If you're going to study English literature, sociology, or, for that matter anything where you don't have an idea of what it will lead to, then yes, at today's money, I can well understand many 18 year olds having this point of view. Hell at 18, I saw the biggest advantage of being in college as a guaranteed four year pause on the military's right to grab me and send me to Vietnam. I would have preferred to take a year or two off, but I had a low draft number, and might have been dead before a year was up. It cost my parents $6,000 or so a semester, and fortunately, by then, they could afford it. Now, it would have been five times that or more. Had I not had that sword swaying over my head, I might have waited, and then done something else entirely.
My two daughters, on the other hand, knew exactly what they wanted to do by the time they entered college. It cost me most of my cash inheritance, but I had already mentally kissed that goodbye because I didn't want to risk begging for scholarships.
As it turned out, for the older one, it turned out well, because she DID learn the skills necessary to have gotten her the job she has, and supports herself (with her husband's income) with. It took a few years, and for her first employer to go bust after almost 100 years. But the outfit she works for now seems solid enough. She has been there over ten years, and her job and her employer both seem rock solid.
The younger one cost me the lion's share of my inheritance, but she made the best of it in spades. She now makes seven figures (soon, even after the 50% German income taxes) and is not stingy with it (as long as you are family or a friend in need). This is 100% due to her college education. She was never a typical law student anyway. While most of her classmates were searching for Supreme Court Justices to clerk for during their summer breaks (wasn't gonna happen anyway, as her law school was "second tier," far from Ivy League), she applied for (and was one of two accepted out of hundreds) a spot with the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone, a country most people try to escape, not run to. She was always dedicated, smart, and never afraid to be different. She took to education like a fish to water, and she has been in her element ever since. While an undergrad in D.C., Emily's List founder Ellen Malcolm said she was the best intern they ever had. She graduated Law School during the Cheney-Bush recession, and so was facing a year of waiting on tables to take a position in any decent U.S. law firm. She took a few days prior to graduation to attend a legal Job fair here (well, down in Frankfurt). The firm that seemed most interested said they WERE looking for someone, but only with very specific qualifications. She asked, "like what?" They said they needed someone who was bi-lingual in English and German, had a valid EU work permit, a valid USA work permit, and an American Bar Exam. She said, "that's me!!" Within a month, she was offered a starting salary of €85,000 plus a signing bonus. That was a LOT of money 15 years ago, and she never looked back. So, she said good-bye USA, it was fun, and moved back to Germany after ten years away. Still, there WAS that one requirement of an American Bar Exam, so without her whole US education, the position that launched her career would never have been open to her.
So, I'd say it's a very individual decision. Taking on what stands to be a crushing life-long debt HAS to be a game-changer for a LOT of students, though. Here in Germany, education is financed very differently, with the state often picking up a large share of the cost (no, it is NOT free), BUT: your prospect of getting a study slot in your chosen field of study (you must choose prior to applying) at a German university depends entirely on your GPA and location, and even then you have to hope and sweat blood that you get a decision in your favor. If your teachers brand you as sub-par in the 9th grade, your fate may already be sealed as far as a landing spot for University level study is concerned. Darwin rules here, not dedication or street smarts.
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