Tech Ticker has an interesting segment today...they reported on a study that shows 45% of college students learn little to nothing after two years and 36% learned almost nothing after four years. I was definitely in the learned almost nothing camp. True story, a few years ago I looked at my college transcripts and it said I took a course in Roman History my freshman year and earned a B. I have zero recollection of the class.
This whole thing got me thinking, if you just invested the four years of college tuition, instead of going to college (assuming you didn't take on debt to go to college), what would it be worth at aged 65? Drum Roll please....assuming a) four years of college costs $75,000, b) you retired after 45 years and c) your nest-egg returned 10% annually, that
$75,000 investment would be worth a cool $5.5 million. Still want to go to college?
Of course, all the studies show college graduates earn more than non-college graduates. My back of the envelope figures show somewhere around $1 million more over a lifetime. However, the vast majority of those extra funds aren't used to save for retirement, they're generally used to purchase nicer cars, more vacations, better clothes, etc.
Personally, if I had children, there's no way I'd pay for them to go to college if they were going to get a degree in something like history, philosophy or religion. If you really want to learn these subjects you can easily do that on your own time. Remember that Roman History class I got a B in? Well, 20 years later I purchased the Roman History course from
The Teaching Company and actually learned an incredible amount of history, unlike my days at the University of Arizona.
This is just food for thought. Obviously, college works out great for a lot of kids that study subjects like science, engineering or architecture and I'm sure you know very successful people who have degrees in art history or English lit. Moreover, the friendships and contacts you make in college are priceless. Nonetheless, I maintain way too many kids go to college and their time and money could be spent much more wisely than taking courses like
The Art of Walking or
Zombies in Popular Media.
Tech Ticker: Brain Drain, Most College Students Learn Next to Nothing
