On Friday, October 12, 2012, CNBC aired a segment entitled: College Costs – the Next Fiscal Cliff?, in which the hosts interviewed Derek Thomson of the Atlantic on the issue of the rising college tuition costs. MSNBC’s The Morning Joe Show aired a similar segment entitled Time’s Focus on Higher Education from their latest issue, in which Time Magazine’s editor, Rick Stengle, discusses with the panel the central question of whether college education is too expensive, and whether it provides the return on investment which justifies the cost. Simply – Is it worth it?
It is a fact that affluent families gladly shell out obscene amounts of money to educate their children in the best schools. It is also a fact that those less fortunate assume obscene amounts of debt to educate themselves, as is evidenced by the 1 trillion dollars of student loan debt in America today.
There are numerous potential points of interest in this discussion. For instance, we could talk about whether graduating with $30,000 to $100,000 of debt, only to make $35,000 of after-tax income, makes good sense. We could also discuss whether it is morally corrupt for our government to incentivise young people into college education with cheap loans, but NOT to explain to them that going into debt over a liberal arts degree makes about as much financial sense as does jumping off a ten-story building.
But, can we have a more in-depth discussion? Why do we want college education so much that we are willing to go in debt to a tune of 1 trillion dollars for it? The answer that 99 people out of 100 would give is that we want a better job, and a college degree is a pre-requisite. But why are we all so convinced that a better job is the way to go? I ask you – If there are two people at a table, one of which is asking for work while the other is offering work, why is it that so many of us believe that the “safer” place to be is on the side of the table where we beg? Isn’t it counter-intuitive? When did we become so brainwashed that we actually believe that being at someone’s mercy is safer than being the decision-maker?
America is a place of haves and have-nots. The world is a place of haves and have-nots. Why? It’s the proverbial Ying and Yang – can’t have one without the other. The basic order of the universe dictates that in order for one to have, the other must not.
The intuitive reality, at least intuitive to me, is that you will never be a “have” so long as you allow someone else to control your paycheck and therefore your financial well-being. If you think about this with a bit of intellectual honesty, you will realize that the skills we learn in college are those of a follower, not a leader. College is there to teach you how to be an employee; how to skillfully perform work assigned to you. College can not teach you how to be a leader. College can not teach you how to be responsible for yourself and others. It can not teach you how to be creative or dexterous. All college can teach you is how to earn a paycheck by following instructions – how to be an employee.
This is not the way to financial success in my opinion, and going into debt for college is highly misleading and potentially dangerous. Don’t forget – college debt does not wipe out in bankruptcy. If you choose to take on debt in order to achieve a college degree, make sure it is in a field in which you can generate high income.
© Copyright 2013 Ben Leybovich and Just Ask Ben Why. All Rights Reserved.
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