Back to school season is just around the corner. In few days, millions of aspiring students will be attending college for the first time. And for most of them, attending college is a way to achieve higher income potential and better life satisfaction. But not all college students will be able to achieve their American dream because of the extremely unreasonable cost/benefit of the field of study that they chose.
Cortney could move someplace cheaper than her current home city of San Francisco, but she worries about her job prospects, even with her N.Y.U. diploma. She recently received a raise and now makes $22 an hour working for a photographer. It's the highest salary she's earned since graduating with an interdisciplinary degree in religious and women's studies. After taxes, she takes home about $2,300 a month. Rent runs $750, and the full monthly payments on her student loans would be about $700 if they weren't being deferred, which would not leave a lot left over.
Moral of the story: It is very important to make smart decisions regarding what to study, and which type of jobs that you want to have, because:
1/ The system is rigged. Colleges and banks are lending money to college students without even considering their ability to pay back, but students assume all the responsibilities for their decisions. There's no insurance policy for making the wrong choice.
2/ College degrees are becoming more and more commoditized due to the number of college graduates being produced every year and the rise of online education. The "education" aspect of the college experience is diminishing as an ten-year-old nowadays can go online and study whatever he wants.