My Diploma vs. My Wallet

A while back, 20/20 aired a story discussing the mis-perception that people must go to college to get a good job with good pay. Since I have had the same thoughts, I was interested to hear the report. After all, this is a package that I paid (and am still paying) for.

Within my first year out of graduate school, I began to wonder if there would ever be a financial payoff for my higher education. My intent was to complete a PhD in social services -- if I could ever pay off what student loan debt I had already accumulated. However, I was barely able to pay rent on a one-bedroom apartment. Not long after, I learned that my nephews were making more than I by migrating straight from high school to jobs in a local factory.

I tried to rationalize that sitting in a nice office doing good for humanity was the better way to go but it was a year later that the bottom line fell and I started night classes at a local technical college. A year later, I had doubled my salary by taking a job in information technology.

Each month I grimace when the student bill is due. Recently, when I realized that though I have been paying on my student loan for ten years and still have another ten to go, I pondered defaulting on the loan.

The report went on to state that "the bachelor's degree is America's most overrated product" and that colleges purposely mislead students to believe that the only way to a higher salary is a higher education. Looking back at some of the millions of dollars my alma-mater has made in faculty housing and campus amenities (such as a gigantic water fountain which blocks access to the library), I can't help but compare it to a smaller-scale version of Citigroup intending to purchase a $50 million dollar jet with taxpayer funds. Thus, I concur, college degrees are mis-represented and we probably have another case of taxpayer-money-mismanagement.

That being said, if I had to make the decision again, then I would still have gotten my bachelor's degree. Graduate school in social services is another matter entirely, but my undergraduate degree was worth every penny - even in interest. Aquiring a wide range of knowledge broadened my small-town education exponentially. The social lessons alone, were priceless and the "book-learning" not far behind.

When I first started to work in a large corporation, I was completely amazed that senior management could not write a proper and effective e-mail because their writing skills were so poor. I can't say much good about their verbal communication skills either. I remember getting secret bonuses just to WRITE stuff that was outside my job description. But regardless, as mentioned in the episode, perhaps it is not so much the college diploma as much as it is the person that determines any student's success.

Either way, I 100% believe that what quality of life I manage to have now would be gone if I had not went to college. In fact, considering all the issues I have to deal with now, life itself probably would have ended for me by now.

In any event, purchase only as much as you need and the old adage "buyer-beware" still applies.