Friday, February 19, 2010

The College Premium?

I see estimates of a college education being worth from about $800,000 to as high as $1 million. That is a common figure used by educators, comparing what someone can earn over a lifetime with a college degree, as opposed to earnings of a non-college educated individual.

But the numbers received on this subject from the College Board, for example, are for the average of such students and are based on a 1999 study. What the estimates do not take into account are a list of important factors. Some:

One: Student debts racked up in going to college ought to include those of their parents and weigh down college advantages. Interest on the debts are huge but so are the societal problems associated with those debts.

Two: An assumption is made that all non-college jobs are non-skilled. Many skilled jobs that do not call for a college degree, such as electricians and plumbers, pay far better than college-bred positions.

Eliminate janitor-type jobs from the conventional comparisons, and the comparison gets completely skewed.

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