Education is not what it used to be

Francis Conway

Opinion Writer

The College Board recently published a study stating that paying for higher education is a smart investment. People who invest in higher education enjoy more success in society, have more earning premiums and continually demonstrate a higher participation in voting. Their overall point seems to be that the cost of college is well worth it, no matter the cost … but is it?

One has to wonder if it’s actually possible to pit a monetary value on a degree. To say that a degree is worth a certain amount of money is a bit ambiguous, because a degree isn’t a consumer product. It’s a documentation that allows an individual to gain opportunities, which can be obtained in many different ways.

College Board’s study entitled “Education pays”, unlike the headline of a Washington Post article “Some say bypassing a higher education is smarter than paying for a degree”, is a blanket statement that implies a college degree is always a prerequisite to success. In a culture that does not acknowledge any post-high school alternatives other than the investment of a four-year degree, one must take into account the value and determine whether education truly does pay.

The article in the Washington Post discusses how the managing director of Formula Capital James Altucher sees how people make bad investments all the time and one of the biggest ones is college. Altucher claims college is “overrated” and “that there are better ways of obtaining an education.” He also does not plan to send his two daughters to college, a view a great number of Americans would have trouble comprehending.

College is not entirely synonymous with success; it is only a small portion. The education one receives is not what makes up the value of the degree. Connections play a huge role, much like the old phrase “it is not what you know, but who you know”. Often connections and how much one actually applies themselves to their interests rather than being judged entirely by their disinterests is what counts. It is an idea I think many parents and students forget when they are considering an investment in college.

I read articles like those of College Board and wonder why I can find numerous other articles that suggest there are equal or better alternatives than dropping tens of thousands of dollars on college. Of course, one must keep in mind that while College Board labels itself as a “non-profit” organization, its primary goal is to get more students to apply to college and thus likely be required to take the Board’s famous SAT standardized test. At the end of the day, college is a business and some consumers might just decide that the product is just not worth it.