Millions of Americans go to college and leave with a degree, but also thousands of dollars in debt. The average American has 38,000 dollars in debt and 3% of adults worldwide owe at least 100,000 dollars from college and further education. All college debt combined in the United States amounts to 1.69 trillion dollars. This leads to a question younger generations are starting to ask themselves, is going to college really worth the money?
Around 22% of adults say they believe college is worth the price even if someone has to take out a loan to pay for college. Another issue is that many people go to college and never use their degrees, or end up making more money working in fast food or retail rather than using their degree. 52% of college graduates are underemployed, meaning their job doesn’t require them to have or use their degree.
Another issue we are forced to face with college is that all the high grossing jobs are the most difficult to achieve. Meaning, if you want to be a doctor or a nurse it takes a minimum of 8-12 years of schooling and the average total cost for a nursing degree is 120,000 dollars and for a doctor it’s 364,000 dollars.This takes a lot of time but more than anything, it leaves people in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and is completely unaffordable. The average nurse salary is 70k-100k a year and for doctors it’s 180k-260k so with that information you have to take into consideration if the salary of these jobs is enough to justify the debt that also comes with them.
In addition, people should consider is that college is not a guarantee of a job while there are many jobs you can acquire with no college degree, some even pay very well. For example, blue collar work does not require a college degree and can pay a fair amount. Other jobs that don’t require a degree are, equipment mechanic, tile and stone setting, and most high labor and heavy equipment jobs.
It’s important to remember, if college is not for you there is a wide variety of options in the workforce that don’t require the money and debt you will get from receiving a college degree.
