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A college degree is a lousy investment

I'm not in the "going to college is a waste of money" crowd but I do believe that paying for than 50K total for an undergraduate college education is a waste of money. Now I can see paying significantly more for graduate degrees, especially ones which are specialized, but undergrad degrees mean very little these days.

The smartest route I can see is to go to a CC for two years, transfer to a reasonably priced, but academically respected public school, and then spend the "big bucks" for grad school.

Or just go be a social media influencer.

I think this kind of Brasky calculation comes from the cost of college being too high rather than the actual value of the education, though you tell me if that's not what you mean.

Nobody is calling for free private education--that should still exist (in a Warren-like plan) for anyone who can or wants to pay full freight, and hopefully private universities still see the value in admitting students who can't.

But if we're subsidizing public higher ed (at a tiny, tiny fraction of total public expenditures) we should look for a return with a more educated, more civically engaged, higher paid tax base. And that means lowering barrier to entry while keeping a stake in quality. I don't understand those like awaken who want to entirely turn it into YouTube.edu.
 
If anything, most masters degrees are even more of a waste. Unless you can get into Harvard, Stanford or Wharton an MBA is increasingly viewed as worthless. I laugh when I see high school classmates going to business school at NC State. I have a couple friends at Fuqua right now and obviously there are people who do quite well out of there (in finance specifically) but one just accepted an offer at Comcast in some strategy group making $125k plus a moderate bonus. Tuition at Fuqua is $70k per year....

$70k for two years to start at $125k is not that dumb
 
Yeah, there are a lot of full time graduate business schools that are not worth the cost, but Fuqua isn't one of them.
 
I mean, the total cost of attending is well into the range of $300,000+ when you take into consideration tuition, living expenses, opportunity cost of lost income, etc. There are some outcomes where that investment makes sense sure but making $125,000 a year in some mid-level strategy role is surely not one of them.
 
Opportunity cost is a poor argument if it’s accelerating your timeline to a higher salary.
 
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I mean, the total cost of attending is well into the range of $300,000+ when you take into consideration tuition, living expenses, opportunity cost of lost income, etc. There are some outcomes where that investment makes sense sure but making $125,000 a year in some mid-level strategy role is surely not one of them.

It also depends on what their prospects were pre-MBA. If for whatever reason they were unable to get offers above $30-40k, then a two-year investment to increase salary to $125k plus bonus is a great investment.
 
If college is unnecessary, can I declare myself a neuro-surgeon after paying someone to take an online test for me?
 
That link is about a online kiddie version of college. That’s basically small online courses. College already has those and they count for credits.

My soon to be 10 year old watches videos about history and mythology for free on YouTube.
 
That link is about a online kiddie version of college. That’s basically small online courses. College already has those and they count for credits.

My soon to be 10 year old watches videos about history and mythology for free on YouTube.

Yeah, but the next recommended video is far-right propaganda, so you get what you pay for.
 
Haven’t had that problem. If you want to check it out, it’s Extra History.
 
John Mulaney on giving to, paying for, college. Just the first 6 minutes.



"College is a $120,000 hooker, and you are an idiot who fell in love with her."

"What did I get for my money? What is college? ... Sign here and you can be an English major... I paid $120,000 to have someone tell me to read Jane Austin, and I did it."
 
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