It seems that it’s becoming fashionable to poo-poo college education. After all, can’t you get all the information you’ll ever need for free on the Internet? Why pay tuition? In a recent Time magazine article, Andrew Rotherham explores the real value of a college education related to standard of living.
His findings:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010, the median weekly earnings for someone with some college but no degree were $712, compared to $1038 for a college graduate. That’s almost $17,000 over the course of a year and there is an even bigger divide for those with less education.
College graduates are also more likely to be in jobs with better benefits.
In 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent for those with only some college and more than 10 percent for those with just a high school degree, but it was 5.4 percent for college graduates.
Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution found that without a college degree, only 14 percent of Americans from the bottom fifth of parental income reach the top two-fifths. But if they complete college, 41 percent of this same group can then expect to make it to the top two-fifths.
So, keep searching for new and exciting learning forums online – but keep the checkbook handy for the next tuition bill.
To read the full article, see: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2072432,00.html?artId=2072432?contType=article?chn=us
