Assessing the Value of a College Education: Is It Worth It?

With tuition continuing to escalate and academic competition among applicants ever-tightening, parents and students are logically asking, is college worth it? 

The answer, simply stated, is, Yes.

Higher education is one of the most important—and sometimes confusing—endeavors for families, who must, as they navigate its rocky course, weigh competing imperatives, take into account a range of different circumstances, and make numerous critical decisions. What follows is an examination of some of the most significant of these factors and decision points.

IS COLLEGE WORTH IT? LET’S DIG IN

The statistics speak for themselves: Americans value college more than ever. As of 2021, 37.9 percent of Americans aged 25 or older had a bachelor’s degree, up from 30.4 percent in 2011. This emphasis on higher education isn’t limited to four-year colleges. By 2021, an additional 10.5 percent of 25 or older Americans had an associate’s degree (Pew Research).

The increase in Americans with higher-education degrees makes economic sense: There is a significant wage gap between people who graduate from college and those who don’t. In 2021, full-time workers aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree earned a median annual wage of $52,000, whereas full-time workers in the same age group with a high school diploma and no college degree made only $30,000 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). That gap has steadily become more pronounced: In 1990, it was only $48,481 versus $35,257. Furthermore, as of February 2020—before the COVID pandemic temporarily skewed the numbers—the unemployment rate was lower among the college-educated:1.9 percent versus 3.1 percent.

A study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce perhaps most clearly illuminates the matter. At the time of the study in 2002, someone with only a high school diploma earned an average of $1.3 million over the course of their lifetime, whereas a college graduate made an average of $2.3 million. By any definition, that’s a worthwhile investment and one that—as the wage gap between those with bachelor’s degrees and those without has broadened—has likely become only more valuable. As Pew states, “Having a bachelor’s degree remains an important advantage in many sectors of the U.S. labor market. College graduates generally out-earn those who have not attended college, and they are more likely to be employed in the first place.”

The message is clear. Among other outcomes, college can pave the way for:

A SMART APPROACH TO COLLEGE SELECTION

At the same time, Pew states, “Many Americans say they cannot afford to get a four-year degree—or that they just don’t want to.” The key, then, is to make college more financially feasible for prospective students. So, how can college begin to feel like a viable option for those who enter the process skeptically or tentatively? 

In my capacity as founder and managing partner of the national college prep company HelloCollege, I’ve found that careful planning focused on individually tailored outcomes provides the necessary clarity. Ideally, this planning begins early in high school, with guidance from the school’s college counseling office and, in some cases, a private college prep company. Among the first steps is to develop a list of potential colleges. Or, as I’ve written elsewhere: “When we meet with a new family, one of our first questions is, ‘Which sandbox are we going to play in?’ In other words, our initial goal is to determine what type of college list best suits the family’s goals and needs. That lays the groundwork for the entire application process.”

A student’s initial list should have three tiers: low-risk, middle-risk, and high-risk schools. For example, if a student is applying to 10 schools, four should be low-risk (safety schools), four should be middle-risk (targets), and two should be high-risk (reaches):

IDENTIFYING IDEAL COLLEGES

It’s important to note that those aforementioned tiers are relative. One student’s high-risk list is another’s middle-risk list. Likewise, the ideal college for one student might be a poor fit for another. There are four main criteria students should consider when identifying potential colleges—what we at HelloCollege call our S.A.F.E. approach: Social fit, Academic fit, Financial fit, and Employment fit. Here are some factors to consider when evaluating each category:

Social Fit

Academic Fit

Financial Fit 

Increasingly, financial concerns are the main sticking point for many families: they deter students from pursuing higher education in the first place, or they hobble students following graduation, in the form of massive student loans. “There’s no question that compared to previous generations, colleges are charging today’s students more for higher education,” Brianna McGurran writes in a 2022 Forbes article. “Between 1980 and 2020, the average price of tuition, fees, and room and board for an undergraduate degree increased 169%.” Some issues to consider include:

Employment Fit

Once a student has homed in on the right target schools, the application process begins in earnest. Among the key undertakings here:

THE BOTTOM LINE

For all the difficulties associated with today’s college landscape, a degree remains extremely valuable. The key is to approach the process shrewdly, so that a student can gain everything possible from the college experience, both during it and afterward.

As an article on Northeastern University’s website aptly puts it, “While earning a bachelor’s degree is a big commitment, the rewards are plentiful and within your reach. A brighter economic future, more career possibilities, and a greater sense of personal fulfillment are all possible with the acquisition of a bachelor’s degree.”