For a nation that needs more college graduates, we seem oddly hellbent on discouraging as many people as possible from getting degrees.
We have not been able to contain the ever-rising cost, simplify needlessly complicated financial aid forms or protect lower-income aspirants from the for-profit colleges that want to fleece them. Then there are all the media stories questioning the worth of a college degree.
The latest headlines, prompted by a multiyear survey on attitudes toward college conducted by pollster Gallup and Purdue University (bit.ly/1N8ByY6), provide breathtaking examples
“Less than half of recent grads think college was worth the cost.”
“Just half of graduates say their education was worth the cost.”
“Recent grads doubt college’s worth.”
In my latest for Reuters, why everyone needs post-secondary training.
And in my latest for MoneyWatch, why chip-enabled credit cards are well worth the hassle.
the choice of college also needs to also consider the payback. it’s a business choice as much as pure education.
debt spent to earn an engineering degree is more valuable than the same debt acquiring an art degree.
one can truly see a payback with a technical degree and little chance of payback with a humanities degree.
I agree with you on principal, but not the example. Graduates of better art schools can get jobs in animation and video games that rival engineers’ salaries.