Today, we students see education as a right.

In our opinion, attending high school is a promise of the United States government, while studying at the college of our choice is a guarantee from our parents.

Students often forget, however, that this four-year experience of parties, independence, and class, of course, may not be on mom and dad’s tab anymore. For some, the college experience is actually sucking pennies out of their own pockets. Sure, we are all told that in today’s world, a bachelor’s degree will give you good training, but a master’s degree will ensure a job, and any further education will increase your pay substantially. The real question we should be answering is not how to get a job, but how long do we really have to spend in school to get one and how much will this “preparation” really cost? When we are fifty, one hundred, two hundred thousand dollars in debt? If young Americans continue schooling for an extended amount of time, side-stepping the real world of paychecks and financial security, I fear that their investments may generate a less-than-anticipated return.

While reading an article in The Wall Street Journal by Glenn Reynolds, entitled, “Degrees of Value: Making College Pay Off,” I learned that the cost of higher education has grown exponentially in recent decades, the average student debt coming to nearly $30,000. That may be less than TCU students pay for one year of tuition, but that is only the average, and yet, it is still a major chunk of a starting salary. As the American economy plummets and jobs are increasingly difficult to find, a study mentioned Reynolds’s article stated that four out of ten college graduates end up in jobs that don’t even require a college degree. When you cut that those checks for $30,000 of student debt, you may just cry thinking of all of the things you could have bought with those wasted dollars. The reality of this notion is that plenty of the students at TCU will not have this problem, as their education fund is more than enough and their connections can land them a high-paying job. For the rest of us idiots, who are paying a little extra for the experience should have maybe looked into a public university, or even The University of Phoenix Online, because we may not have much to look forward to after our four (or five years) here, except for mom’s world famous pancakes when we move back home. The number of graduates moving back in with their parents is continuing to grow year after year. Students may not realize this, but they may not only pose as an annoyance to their parents. They can also pose a significant financial burden, as the generous people who paid for their pricey education must continue to pay their way. As their debt increases, so does their dependence on our future earnings to support them through retirement.

I will offer some advice that may or may not be extremely hypocritical. My parents have told me time and time again to get a “technical degree,” something that I can find a job for directly out of college (good thing I’m a writing major). Though today’s society is more technologically motivated and creatively inclined than ever before, I am not sure how many “perfect jobs” are out there for graduates with degrees from the liberal arts or communications realm of college. Next, consider graduate school before you dive right in. Two or three more years of education may cost you more than money. It could cost you a great career if you hold off on a great job opportunity in a field of growing popularity. Besides, employers will often fund part or all of your graduate studies after a few years on the job. My most important piece of advice is that if you have not made your college decision yet, consider your cheaper options. Studies have revealed the cold hard fact that private university and public university graduates are on an even playing field when applying for jobs. You may have studied your ass off for that 3.2 at a prestigious university, but your friends at public universities could have made a 3.5 and still had time for internships and other extracurriculars. You cannot write, “studied 20 hours per week,” as an achievement on a resume, and if you can’t put it on a resume, it’s kind of like it never happened (to a possible employer, that is). 

I would like to blame the high cost of tuition for my cynical outlook on this matter, but it could be as much the fault of the universities as the economy. I realize that you can’t put a price on knowledge or experience that one gains in college, but after hundreds of thousands of dollars of education, employers should be calling us, right? For most graduates this will not be the case. The good news is, when no job prospects arise, we can continue our education if we are lucky to have the resources to do so. The bad news is, no amount of education will guarantee a job unless you are in a very specialized field. To say the least, the private-university experience is something to be valued, so take advantage of it. Go to every party that you can, pet whatever farm animals they have in the commons, go to class, and make the best grades possible. This is the best you will be living until you’re married. Your mom may make the best pancakes in the world, but they may taste as great when you’re twenty-six and breakfast-in-bed is on your cot in the basement.