Was your College education worth it?

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I’ve thought about this off and on over the years. I have come to conclusion that my college ed was a waste of time and money. I think I could have developed my mind better reading and taking a few classes. When I graduated, it was assumed that if you were an average or better student, you went to college even if you didn’t know what you wanted to do with your life. Of course, my hard working parents paid for it–sacrificing part of their retirement for it. Also, I only worked for a year in my chosen field–teaching, and have been SAHM ever since.

I don’t think we will be about to contribute any to our children’s higher ed.

Do you think your College education was worth the money, time, and sacrifice?
 
your college education like any other important endeavor in life, benefits you only in relation to what you put into it. this holds with your spiritual life, your marriage, your career. My college education was worth all the sacrifices, 20 years of student loan payments (paid the last the month oldest daughter started college), public transportation and day care with 3 kids, working 3rd shift and snatching sleep when possible. that is probably because I absorbed my parents’ definition of liberal education: contact with the great minds of human history, rational discourse on a wide range of topics, the rules of logical argument, debate and analysis of arguments and rhetoric, extensive reading, polished writing and communication skills, and exploration of God’s created universe through the sciences.

since I did not approach college as vo-ed I was not disappointed.
both my husband and I paid for our own education as our parents couldn’t, and are strongly convinced, observing those in college with us, that students only place a value on what they earn themselves. Consequently all our children were given the opportunity to attend on the “daddy student loan program”.
 
Hah! I ask myself that almost every day. I work among thousands of valedictorians and scholastic all-stars who are all younger than me, it seems. I was NOT a scholastic all-star. Well, I did alright until I basically gave up.

In a word, it wasn’t the education that was worth it, but the college experience. I got a general view of the world, and managed to retain enough material with which to use at cocktail parties, but the most practically useful stuff I ever learned came from my own reading. I hated school–all school–because it was so boring. (With the exception of two classes from Dr. Regis Martin at FUS, and one professor at the University of Montana).

No employer–NONE–has ever asked me about my grades. I’ve managed to accomplish my goals by putting one foot in front of the other, taking chances, etc. I’m not rich, nor even wealthy, but I’m doing something I wanted to do.

Anyway, if you want to throw a wrench in your college considerations, my girlfriend’s story pretty much slays the idea that you need higher education. She was homeschooled and never went to college. She wanted to be a D.C. journalist, and as I said, this is where the scholastic all-stars go. So, she hired tutors, set goals for her five-year plan, and took some risks. She interned for free at a certain paper, was eventually hired, slugged it out in the brutal Metro section for two years, and eventually won a fellowship that allows her to work on her own project out of her home. Upon winning the thing, she got three job offers on the spot–one from the Wall Street Journal. Heck–even the White House sent her a congratulatory note! I don’t know where THAT came from…

Anyway, bottom line: higher education is only definitely necessary if you’re going to be a doctor or physicist. You make your life what you want, and no piece of paper will guarantee success.
 
If I didn’t go to college I wouldn’t be able to save peoples lives and In a few instances me gong against the grain on hunches a few people would be dead…so I guess it was worth it for me.
 
Absolutely! College afforded me the chance to discover who I was, away from my parents, away from my friends, literally thrown to the wolves to see what I could do. I developed better study habits in college than I ever had in high school. I discovered there that I truly love learning, something that I never could have learned if I was forced to be there. I did learn a lot about my chosen profession, plus I got to take classes in areas I never knew anything about and expand my view of the world. I also discovered that the job I wanted to do in my chosen profession really wasn’t for me, but another job was. Going into college I wanted to be an actress, no ifs ands or buts about it. Then I discovered the various management roles in theatre and never looked back. If I hadn’t gone to college, I may have been a struggling actor instead of being a successful manager like I am now. Plus, I met my husband while I was working on an internship. 🙂 I loved college so much I went straight to grad school, and I’m planning to return for a PhD in a few years. My education gave me so much more than just a piece of paper. My parents paid for me to go to undergrad, but grad school was all mine. Sure I’ll be paying it off for what seems like forever, but it was absolutely worth every penny.
 
Yes. My college education was well worth it. My parents couldn’t afford to send me, so I received student loans, scholarships to help out. I also worked to pay for books, clothes, and miscellaneous expenses t/o my college years.

I had planned on being a SAHM. However, my dh lost his job, and I had to support the family. My chosen career allowed me to schedule my own hours and support the family while my dh went back to school. We never needed daycare or much outside help at all for childcare!!! I still work part time, but am able to flex my hours around my family’s needs. If I hadn’t gotten my degree, I probably would not have such a flexible job that pays fairly well.

We plan on having all the kids go to college, too. We have several colleges and universities close by. So, they won’t live on campus–saving quite a bit of money on room and board.
 
You know I totally believe that if you have to pay for it yourself you get so much more out of it. My dad could well afford to send me to school but he wouldn’t even sign grant or loan forms. I worked my butt off to take classes. When I ran out of money, I ended up joining the military. After the military, I went back to school and I was 3 classes from my degree when I had to have back surgery(6 years ago now). I still have those 3 classes to go, and I don’t know if I will ever make it back for them. I wish I could!!! In the middle of all this my ex (whom I put through college) walked out the door when it was my turn to go back to school. Left me with 3 kids and no child support. I am so very glad I got as far as I did in college! I have a son in college now, (and 1 in HS and 2 girls in grade school) he has had to pay for his education too. He even said he was surprized how kids whose parents pay don’t appreciate what they are getting. If I had more money, I would do what my brother-in-laws parents did. The kids had to work during the summer after high school to pay for their first semester tuition, if they had a 3.0 or higher mom and dad would pay the next semester, and so on. If they didn’t do good, they had to pay the next semester, then if they got a 3.0 that semester, mom and dad would pay the next again.
 
I think a college education has a lot to do with where you live. I live in the DC/Baltimore area and having a degree or a skill is almost essential to survival. The cost of living is outrageous and to get a good job you must have at least a 4 year degree (or skill). My boyfriend’s house is a regular 3 bedroom 2 bathroom rambler with a basement. It’s worth $555,000. Property taxes, car insurance, gas prices are all high. If I had not gone to college I would be up ‘you know what’ creek with out a paddle.
 
Yes it was. I am a teacher, part time now, but I would not be able to do that without the degree. I know you can learn on your own, however the college experience makes one stronger. I am an advocate of everyone pursuing education. There are all different avenues and I am not a snob about it, but I love college and wouldn’t have any of my kids miss it! I think it is worth borrowing for, saving for, and sacrificing for. My parents were denied college and they made it a priority for us to be able to go. I am passing along that to my kids too.

College is important as an equalizer. When immigrants get their education they can compete alongside anyone.
 
I have $26,000 in student loans for one year of Univ. of Dayton, One year of Ohio University and one year of University of West Florida. My husband has over $30,000 from University of Dayton, and neither of us have the piece of paper to show for it. I refused to make my parents take out parent loans because, as the eldest of 4, I had three behind me for them to pay for. I married when I was a soph. at Ohio Univ at age 20. He decided to go into the military when I was a freshman and he was a junior. I continued college at University of West Florida (total waste, my experience there was awful) while married and working part time but it was difficult because I was more interested in making a home. When the EPT test was positive I was thrilled and quit school as a junior.

I hope to go back someday but I do feel my student loans are a TOTAL waste. My husband has enough credits for two degrees because of classes and military training, but hasn’t applied for them yet because once he “officially” has a bachelors degree, the military won’t pay for another. He wants the option of earning a degree he really wants. His squadron is encouraging him to get the paper work done and start a masters degree program because it will be helpful for his career. It makes me sick that we have student loans. My education was extremely important to me, but I didn’t have a strong sense of the value of money when I took on those loans. If I could have taken out over $100,000 to go to a better college at the time, I probably would have. I’m so glad that I did not. All I could think of was going to the best college I could afford, and preparing for my career. I applied for Notre Dame and was accepted but didn’t get any scholarships or anything and it was out of state. I went to the Univeristy of Dayton in Ohio, a great Marion University. I received plenty of grants and scholarships my freshman year, but tuition was raised the next year, there were no grants, so it would have been* all* student and parent loans. My parents were not happy with that.

I loved college, but youth is wasted on the young! I know much better now what I am interested in. Back then I was majoring in Journalism and Art because I wanted to be a photojournalist. Now I am more interested in theology and art. I’m glad I matured in my faith and experienced motherhood in my 20’s rather than investing all that time into a writing/ Art career. Who knows how much I would have strayed into the immoral abyss.

That said, I will still do whatever I can to get my children into good colleges or other training for whatever they want to do and help them pay for it.

NO offense to anyone who loved Greek life, but I will discourage my kids for joining social fraternities and sororities. My husband was the VP of his Fraternity and decided to stand up to a guy who was treating women badly at parties. They whole frat turned against him. It was ugly and threatening and robbed me of a great college experience. My college experience consisted of betrayal, sleepless nights worrying about my boyfriend, he was eventually put under police protection if that tells you anything! I was proud of him for stading up to his fraternity for what was right rather than overlooking preditorial behavior in a “brother.” It showed me what a man of integrity he is. So I guess I did gain one thing from college… my husband. 🙂 I learned hard lessons about life that I was not expecting. I think that was more important than the 3.5 GPA I worked so hard for.
 
I loved school, and if I didn’t have to pay for it, I would remain a FT student to this day. I was in college for 8 years. Started out in med school, got burnt out, and changed to accounting. I’m now filling an accounting/IT type role (AIS). If you had asked me a year ago, I would say it was a huge expense that wasn’t necessary, but not useless by any means. Now, I work for a company that very much respects the value of education, and it has paid off. I was a SAHM for my son’s first 5 years, and was homeschooling him at that time. I felt that my education and discipline (work/study ethic) would be valuable tools to pass on. I’m not sure education is EVER not worth the time…the money can be hard to justify at times, though. Between my DH and I, we have just over 200K in student loans.
 
Interesting discussion and one that I struggle with. After six years getting my counseling degree, over $50,000 in student loans I am a stay at home mom raising the kiddos. I KNOW it is the right thing to do but it brings me great guilt due to the financial hardship due to my loans. I find myself using many of my counseling techniques in the family and it has taught me to be a better listener. At college I learned to stand up for what is right and that is where I rediscovered my faith in the Catholic Church. So yes, for that reason alone I think it was worth it.

However what I regret is that although I got my education in Ohio, nothing transfers to NY and I would have to go back to school to use my degree here. 😦

Siide note:
Although I did not think I would meet my DH at college, I did while getting my Master’s degree (although we technically met outside of school). I joke with him that he is well worth $50,000, and then some.
 
DH was 40 when he decided to get his engineering degree. I worked while he studied. Because I have only a GED, things were very tight for those 4 years.
2 years ago he graduated and our standard of living is no better than it was before he went to college. To get a job in his field, we had to move here to CA where the cost of living eats up every penny over and above what we were living on in AZ before the degree.
My opinion? No, it was NOT worth it.
 
It was definitely worth it, if only for the whole EXPERIENCE of college life.

I used my degree (biology) for 6 years, then quit to be a SAHM. It helped me get my 2 part time jobs once the kids were back in school.

I wouldn’t give it up for anything. Part of the experience for me was going to a small Catholic college, meeting my DH, meeting the women who would become the Godmothers to my children, converting to Catholicism, and learning to appreciate the mass.

So much more than “book learning” is accomplished through the whole college experience.
 
I have a BS from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I received virtually NO traditional education there, but lots of vocational training / technical education.

At the time, I thought it was great. But now I just have to wonder who thinks it ought to be possible to award an undergraduate degree to somebody who never had a single college level history, literature, philosophy, or political class. Apart from technical subjects, I had two semesters of Spanish (advanced due to HS classes), one general history of environmental conservation class, a public speaking class and a tech writing class. That’s IT!

I DID get the training I needed to become a licensed engineer. But for $40,000 worth of tuition (not incl fees and housing - 1988-93) you’d think they’d provide at least a LITTLE bit of classical education.

Good thing I learned to read before then! I can do the rest myself I suppose. Working on it anyways. Besides, they’d just have indoctrinated me in post-modern rot anyways. Maybe I’m better off self-read…
 
I have to say that my college education was really worth it. I think the problem lies in finding something that one is passionate about and likes doing. I guess I found that. Got my BSEET (electrical engineering technology) in three years, started working full time for a telecom company that paid for my MS EE. Now work in a reasearch institute working on specialized computers that are flown into space. Its funny that they pay for things that I like to do.
 
While I only took a few college courses (which I found generally beneficial) a friend of mine graduated from college and nursing school as a RN (fully paid for by her parents). She was engaged to her high school sweetheart throughout college and knew she would be marrying the summer after she graduated. She worked one year as a nurse and then became pregnant. She always intended to be a stay at home mom and quit working about halfway into her pregnancy. She has 2 children now ages 5 and 2. Her husband is very successful (an already was before she graduated) and they are financially doing very well. She has no plans to return to work until the kids are grown and by then she will have to return to school to update her nursing certificate so she’s not even she sure if she’ll return to work at all.

She herself has said it was a waste of her parent’s money. But she is great at Trivia Pursuit.👍 She beats us all the time.
 
Mine was worth every penny I earned through my military service and more- not to mention the years of taking DANTES exams, CLEP exams, GRE subject exams, doing without to pay for what the VA/ military didn’t cover, signing up for classes and a new school at a new PCS when I really didn’t feel like it.

While the piece of paper that constitutes proof of the degree could go up with a match or two, the knowledge I possess can’t be removed from me. Do I use the subject matter of every class I ever took every day of my life? Hardly. Did I learn a better way to learn, to research, to write, skills I can apply any place and at any time? YES!!! Is it my transcript and diploma that employers want, even if it is not in my field? Yes, because it shows I can start what I finish, and I am not afraid of challenges.

Is it the fact that I earned it, very literally? Could be.

I rather like the “Daddy Student Loan Program” idea. I would also recommend to anybody getting the heebie-jeebies about sending the kids to college and how to afford to:
  • Look at ALL schools and apply to more than 2 or 3. Sometimes, what seems like a more expensive private school is actually a bigger financial aid package.
  • Don’t snub a nose at the community or junior college. They are generally (not always) down-to-earth-and-brass-tacks about what’s necessary to get to the next step, whether the next step is employment or transfer to a four-year program. And the price is about 65-78% less for in-district students, compared to private four-year schools. And a lot of 4-year schools give a financial break or even scholarship or grant to students who have done well at the community college!
  • Have the student take AP classes AND the AP exam. if none is offered, look at CLEP (DANTES for military folks) and GRE subject exams and see if the school will take them. Also look for high school “co-enrollment” with the local community college. And more than a few colleges and universities have “challenge” exams, involving paying for a class, but taking an exam for the credit hours rather than taking classes.
  • Don’t dismiss distance learning and qualified eschool such as University of Phoenix. They are a good bang for the buck!
It might be interesting to note that St. Thomas Aquinas felt a person who could handle Logic and Reasoning had a jump, educaitonally speaking, on the rest of the world.
 
Absolutely! I wouldn’t be who I am today without it. I made life-long friends, found my vocation (work-wise, I didn’t meet my hubby till later), and sewed the seeds of my spiritual life. God knew what He was doing when He sent me to college!
 
I don’t think I really learned anything in college. I had a high GPA, too, with a double major and graduated a semester early. I wish I’d either done a shorter more vocational course–like x-ray tech or associate nursing. As far as college culture, well, not so hot–my school at the time was ranked in playboy’s party schools. However, my friend at an Ivy league school had a very intellectual campus; however, very liberal.

As far as income, keep in mind that you lose four years of full time income. Your degree coming out better make up for it. My husband works a blue collar job along side several college grads.

I have occasionally thought that sending the kids to a really good Catholic school like Francisican U or Ave Maria might be good for them to hook up with Catholic spouses. Is that stone age thinking?
 
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