Look, college can be expensive. And yeah, the job market is looking pretty good and entry-level jobs abound. So, many have asked (and asked again): Is college even worth it?
Yes it is. But don't take our word for it (we're biased, after all).
An annual study by the Economic Policy Institute exposes some of the economic realities facing graduates, but also the upside that comes with earning an undergraduate degree.
As The New York Times' David Leonhardt has noted, the Institute report shows that "Americans with four-year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average" than did those without in the previous year (2013). "That's up from 89 percent five years earlier, 85 percent a decade earlier and 64 percent in the early 1980s," Leonhardt wrote.
And what's more, a 2014 article in the journal Science by MIT economist David Autor noted that not earning a degree will actually cost you a half million dollars.
That's $500,000.
There's a lot more to weigh as students consider their college choices — from family issues to other opportunities. But certainly, the dollars and cents suggest that getting a degree matters. A lot.
Coloradans have many options. As you weigh yours, remember that it's important to get in and apply for admission — and then, to fill out a FAFSA — so that you have all the information you need when trying to make a decision about when and where (and not IF) you will enroll.
