"More than half of the Republicans surveyed for a Pew Research Center poll released Monday say colleges and universities are hurting the country, a drastic shift from how the same group viewed such institutions two years ago."
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-college-poll_us_59639fe2e4b0d5b458ec4481
Well, are they? In this article I will break down the costs and what the average college graduate's income is after spending 4 years bowing to the monoliths we built up that we call higher education.
Breakdown of median earnings for college graduates
First let's look at the top median earnings by degree:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economic-guide-to-picking-a-college-major/
What's great about this article is it shows the bottom 25th earnings and top 75th, including part time, and full time. This shows the disparity among graduates and it can entirely depend on region, additional training, or simply knowing the right people.
The common STEM degrees which are at the top (Mechanical, Electrical, Computer) make around $65-60,000 a year, with the lower tier bringing in $48-45,000, upper tier $75-70,000.
Breakdown of University expenses
Even $45,000 sounds great, but this all comes at a cost. University costs can vary.
()
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10064!
This is not including room and board, which can easily cost at least $5,000 a semester.
For one example, I will use California State University, Los Angeles, which offers the main STEM degrees I outlined and is priced around the same as the national average:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/cal-state-la-1140
This would be the total cost over 4 years to attend California State University, Los Angeles. Sounds like a great investment to guarantee a $60,000 a year job. But let's not forget most people do not have $76,820 laying around. Most Americans get loans through their bank, which can provide student loans easily because it is 100% backed by the U.S. government.
I completely understand there are cheaper universities out there, and the fact that you could live in your car or with your parents to ignore the room and board costs. There are also scholarships, but not everyone can get them. This is a great way to save a fortune and should definitely be considered. FAFSA and having well off parents are also great to have. Regardless, I am going over the national averages and where the average American falls under and why we're having such an epidemic of financial difficulty among new graduates.
Breakdown of student loans
A huge problem in this country is not understanding what compounding interest is and how much it can add up over time. This is why payday loans and credit card bills exist and are hard for some people, educated and uneducated, to get out of. They simply do not understand what compounding interest is and can't calculate the amount they pay long term, and understandably so. Most people can't do this in their head, including myself, and need a calculator or pen and paper and a few minutes to get an accurate grasp of how much they're going to spend.
I will use the $78,820 figure and break that down in a 10 year loan at 6% interest, which is around the national average for interest rates right now on student loans (9-12% in some cases).
Source: http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/college-planning/loan-calculator.aspx
The total over a 10 year period would be $102,343.20 at $852.86 a month or $10,234.32 a year
Expenses
Now, let's look at that $60,000 income figure for the STEM major. According to H&R Block, tax expenses for the fiscal year 2016 would amount to around $8,184. Medicare and Social Security taxes would take out $9,180 over the course of one year, totaling $17,364
Source: https://www.hrblock.com/get-answers/tax-calculators.html
Source: http://moneychimp.com/features/fica.htm
Take home pay would be $42,636 out of $60,000. Add $10,234.32 for student loan expenses, and take home pay ends up being only $32,401.68 a year, or $2700.14 a month. Congratulations, you make slightly more than a manager at Gamestop, who takes home $29,588 after taxes, or $2465.66 a month! Not to mention they have a 2-3 year head start.
Sure, you'll make more once that student loan expires, but 10 years is 10 years slaving away for a large company who doesn't want you there and will very likely get rid of you the second you fall out of line or it doesn't become profitable for them to keep you there. Feel like taking a year off, or going through a career change? Well, you can't. Not saying a Gamestop manager is ideal, but at least they have the freedom to change careers at a moments notice, or simply choose to work in a completely different career path without much penalty, over the STEM major who is almost locked into a specific job field for a whole decade.
I won't go too much into health care expenses, gas, food, housing, because it varies way too much, but it can easily add up over $2700.14 a month in most metropolitan cities.
The point of this article is to outline why Republicans are right in believing that higher education in most cases is one big gigantic scam, which, sadly is for almost all majors.
**Conclusion: ** College is NOT worth the expense. UNLESS:
- It is free or very cheap comparative to my example above
- It's for a Petroleum Engineering degree
- You absolutely have to"experience" college life, which, today has become the new coming of age ritual, but in reality is a pathway toward servitude.