Is College Worth it?
So what’s that degree actually worth?
It depends on what that degree is. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, engineering is where the money’s at, at least when it comes to salaries for recent grads. Chemical, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering grabbed the first four spots on the list, at a range of just under $60,000 to about $54,000. Next on the list was computer science, civil engineering and economics. The simple reason is because these fields are expanding, and companies need to fill their employee rosters.
Not all is lost for the liberal arts students – they won’t necessarily be asking “do you want fries” with that after college. Political science majors earned 5.9 percent more for first year jobs, clocking in at about $34,000. English majors even saw a 5.3 percent jump to about $32,000.
Who fared the worst? Psychology students, who came in around $31,000.
It’s important to remember that these are first jobs only. What students do beyond that first paycheck, and how high they’ll go, is up to them.
Admissions Get Harder and Harder
A recent report out of ApplyWise caught our eye. It appears to be more difficult for students to get into their schools of choice. Consider the following (all numbers from ApplyWise):
• Four years ago, Columbia University (Columbia College) accepted 12% of applicants. This year: 8.9% -- one of the lowest rates of any American university.
• Washington University accepted 34% in 2000; in 2005 – only 22%.
• SUNY Binghamton accepted only 38% this year -- down from 43% last year -- and stopped accepting applications six weeks early because they already had so many.
• Nearly 25% of the entering freshman classes at private colleges – i.e., the students who actually got in -- used private college counselors.
First, let’s take a step back and take this information with a grain of salt. ApplyWise is one of those private college counselors, and these numbers are meant to shock parents into hiring the company to help little John or Jane get into that dream school.
But the numbers still highlight a trend that shows that many elite schools are going to be that much more difficult to get into. And it doesn’t even add the cost factor into the equation.
It also illustrates the need for parents and future college students to be very realistic when choosing the schools they’re going to apply to. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with reaching for the Ivy League schools (if you can afford all those application fees), but it’s also important to have a school or two on the list that are going to be a relatively safe bet. And, no Colgate doesn’t count. Expand your search to include state schools, small liberal arts colleges, or even the local community college. A school’s reputation won’t guarantee that it’s a great fit for your child. Looking beyond the names can help find that right school.
Get Those Grads To Work
Is your recent college grad still sitting on your living room couch and spending his or her days bemoaning about the lack of jobs jumping into his or her lap?
Aside from physically ousting your kid from the house, there are some things you can do to nudge him or her on the way to financial independence (and out of their room). Two new books on the job market just might do the trick:
Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success by Penelope Trunk.
A warning: Trunk isn’t completely against students coming home right after college. She writes about how this is a time when they can still acceptably live at home and try new things. That might not sound fun for you, but she does show new grads how to find that job that they’ll love, and if your son or daughter finds the right career, then there’s less chance he or she will be flying back home to the nest when the first career goes bust.
Career and Corporate Cool: How to Look, Dress, and Act the Park – at Every Stage of Your Career… by Rachel C. Weingarten
This isn’t a boring business book – Weingarten is a snappy writer, and the mix of advice and personal experience has this book reading more like memoir than instructional guide. For the new grad, she offers some advice, but the bigger benefit is that she makes the work world sound fun, which it could be if the right job is found.
These books alone won’t do the trick, but at least it’ll give your kid something to do while getting them on the right track to lead them out of the bedroom and into the working world.
