College: Money, Time, and Future

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Accompanying the many thoughts that go into graduation are the crushing pressures of student debt, the legacy left behind and uncertainty of the future.

With two months until commencement, you might be asking yourself what your money, time and effort bought you.

College should teach you how to think, not what to think, but is that really worth breaking the bank?

The fact of the matter is that an education costs more now than it ever has in the past.

According to College Board, tuition and fees for the average student in the United States cost $28,699, including public two-year, public four-year and private nonprofit four-year institutions.

In addition, a study by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) shows that in 2012 post-high school students earned a median of “$30,000 for those with a high school credential,” and “$22,900 for those without a high school credential.”

It is important to note that these high school graduates are full-time employees, which are rare in a job market with such high competition. 

So how are students able to afford a quality education when their full-time employment rivals the cost of a single year’s collegiate expenses?

With student loans, of course.

“About 60 percent of students who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2012-2013 from public or private, nonprofit schools from which they began their studies graduated with debt,” according to an article by USA Today.

Student loan forgiveness provides a slight glimmer of hope, until you realize “there are very specific eligibility requirements for each situation in which you can apply for loan forgiveness,” as explicitly stated by the U.S. Department of Education.

Your first year on campus, loans are an afterthought. On graduation day, it is all you think about. Hello crushing debt, it has been far too long.

In terms of the legacy you leave behind, try not to fret too much.

There is certainly no manual on college life. “Chicken Soup for the College Soul;” “The Best Four Years: How to Survive and Thrive in College” by Adam Shepard; and WSU’s personal favorite, “The A Game: Nine Steps to Better Grades,” by Kenneth J. Sufka, take a stab at it.

At that point, you have so many suggestions on what to do that it would be best to overlook it, and brand your own trek.

According to the NCES, “Between 2001 and 2011, enrollment increased 32 percent, from 15.9 million to 21.0 million.”

Do not focus your energy on standing out from the 21 million other collegiate individuals in the United States and forgo your collegiate enjoyment – in spite of post college prospects.

While we are on the topic, what about your future?

Between where you are when you first step foot on campus and where you want to be after college, there are about four to five years of trepidation, incongruity and numerous existential meltdowns. 

Juniors and seniors are strafed with the pressure for internships and hands-on, in-the-field experience, theoretical concepts are pointless, and the prospects of your future are bound tightly to your advisers and professional recommendations – make a great impression on them.

I wish that I could tell you the future with certainty. I wish I had all the answers and the ability to pivot each decision in the right direction – sadly, I cannot.

It is up to you to make your college experience matter, whether that is through civil service or monetary capital.  The responsibility rests on your shoulders and yours alone. So make it count.

After all, it did cost someone a heck of a lot of money.