College Not Worth It Anymore

An August 23, 2012 article on Market Watch of the Wall Street Journal proclaimed college graduates today are trading the cap and gown for a broom. They are finding few jobs and when they do, they offer low pay and often aren't even in their field. To make it worse, the pay is often an unlivable wage - perfect for financial catastrophe when hit with the ridiculous student loans acquired from getting a college education these days.

The article is brief, and you can quickly VIEW IT HERE.

So for many students, after four years, what awaits them is a whole heap of debt and a job they could have often got without a diploma - at least a four year one.

When my daughter asks if going to college is worth it anymore, I actually say "yes!" Where I differ from other parents is that my strategy and way of thinking are completely different than what her friend's parents are telling her girlfriends.

Let me start by saying that if my daughter absolutely had 100% desire to be a veterinarian, lawyer, psychiatrist or any tight niche requiring a decade of further education, this would be a different discussion - there is no way around that but by way of college. But the average high school graduate just wants to go to school, get a good job and start on his/her adult life. This is the population that is going under the water, as we parents stand on the beach proclaiming "swim farther, swim farther!"

For me, I throw my daughter a life preserver full of tips to ensure she doesn't sink:

1. Even if you think you want a Bachelor's degree, you start at community college where we can pay cash - no debt for two years. This gives you two more years to explore careers, options and interests worry free. How many seniors in high school really have a clue what they want to do with their lives when their biggest decisions to date have been "which is the best smartphone?"
2. Choose concentrations that would enable you to be self-employed in the future. Learn a trade, get a certificate or Associate's degree (or get a few) in things you like to do. The only real way to make money in this awful economy, in my opinion, is to work for yourself in the future.
3. Follow your passions and make money doing a lot of things at once, to live a happy life. My daughter is an awesome photographer, artist, musician and even loves cutting our hair (no training yet does a fantastic job). I tell her to envision a life of making money hiring herself as a wedding photographer, cutting hair on the side and making money like my husband and I do by playing gigs. This adds up to be a lot of money, believe me - and it is fun and makes you feel alive. She can get short certifications, training and degrees in some of these things and have an exciting and rewarding life.
4. Learn how to market your businesses online. Like we are doing, she can learn how to have an effective website for her various trades - even sell her art online for even more income.

In sum, I'm telling my daughter to pay the least amount in tuition for skills she is passionate about and could eventually do as a self-employed individual. No 9 to 5 of the same job everyday, that quickly erodes your spirit if you aren't passionate about your career. Doing many things that you love to do can generate a substantial income over the new grads who are making $10/hour, 40 hours per week - while trying to pay off a fortune in student loan debt.

Though we weren't always this way, back when we did the job thing, house thing, car payment and credit card thing...today we live cash only in our motorhome life.

So what does that have to do with college being worth the money? A lot, actually. With our degrees and decent jobs, we felt the economy collapsing before leaving our conventional lives behind in 2009. Food, utilities, insurance and gasoline costs kept going up and up, while our salaries remained quite steady. We knew something was dreadfully wrong, felt the middle class getting squeezed out - and knew the time to run was now, while we still could.

From that moment forward, we committed to living cash only. No debt. Owe no one nothing. Pay for only what we could afford. This is our belief system - so how can I tell my daughter in good conscience to start her life with a heavy debt load, and no guarantee of it doing anything for her? I wouldn't even tell her to buy a house right now, and that could potentially be an investment if the US doesn't completely disintegrate economically...though doubtful. But to tell her "just go get that degree, make us proud and...then what? Come move back in with us once you graduate?"

If I were to ever owe anyone again, it would be for something of value - something I know what I can expect getting from the "debt." A degree doesn't guarantee financial security anymore. Of course, some pursue a degree to follow their passions - but many pursue degrees for perceived financial security. In our opinion, if you live more simply and buy only what you can afford - what you need, not want - then you can be "secure" even without a college degree.

We think of "wealth" as what is left over after everything is paid off. If you don't own your home, you aren't actually secure...it could be lost if catastrophe hits you, like losing a job. Security to us is knowing everything is ours and that we have bills totaling only hundreds per month, that we pay without sweating about it.

In the end, my daughter's life is her own - and the choice is hers to make. However, it is important to me that she hear all views regarding the value of a college education, not just society's view and what her friends are doing, etc. I want her to take time and think about her future - to be aware that if she is only going to a university to follow the herd, she might be following them right off the edge of a cliff.

I don't want her pressured to pick a career at 18 years of age "for life." I don't want her getting a Bachelor's and feeling the pressure of student loans, having to move across the country to get a job in her field (if that fortunate to find one), struggle economically in a job that pays a flat salary as costs go up and pay remains the same. I want her to see there are new ways of making plenty to live a comfortable life, that don't involve old methods.

I can't tell my daughter to go into the "still seemingly secure" health field, knowing she has no interest in it, just to get a paycheck. I can't promise her if she gets her degree she will find a job in the state she wants to live in (my husband's PhD was never used once we moved to Montana in 2001...no jobs available unless we moved, which we aren't willing to do...trading happiness for a paycheck). I can't promise my daughter that even if she finds a job, she might get laid off if the economic downturn continues.

Therefore, I can't tell her to go into debt for a college education - that the "value" of a diploma is worth the cost anymore. After all, she sees us with a PhD and Bachelor's, not using them at all, and living the life of our dreams - she knows we would be lying, to tell her any different.