—What it's worth: CollegeStats.org rounded up 20 reasoned answers to the question of what a college degree is "actually worth." This page summarizes those answers, though some of the accompanying links were broken. Sources range from newspaper and magazine articles to the Census Bureau and a Wikinomics site that suggests the ROI (return on investment) in higher education is no longer a convincing reason to pursue a degree. Yet other sources here put the lifetime value of a sheepskin in the neighborhood of $1 million, on average.
Given the huge variables, the American Enterprise Institute takes issue with the commonly mentioned $1 million figure for the lifetime value of a degree, but insists the payback of college is still substantial (though someone should tell them they've got the wrong graphs on this page).
—Don't go. Bent bloggers are often contrarian, and here's one of them suggesting that today's emphasis on four-year degrees denigrates technical training. "Evil HR Lady" Suzanne Lucas cites authorities such as Mike Rowe of TV's "Dirty Jobs" to posit that we promote a specific kind of education — college — at the expense of others.
—Alternatives. Career counselor Randall Hansen (a Ph.D. and college professor, we note) insists that college isn't for everyone and isn't required for a good career. He details some alternatives that deliver short- and long-term benefits. They include learning a trade — and Hansen links to his page of "hot" careers — traveling, and joining the military. The travel idea comes with a link to "cool, unusual and seasonal jobs" for trekkers. Hansen's site is called QuintCareers.com, for quintessential careers.
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