By Ana Deisy Calles-Zamora
Is College Worth the Debt?
Picture this, you’re 37 years old and work a full time job. You’re married and have a family of 3 kids. You come home from a long day of work and check the mail just to find your student loan bill. You’ve been paying $200 every month for the past 10+ years. Looks like that dream family vacation is going to have to be postponed another year.
Do you think college is worth the debt? Well if you ask high school students, 43% say no. If you ask post-graduates, 44% say no as well. Wow. That is insane, right? Do you think it’s worth it?
We’ve been taught that you shouldn’t feel sorry for investing in yourself, therefore, college is a good debt. But once it makes you lose sleep at night wondering how the electric bill will get paid, can you say it is? Although the chart shown below indicates that most of people will say no, college is not worth it, you have the ultimate say in your life.
The chart above may show one thing, but a few things you need to keep in mind are, university attended, majors, living on campus or not, etc. If you want to become a doctor, you’re definitely getting yourself into smart debt. I wouldn’t even call it debt- smart investment. With the average salary of a $141,402, chances are you can pay back any school loans. If that’s the case, then college maybe is worth it for you.
Also, those who have a higher education, than just high school have a higher salary. That may be something else you want to consider. Do you want to make $18,000-$30,000 tops? Or do you want to make pretty money? The graph below shows the average annual earnings by education. That’s just another factor to keep in your head, when deciding if college is for you or not.
Deciding if college is for you or not, isn’t easy. We’re all different individuals and have different goals and aspirations. Whatever you want to become in life, think about the pros and cons. Do you want a job or do you want a career? Will your career pay off your loans? Do you want to work instead of college? Carefully weigh things out. Is college worth the debt? Well, the answer is up to you and your goals.
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