Reply to Is a college degree the waste of time and money that some people say it is?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My husband and I each grew up in poverty, in a family where no one had attended college and blue collar jobs were the norm. Thanks to hard work, ambition, and a good deal of luck, we were able to end up middle class with decent white collar careers. Our HHI is comfortable, but we never really earned enough to save a college fund for our daughter. However, we were determined that somehow we would make college happen for her if that's what she wanted. We've always read voraciously and valued higher education, and we have tried to pass those values on to her.

She is 19 now and a freshman in college. Aside from some small scholarships, the bulk of her tuition has been paid via loans. She will graduate in debt, but with a degree. We plan to help pay off those loans to the best of our ability, but sometimes it scares us that the amount owed is going to be sky high -- between our daughter and us, it will take years.

So my question for you all is, do you really believe that a college degree is that important in today's American culture? So often I read opinions to the contrary -- that graduating with a mountain of debt is foolish and that if you have to take out loans to attend college you shouldn't bother wasting your time. Thoughts, please?

(Please don't flame me... we were never taught money management skills and I'm sure we have made mistakes over the years that led to us having to take out student loans, but we have done the best we could and are very proud that she is going to be a first generation college graduate; in fact, one of the scholarships was for just that reason but it came nowhere near close to paying the full tuition bill.)[/quote]

How much debt are we talking about?

Do I think the 4-year, residential college experience and education is extremely valuable and desirable? Yes.

Do I think it is worth any price? No, I don't.

I work with some young people who owe close to $100K for their undergraduate educations. Total lunacy. I would sooner cut my kid's hand off than allow him to saddle himself with that kind of debt.

Personally, I would not allow my child to take on more than about $20k in loans, give or take. If that meant community college, or living at home while attending George Mason or Marymount, so be it.[/quote]

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