College real return on investment continues to fall - Changing Higher Education

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Alli

Great post, thanks for sharing. It's really interesting to see how salary level can rise according to education level.

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Go To College

This is wonderful that you are helping people is a good idea to attract people to education

Education

its great job i really like this its very help full and i hope that you will share more just like this,
i am going to keep this in my favorites

Ana Abad-Jorge

This was a really insightful and interesting perspective to read, providing a more clear financial picture of the change in the value of the bachelor's degree between 2005 and 2008, when looking at the CPI and the increased cost of a college education during that same period. While I am a firm believer in the importance and power of education for not just its financial benefits but for its benefits in terms of financial stability, social stability and its contribution to an individual's sense of autonomy and contribution to society and acheivement of that ever elusive sense of personal fulfillment or "happiiness", it is is always revealing to disect such reports in terms of a more reaistic and accurate picture within the economic context.

As we have clearly moved into a knowledge economy from a manufacturing economy, those with college degrees tend to have greater financial stability in jobs, particularly those that are in managerial, professional and technical occupations who are adept a the changes brought on by technology and globalization. However, the bachelor's or even master's educated, middle calss workers, who have careers/jobs primarily in sales, service or tehnical jobs, which can be done more inexpensively oversees are those that have experienced the biggest hit with unemployment and decreased pay.

While the national unemployment figures just reported stand at around 9.8%, the unemployment rate for college educated individuals is approx. 5.5% while the rate for those with a high school degree or lower is closer to 16%.

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As Bachelor's degree (or higher education) cost moving upwards where employment pay out falling down, it's a really concern for most of us, which may decrease the people going for higher education studies & increase the unemployment rate.

Griselle

I also concur with Coach B. I have seen professionals, for example MD and engineers, pursuing an MBA degree to succeed in their fields as entrepreneurs. I think that higher education must evolve to prepare more self-employed professionals, with strong bargain skills, and less employment-seeker individuals.

Skfluency.blogspot.com

How refreshing to read the positive benefits of education as opposed to bashing the benefits!!

Ji

This is interesting. I also wonder the situation for master and doctorate degrees. It seems that getting higher level degrees is not in general financially paying off. Yet more people are getting higher level degrees. Degree inflation, coupled with tuition increases and the flattening economic return of higher education degrees, poses concrete dilemma for individuals, especially those who don't study the subjects that are likely to lead to well paying jobs and who don't attend institutions highly regarded in these subjects.

I'm more worried about the case for international students, especially those full-paying ones in undergraduate and master programs. For budget reasons, increasingly more full-paying international students are admitted. What is the economic return for their huge amount of investment in a U.S. degree? As a minority group who tends to be quiet on U.S.campuses, they have been largely overlooked and in my observations under served.

Lloyd responds: The situation is somewhat better for advanced degrees. Figure 1.5 in the Trends report mentioned above shows some data. Professional degrees pay the most, Ph.D. somewhat less. The missing info is "which professional degrees and Ph.D.'s" Obviously, business and law professional degrees pay much better than social work, etc. I don't have time trend data - but overall in the economy the higher income sectors have increased in real magnitude over time. So my guess is that the better paying professional degrees and Ph.D.'s are increasing in real value over time.

Coach B

I find it interesting and almost embarrassing when it comes to obtaining post graduate degrees. It seems as if many individuals are having extremely difficult time earning medium incomes. When you think about the cost of college education and the time and energy spent obtaining higher learning degrees, it is almost ridiculous to find out that you won't be able to earn a suitable income. And yet, colleges and universities are always marketing themselves as suitable answers to living comfortably. Therefore, it makes sense to look dual professions and even entrepreneurships as a means in earning more money. Personally, I think our educational system would benefit if there were more entrepreneur programs. I think it would combat the high school and college dropout rates; and therefore, give these students more opportunities to gain financial independence.

Lloyd replies: I agree completely with your comment on the desirability of adding entrepreneur components to large sectors of our educational system!

Shelly

Robyn,
I agree that the cost of education can be pricey. There are many benefits to higher education. There are also many challenges of higher education. The cost of education is a challenge. Many adult professionals struggle with juggling a full-time job, family, home, and education. Upon graduation, there is no promises to finding a job. This topic is very frustrating for many people.

Shelly

Shelly

Education is an important aspect of promoting globalization. There are many challenges and opportunities involved with globalization and education. Higher education is an essential aspect of gaining income and career opportunities. Outsourcing goods has significantly effected our society. One of my concerns is that students are continuing their education and still having difficulty finding jobs. For example: there has been a nursing shortage cry for many years. I teach nursing and many of the graduates are having difficulties finding jobs because the hospitals are on hiring freezes because of the economy. Yes, the hospitals do need more nurses; but, they are not hiring at this time.

Griselle

In the age of globalization,workers have become obsolete in United States. Outsourcing and the use of new technologies are pushing people to part-time and temporary work, decreasing incomes and unemployment. What does this mean for higher education? This means that more and more people will consider higher education as the way to obtain the income opportunities to live a better life. I am not talking about making a fortune but, what other options people will have?

Robyn

This is intersting. As I look for more jobs to increase my career path and my wallet, I noticed that jobs aren't paying much more. Some even are paying less than my teacher's salary. It is interesting that these are bachelor and masters required jobs. I know in education you can't get rich, but with all this education I am paying for and will be paying for you would think we could get a job that would make enough to enjoy life and help pay my education loans. It does seem that people with bachelors or masters are just as normal as a high school diploma. Even though it will cost you an arm and a leg to get an education you better get one to get a job to live a life of a little comfort, that means to have some money!

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