5 Reasons to Reconsider College

So you've been told, almost since you were born, that college is your ticket to the good life.

And you've noticed that the job market is, well, not good. And college is expensive.

Maybe you've just realized that you don't want to go to college––but you're not sure if that's okay.

If you're reconsidering college––if you're not sure whether it's worth it––you're not alone. Here's what you need to know...

1. The wage premium isn't as great as you think.

Let's get this out of the way: college graduates don't make a million dollars more than those without a degree. It's a phony number. Here's why:

• Estimates of the wage premium for college graduates vary widely, going as low as $120,000. Even the College Board says the real number is only $300,000.
• These numbers are presented deceptively. $300,000, over your whole working lifetime, works out to about $10,000 more a year if you work for 30 years. That sounds a lot less impressive, doesn't it? Especially when you factor in student loan debt (see #2).
• These averages also include people who graduated as far back as 1970. If you're pursuing a college degree now, wage premiums from 40 years ago have nothing to do with your own prospects.
• People who graduate college tend to be smarter, more motivated and have better social networks than people who drop out or don't go. If these same people skipped college, went into apprenticeship programs, or started their own businesses, they would still out-earn their less capable peers.

There's an even simpler problem with the wage estimate: it only counts people with jobs. Unemployed graduates and non-graduates aren't considered. And while the unemployment rate is lower for college grads, what's the point of going to college if you have a good chance of being un- or underemployed?

Which leads us to the next point...

2. Student loan debt never goes away––even in bankruptcy.

The average student loan debt for college graduates, as of 2011, is $25,250.

Now that doesn't sound like a lot. Especially if you'll make an average $300,000 more over your lifetime. That's an extra $10,000 a year if you work for 30 years.

But remember, that's an extra 300K over your entire working life. You probably won't start making an extra 10K/year right after you graduate. But any loans you take out come due, not when your income peaks, but about six months after graduation.

You may have to start paying off your debt while working minimum wage, or working, as 40% of college graduates do, in a career that doesn't require a college degree.

Remember, too, that the unemployment rate for recent college graduates is close to 10%. Of those employed, just over half are working full-time, many in jobs that don't require a B.A.

And don't forget any credit card debt you've picked up while trying to juggle school, textbook costs, work, insurance and rent. Chances are you don't have a lot of money saved up to fall back on.

If you changed majors or took more than four years to graduate, your debt is likely to be higher, too.

And what if you get sick? Many students run into hard times trying to juggle medical and loan payments. From studentloanjustice.org:

When I recovered [from ovarian cancer] I contacted Sallie Mae to begin making payments on my loans. They informed me that the loans had gone into default and were now due in full and had been returned to EdFund the California guarantor. Further, my $28,000 debt was now over $50,000 with the fees in interest they added...

Even though I have repaid well over $25,000 on this loan it still remains in default. My credit is ruined, I am now threatened with 40% wage garnishment, so for me it is better to work "under the radar." Will I ever be able to have a normal life? (Janet in California)

Okay, so that's just one anonymous story. Let's take the story of James Moreau, who graduated Suffolk University with $120,000 in loans. When he found it difficult to keep a job and repay his loans, he looked into bankruptcy. However,

"It's pretty much not possible [to discharge student loans] because you have to prove 'undue hardship,'" [Maureen Thompson, legislative director of the NACBA] said. "And in order to prove you have 'undue hardship,' you have to litigate it." And litigation takes an attorney, which requires money––something the borrower clearly doesn't have, otherwise he would be sending in loan payments.

It's a classic Catch-22––if you qualify for undue hardship, you can't afford to prove it, and if you can afford it, you don't qualify.

Remember that most people go to college to improve their lives. Both Janet and James them believed that college was a solid investment––not a financial albatross.

Unlike credit card debt, student loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy––and private loan companies have few incentives to keep payments manageable. Why sign up for that?

Infographic by owsposters.

3. College culture does not foster intellectual excellence--or intellectual freedom.

Colleges portray themselves as a freethinking utopias, where bright young people gather to become well-rounded human beings. On campus, brave dissenters and visionaries are free to make this world a better one.

This isn't the truth––it's marketing copy. Not only are many students unqualified for college, but the intellectual climate on many campuses discourages free inquiry and open debate.

Intellectual Excellence

According to the Department of Education, by 2006:

[T]he percentage of college graduates deemed proficient in prose literacy has actually declined from 40 to 31 percent in the past decade.

As I write on the home page, what does a college degree mean if it doesn't mean basic reading, writing and thinking skills? The report continues:

Employers report repeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, lacking the critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills needed in today’s workplaces.

This is crucial. The main reason most people go to college is to demonstrate their employability. But when a large proportion of college graduates aren't employable, the degree loses much of that value.

Intellectual Freedom

The mere dissemination of ideas—no matter how offensive to good taste—on a state university campus may not be shut off in the name alone of conventions of decency.
––The U.S. Supreme Court, Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667, 670 (1973).

The majority of college professors are liberal or left-leaning. This is understandable: liberal students are more likely to pursue majors in the liberal arts, and are more likely to enter academic PhD programs, than conservative ones.

Still, this bias chills free debate. Leftist professors can hound, badger, vilify and silence their opponents without fear of retribution.

This bias reinforces itself. Competition for tenure-track professorships is fierce. Adjunct professors can be denied tenure (i.e. job security) for counter-revolutionary thought. Since many adjuncts work at or below the minimum wage, they must watch what they say.

Even the President of Harvard must bow to these pressures.

Vague campus speech codes can only be enforced along ideological lines. Central Washington University, for example, bans "sexist statements"––which could, theoretically, include anything from an inside joke to a statement of fact.

This can be taken to hilarious extremes. As Paul Gottfried reports:

In the fall of 2006, a bronze cross was carted out of Wren Chapel at William and Mary lest it cause offense to unidentified spectators...Staff members [at his college] once changed a “Yule Bowl Party” to a “Season’s Greeting Festival,” arguing that “Yule” references were an affront to non-Westerners. Perhaps an itinerant Hindu would wander into the gathering and go bonkers at the mention of something once associated with Christianity.

I can imagine some of you sighing in disgust. "But I'm liberal," you say. Then you should be even more concerned: you could graduate college without ever hearing a dissenting viewpoint.

A conservative goes through college hearing his worldview constantly challenged, and must find ways to answer that challenge. As Mytheos Holt points out:

If, as a freshman just out of high school, you cannot argue with the senior who majored in queer studies for four years, you had best sit down and do your homework, because no charity will be forthcoming from such people.

Thus, conservatives may graduate with more critical thinking skills, more experience debating their opponents, and more comfort going against the herd than their progressive peers.

You may feel certain that liberalism is right, good, just and sacred. Keep in mind that conservatives, traditionalists, Republicans and other heretics all feel the same way about their beliefs as you feel about yours.

And what is preventing your opponents from doing what your allies do––i.e., browbeating the opposition into silence?

Even if you don't believe in freedom of speech, consider how these methods may one day be used against you.

4. Many college students don't have a clear reason for being there.

Photo by KitAy.

He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
––Proverbs 13:20

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.
--Eric Hoffer

You are a conformist. So am I. Every day of our lives, we conform to traffic safety laws, grammatical rules, social etiquette, and dress codes. We observe taboos, even ones we're not quite aware of.

We also imitate our friends. Divorce, obesity and suicide are all contagious. Peer pressures affect our lives more than we'd like to admit.

Case in point.

Why is this important? Well, if you're going to college, you've committed a lot of your time to being around people who may not know where they're going in life.

Many people go to college because their parents are paying for it, because they don't want to grow up, or because it's "the next thing to do." They may not know, or care, what they'll do afterwards. These attitudes, if widespread, can rub off on you, whether you want them to or not.

There's nothing wrong with being a bit confused, especially when you're young. But it's much harder to find direction if none of your friends have a direction of their own.

Now the same is true of many dead-end jobs. Even well-paying white collar jobs can be incubators for aimless discontent.

And you can have a life outside of college, with friends who know where they're going in life. You can take online classes and avoid any campus culture of pessimism.

You may also find a college, or a clique, full of motivated, like-minded people. And if you can, that's great!

But before you go to college, consider the effects that campus culture may have on your life––and make sure you can exit if you get stuck.

5. You could be miserable––and have nothing to show for it.

If you are young, many older people will all but insist that the college years are the best years of your life.

What if they aren't?

According to the University of Michigan, about 15% of all college students––just over 1 in 7––struggle with depression. The same percentage report suicidal thoughts.

College is not necessarily making people depressed. More people with pre-existing conditions may be going to college now, or people may be more open about these feelings than they were in the past.

However, if you are currently depressed, anxious or isolated, know that going to college will not necessarily cure these feelings. Many college counseling departments are over-stretched and underfunded, which just compounds the problem.

And campus culture may not help. As one student said about the University of Chicago, "People here are so insanely uncreative, and they’re proud of it...so many people hate [college] with a passion and don’t leave."

And what happens if you persevere? You may find yourself, after four or six or even eight years in college, with a diploma, a mountain of debt, in a job you could have taken right after high school.

If that's the American Dream, please wake me up!

The Good News

So we've covered why you should reconsider college. But if college isn't a great idea, what should you do?

First of all: don't panic. Here's the good news:

• Many well-paying, rewarding jobs don't require a college degree. You will need some education or training after high school, but not necessarily at a college or expensive institute.
• Many successful people don't have degrees, including Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Wozniak, John Mackey (founder of Whole Foods), Richard Branson and Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter). While you probably won't reach their level of success, you can still live a good life without a B.A.
• You have many educational tools at your disposal, which you can use for free, no matter what you're interested in.

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References:

1. The Wage Premium is Not As Great As You Think.

Barrow, Lisa and Rouse, Cecilia Elena. "Does College Still Pay?" The Economists' Voice, Volume 2, Issue 4, 2005. Article 3.

Baum, Sandy and Ma, Jennifer. "Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society." College Board, 2007.

Brockway, Robert. "The Real Question: Should You Be Going To College?" Cracked.com. 27 April 2011. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Clark, Kim. "How Much Is That College Degree Really Worth?" U.S. News, 30 October 2008. Accessed 5 March 2012.

"College Board Responds to Charles Miller's Criticism of the Group." Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 April 2008. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Does America Need More College Grads? Fora.tv. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Harris, Malcolm. "Bad Education." n+1 magazine, 25 April 2011. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Kamenetz, Anya. "Wanted: Really Smart Suckers." The Village Voice, 20 April 2004. Accessed 15 March 2012.

L, Brian. "The Debt Problem in America." Center of Mathematics Blog, 14 June 2010.

Lederman, Doug. "College Isn't Worth a Million Dollars." Inside Higher Ed, 7 April 2008. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Miller, Charles. Letter to Gaston Caperton, 2 April 2008.

Schneider, Mark. "How Much Is That Bachelor's Degree Really Worth?" American Enterprise Institute, 4 May 2009. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Stotts, Bethany. "How Much Is My Bachelor's Really Worth?" Accuracy in Academia, 4 February 2010. Accessed 5 March 2012.

"The Job Market: Is a College Degree Worth Less?" Time Magazine, 8 December 2009. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Tudoreanu, Mike. "College Students Should Fight Back." The Daily Collegian, 28 February 2012. Accessed 5 March 2012.

2. Student Loan Debt Never Goes Away––Even in Bankruptcy.

Berlin, Lauren. "Student Loans Can Result in Debt That Won't Go Away." The Huffington Post, 2 March 2012. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Collinge, Alan. The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History - and How We Can Fight Back. Beacon Press, Boston, 2009.

"The Downsized College Graduate." The New York Times, 24-5 May 2011.

Kristof, Kathy. "The Great College Hoax." Forbes, 14 January 2009.

Kurtzleben, Danielle. "5 Shocking Facts About Student Loan Debt." U.S. News, 6 March 2012. Accessed 6 March 2012.

Nance-Nash, Sarah. "The Student Loan Crisis Is Crippling America's Families––Is the Economy Next?" Forbes, 2 February 2012. Accessed 5 March 2012.

"Nope, just debt." The Economist, 29 October 2011. Accessed 1 March 2012.

Powell, Thomas. "College grads make a million dollars more in their lifetime? Statistics and false correlation."

"The Project on Student Debt - State by State Data."

Rampell, Catherine. "Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling." The New York Times, 18 May 2011. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Samples, Eve. "Two college degrees, $750 a month in student loan payments and a job waiting tables — is this the future for graduates?" TC Palm, 3 March 2012.

Schiff, Peter. "President Obama Announces Plan to Boost College Tuitions." 27 October, 2011. Reprinted on College Optional Careers, with permission.

Steinberg, Jacques. "Is Going to an Elite College Worth the Cost?" The New York Times, 17 December 2010. Accessed 5 March 2012.

Stemen, Sarah. "Could student loans create the next 'debt bomb'?" The Lantern, 1 March 2012.

"Student Debt and the Class of 2008." Pew Charitable Trusts and The Project on Student Debt.

Tellefsen, Robyn. "How Much Does a Bachelor's Degree Cost?" Collegesurfing.com. Accessed 9 March 2012.

"Unfulfilled Expectations: Recent College Graduates Struggle in a Troubled Economy." Rutgers Media Relations, 31 May 2011. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Vedder, Richard. "Why Did 17 Million Students Go To College?" The Chronicle of Higher Education, Innovations Blog, 20 October 2010. Accessed 9 March 2012.

3. College culture does not foster intellectual excellence--or intellectual freedom.

Archibald, George. "Anti-Christian charges probed. The Washington Times, 18 August 2004. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Benton, Thomas. "The Big Lie About the 'Life of the Mind.'" The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 February 2010. Accessed 14 March 2012.

Cohen, Patricia. "Professor Is a Label That Leans to the Left." The New York Times, 17 January 2010. Accessed at 8 March 2012.

Dobbs, Michael. "Harvard Chief's Comments on Women Assailed." The Washington Post, 19 January 2005. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Francis, Sam. "Sex, Summers and the Return of Human Nature." VDare, 24 January 2005. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Furnish, Timothy R. "Colleges Score Perfect Grade In Liberal Bias." Campus Watch, reprinted from Investor's Business Daily, 29 June 2007. Accessed 11 March 2012.

"The Green Regulation Machine." Reason.tv.

Harris, Samantha. "Speech Code of the Month: Yale University." Foundation for Rights in Individual Education, 1 June 2011. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Hernandez, Chris. "Liberal Bias Hurts Colleges, Study Suggests." The Daily Princetonian, 27 October 2008. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Holt, Mytheos. "In Defense of Liberal Bias." National Review, 9 November 2011. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Indoctrinate U. Evan Coyne Maloney, 2007.

Jaschik, Scott. "New View of Faculty Liberalism." Inside Higher Ed, 18 January 2010.

Kimball, Roger. Tenured Radicals: How Politics Has Corrupted Our Higher Education. HarperPerennial, New York, 1990.

Marklein, Mary Beth. "On campus: Free speech for you but not for me?" USA Today, 3 November 2003. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Murray, Charles. Real Education: Four Simple Truths For Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality. Crown Forum, New York, 2008.

Shott, Michael J. How Liberal Arts Colleges Perpetuate Bias. Academe Online, September-October 2006. Accessed 9 March 2012.

Surber, Jere P. "Well, Naturally We're Liberal." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 February 2010. Accessed 8 March 2012.

The U.S. Supreme Court, Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667, 670 (1973).

Williams, Walter E. "Deflated Grades Lead to Deflated Education." Gaston Gazette, 6 May 2009. Accessed 15 March 2012.

Winegar, Allie. "Professor Tells Conservatives: F$% OFF." Accuracy in Academia, 21 April 2011. Accessed on 14 April 2012.

4. Many college students don't have a clear reason for being there.

Hipster photo by jonathan youngblood.

Clarke, Ian. "We Imitate Our Friends, Their Friends." Sunday Vision, 19 June 2010. Accessed 16 March 2012.

Gadoua, Susan Peace. "Is Divorce Contagious?" Psychology Today, 11 July 2010. Accessed on 16 March 2012.

"Imitation Promotes Social Bonding in Primates." Science Daily, 13 August 2009. Accessed 8 March 2012.

McGrath, Ellen. "Is Depression Contagious?" Psychology Today, 1 July 2003. Accessed 16 March 2012.

"Obesity is Socially Contagious." Science Daily, 25 July 2007. Accessed 16 March 2012.

Perlstein, Rick. "What's the Matter with College?" The New York Times, 30 September 2007. Accessed 16 March 2012.

Thompson, Derek. "Adulthood, Delayed." The Atlantic, 14 February 2012. Accessed 16 March 2012.

Van Petten, Vanessa. "Why Teens Imitate Their Friends." Radical Parenting. Accessed 16 March 2012.

"Young, Underemployed and Optimistic: Executive Summary." The Pew Research Center, 9 February 2012. Accessed 16 March 2012.

5. You might be miserable––and have nothing to show for it.

Grasgreen, Allie. "The Complications of Counseling." Inside Higher Ed, 14 March 2012. Accessed on 16 March 2012.

Hyun, Gina. "Depression, suicide rising among college students." Student Life, 29 March 2010. Accessed 14 March 2012.

Perlstein, Rick. "What's the Matter with College?" The New York Times, 30 September 2007. Accessed 16 March 2012.

Von Brunt, Brian. "Giving Troubled Students the Brushoff." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 February 2012. Accessed 14 March 2012.

Woodhouse, Katy. "U-M experts: Depression a Pervasive Struggle for College Students." Annarbor.com, 8 March 2012. Accessed 16 March 2012.

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