do it for you. Don’t do it for your parents or societal pressure but for you.

If it’s for you, cool. Go for it.

But if you want to pursue a field that doesn’t require traditional schooling, there are plenty of online courses you could learn skills from that’ll get you work in the marketplace.

This does not mean staying home on your mom’s couch with a minimum-wage job forever. If anything, you’ll need to work harder to create value in the world, so you’re worth hiring.

This decision is–and will be–one of the most significant decisions of your life. Take your time deciding, and do what’s best for your path.