Does College Pay Off? No Doubt About It

You know that stuff you've been hearing about college not being worth the investment?  Well, Catherine Rampell, who writes a Economics blog for the New York Times, says don't believe it.

In a recent post in NYTimes.com (see link below), Rampell writes that the unemployment rate for college graduates this past April was 3.9 percent, compared to 7.5 percent for everybody else.  She also notes that despite the long and terrible recession that has impacted practically everyone, more college graduates are employed today than when the recession started. 

Some more numbers: College grads have outpaced high school grads (with no further education) in the employment department by roughly eighteen percent (college grads up 9 percent, high school grads down 9 percent), according to Rampell. The gap is even greater, not surprisingly, between college grads and high school dropouts.  Since the recession, high school dropouts have seen employment levels fall by more than 14 percent.

"In other words," Rampell writes, "college-educated workers have gobbled up all of the net job gains.  In fact, there are more employed college graduates than there are employed high school graduates and high school dropouts put together."   

Of course, there are lots of other very good reasons to attend college--and GRADUATE--besides increased job prospects.  Research suggests that college grads enjoy better health and live longer than those whose education ended with high school.  People with college degrees also report having more satisfying relationships and a happier outlook on life.

And who can quarrel with knwledge, after all?  Learning enriches everyone's life.

But for students eager to make a good start in the job market, the more immediate payoff may be better job prospects and a bigger paycheck.  A degree puts you in the game. 

So ignore the naysayers--those who'd talk trash about college.  There's no sounder investment than in the quality of your mind, your health, and your worklife.


http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/life-is-o-k-if-you-went-to-college/