Is A College Degree Worth The Costs?

Is a college degree worth the costs?

             The Pew Research Center provides information to help inform the public about student debt, rising college costs and the quality of higher education. It surveyed a sample of the public (2,142) and college presidents (1,055) to help assess whether college is a good value and worth the expense (Pew Research Center, 2011).

            According to the research, 57% of Americans say that college is not a good value for the money spent by families on a college education (Pew Research Center, 2011). Families are concerned about the affordability of college. Further forty percent of college presidents interviewed stated that they believe college is headed in the wrong direction (Pew Research Center, 2011). College presidents were concerned about the quality of higher education. Presidents reflected on the amount of time students spent studying and compared American colleges to international schools as contributing factors to their concerns about the quality of higher education. College graduates have a more positive view of their college experience with 86% of those surveyed believing that the college experience was good for them personally (Pew Research Center, 2011). Finally the survey results and 2010 census data support that Americans who attend college will earn about $20,000 more a year than those who did not attend college (Pew Research Center, 2011). Additionally, attending college provides students an opportunity to grow intellectually, helps them mature and improves their ability to gain employment. The question is whether the positive benefits outweigh the negative benefits, in other words, is college worth it?

            Cost and Value

            There is no consensus on who should pay for college. 63% of college presidents say families should shoulder the majority of the college costs while only 48% of the general public agrees that they should pay the largest share of the costs (Pew Research Center, 2011). The public prefers that a combination of the government (18%), states (12%), private endowments (5%), or some combination of these (13%) pay for college expenses (Pew Research Center, 2011).

            In terms of value, only 5% of the public surveyed indicated that college was an excellent value (Pew Research Center, 2011). However, 75% of the college presidents responded at a rate of 17% that college was an excellent value (Pew Research Center, 2011). Again the college graduates surveyed believe that college was a good investment (86%) for them.

            There is a concern over the affordability of college. In 1985, 60% of the public felt they could not afford college, but by 2010, 75% of the public believes college is unaffordable (Pew Research Center, 2011). Students are taking loans to pay for college. The loan debt has become a burden on students. Many of those (48%) who responded say paying on their loans was making it harder for them to survive and student loan debt caused them to delay major expenses such as purchasing a home or getting married (Pew Research Center, 2011).

The study indicates that the main reason young people age 18-24 do not attend college is financial reasons. Many stated that they need to work to support their family (67%), would rather work and make money to pay bills (54%) or they cannot afford college (48%) (Pew Research Center, 2011).

            Tuition and Fees

            Since 1980, tuition and fees have tripled. In 1980 the average cost of tuition and fees for a four year public institution was $2,119 but by 2010 it was $7,065 (Pew Research Center, 2011). Students may not pay the total amount if grant aid is applied to the cost of tuition and fees. The growth in private schools is more significant. In 1980 the average tuition and fees for private four year institutions was $9,535 and in 2010 it was $27,293. Student debt has grown from about 9% in 1989 to 15% in 2007 (Pew Research Center, 2011). The percentage of student debt in a household has grown to 5% which is double the amount it was ten years ago (Pew Research Center, 2011).

            Conclusion

The respondents to the survey believe a college education is important for success (42%), however most believed that a good work ethic was more important (61%) (Pew Research Center, 2011). Most respondents still believe attending college has more positive than negative benefits and many still aspire for themselves and/or their children to attend college. Over forty years of working, the financial payoff is $550,000 greater for someone attends college than someone who does not attend college even after accounting for the cost to attend college. Further the unemployment gap remains between those who do not attend college and those who do attend college. For example, in 2010, the unemployment rate for someone who did not attend college was 11 % versus someone who had a bachelor’s degree (4.5%) (Pew Research Center, 2011).  Even if foregone earnings are considered, the net payoff is greater for someone who has a bachelor’s degree ($480,000) or an associate’s degree ($163,000) than someone with only a high school diploma (Pew Research Center, 2011). Based on the data and research from the survey, the Pew Research Center asserts that college is indeed worth the expense.

Reference

Pew Research Center (2011). Is college worth it? Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1993/survey-is-college-degree-worth-cost-debt-college-presidents-higher-education-system.