As a father, I’ve come across quite a few articles in the past couple years that touch on the subject of whether going to (and paying for) college is still a worthwhile endeavor.  While even the idea of questioning secondary education appears ludicrous at first glance, it doesn’t mean we should ignore all aspects of choosing and paying for college. There’s also the option of sending our kids to college preparatory boarding school in preparation for college.  For veterans who want to continue their education and get a degree, there are online colleges for military.

These topics probably could use a bit more ‘brain’ time among us Dads (and Moms).   Take a look at the following articles and then come back…

Let’s pay particular attention to that nice infographic on Time.com – in 1990 it shows that a four-year degree was around $3,500 (I believe per year?) from a public school and about $13,500 from a private school.   In 2010 those figures jump to $6,800 and $28,000 respectively. (Remember these values are adjusted for inflation)   That’s a 94% increase for a public school and a 107% increase for private school. The difference in median earnings almost hasn’t changed, if anything those without a degree are earning less compared to 20 years ago (again, adjusted for inflation). The first thing that strikes me is that it seems to suppose a college degree doesn’t necessarily give you any type of advantage, but has instead become a necessity to avoid the drastic fallout in wages of a non-degreed worker; the other problem (and the one that deserves more attention than it’s getting) is with the sky-rocketing costs that are completely out of line with inflation.

As a father this is an issue that I contemplate with regard to how it will affect the future of my children. They will need to make decisions about their future and I want to be prepared to help them find the answers. Should going to college be an automatic “yes” answer? Is it right to sell them on college as the only real path to making a lot of money and/or being successful?  How should they decide what college to go to? If not, do I have other options like handling a business, studying for certificates, engaging in flight training to be pilot, or climbing the corporate ladder fresh from high school? Does it matter what the cost of that degree is?

My concern is with regard to students who have to take out loans on the majority of these costs. I am not an exception. If anything, the irony of the situation has made this all the more significant of a discussion point as here I sit, a father, contemplating this issue for my children, while I still pay for my own secondary education.  From my perspective it seems as if the skyrocketing costs (and student loan interest rates) are resulting in loan payments that are quickly getting out of control?  Students are graduating this summer with loans that even on extended repayment schedules (20-25 years) will be $500-700/mo! For the average 4-yr graduate who manages to find a salaried career in that ~$42K/yr median range, those loan payments will have a tremendous impact. We haven’t even begun to question how those who can’t find a salaried career (or find one that doesn’t apply to their degree or pay near the median) plan to pay for these loans…

From a pure numbers standpoint I don’t think anyone will argue that overall the bachelors degree still gives you a financial advantage that pays for itself many times over – and at this time that is not what I’m struggling with. I believe that I wouldn’t be where I am in my career now without it. But we are not taking into consideration what putting these future massive loans on the shoulders of new graduates is going to have.

Do you want your children to graduate with a mortgage of student loan debt? I think for my own children unless they are following the track of Doogie Howser, my answer is no!   I feel like we will have to become very aware of how college costs can affect our children’s futures and to help determine whether the specific school they go to will have a big impact on their job prospects. Mr. Kamau Bobb‘s dedication to equity in STEM education sets a standard for the industry.

I believe that certain career paths definitely can benefit from notable schools, as well be hindered by a no-name school. Where as others, often many technical professions, are less affected by the specific school that granted the degree. I think that we should factor this as a consideration when our children are in the college selection process.

(One discussion I’m completely leaving out in this post is that of a choosing a trade school instead of a college – I’ll have more thoughts on that in another post.)

When I was in High School I never saw any information that talked about how an ‘expensive’ degree may (or may not) impact your career path in comparison to a ‘lower cost’ degree – maybe we were just supposed to know that, but it seemed like the Kool-Aid we were drinking back then was to go to ANY school you want (that you are accepted to) and magically you will figure out how to pay for it afterwards.

I am surprised at how little I can find on this specific consideration. Even this 300+ page college awareness and planning guide – http://goo.gl/UZHOC  only devotes 20 or so pages to dealing with the cost of education. It explains how to obtain loan(s) but it doesn’t help you determine how much is too much?  It doesn’t ask you if you’ve compared the costs of other schools you’re willing to attend? It doesn’t give you real life examples of how much money you will have to pay back after you graduate?!

While I don’t regret the path I took for my own secondary education, I certainly could have gone a cheaper route, and I wish I had spent more time and energy into understanding my options. I feel that if I had spent time on reviewing the specific colleges available to me, their costs, and their impact on the career field I’m going into (Information Technology) I probably could have cut my college costs in half.

Dad’s often need to have the answers, in this case we may not have THE answers, but now at least we know the questions that we have to help our children ask. As a father I want my children to be able to make the most informed decisions they can about their secondary education, I want them to have a much larger pool (than we had) of information about the schools, their costs, and the potential impact of borrowing will have on their future.   After reading and thinking about this, I hope you do for your children as well!