These days, it seems like most middle class kids go on to college.
In fact, many jobs are now requiring a Bachelor’s degree. Thus, many kids are going to college as almost a default stage of life. Some people are wondering if a college degree is still worth it. While it is difficult to quantify the benefits of a college education, if you are in college you should try to get the full value out of every dollar you pay.
Some of the key ingredients in preparing for college are getting college savings, applying for scholarships, reducing expenses, and getting student loans (and, of course, later paying student loans). However, the value of a college education is about a lot more than the cost of tuition.
Most people tend to focus exclusively on saving money on college fees that they forget that once the bills are all paid, there is a lot you can do to help get more value out of your college dollars.
5 Tips On Getting More Value Out of Each College Dollar
1. Don’t Go To College Until You’re Ready
When I was doing youth ministry, mortified parents would approach me because their son or daughter didn’t want to go to college right after graduation. I tried to be sympathetic, but I was also honest. I took a year off between high school and college. My reasoning was two fold.
- In Canada, you’ll find a lot more high school students are expected to pay their own bills for higher education. I didn’t have enough money to pay for college.
- I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t have any sense of direction. Why pay thousands of dollars for something to get me to a destination I didn’t know?
Taking a year off school helped me tremendously. Here’s how:
- I was able to travel the world, live on my own, and do some informal studies. All of those experiences taught me and helped me mature. You can’t get value out of a college education unless you are mature.
- I got rid of some distracting bugs – specifically, my life-is-meaningless-bug and my travel bug. After high school, I had the focus of a gnat. I was so distracted by every opportunity that if I had gone to college I probably would have dropped out halfway through my first semester to be a professional athlete or something similar.
- I got to spend a few extra months working. Honestly, I only ‘worked’ 4 of the months I was out of school. I did take a 4 month long short term mission trip that ended up giving me a lot of life focus.
By the way, mom and dad might not need to worry so much because there really are some good paying jobs that don’t require a college degree.
2. Don’t Go Until You’re Prepared to Study
A funny thing happens at college – professors give you assignments. Interestingly, those who complete their assignments tend to get better grades. You can pay thousands of dollars for an education, but you won’t get a single return on your investment until you apply yourself.
When it comes to a college education, my theory is you’ll get out of it what you put into it.
Sure, you don’t really need to read every book to get a good grade, but each of those books have something to teach. But, this is starting to get into the next point.
3. Don’t Go Until You Want to Learn
Subtitle: don’t go until you want something more than good grades. I hope no college professors are reading this post. Some college educators are lazy – perhaps it is a repercussion of tenure. They give you one article to read all semester and expect a five page report. And they are the favorite teachers on campus.
The purpose of a college education is so that you will learn – not so that you will get a degree. Focus on learning what motivates you, and you’ll get a tremendous value out of your college education.
4. Do Some Career Counseling Before Starting College
People go to college to get degrees. Degrees help people get jobs. But, you want to be sure your degree is in a field of your interest.
The problem is that far too many people have no idea what they want to be. I’m not blaming anyone for this. I switched my major even after taking a year off. Worse than that, 10 years after college graduation, some days I still wonder what I want to be when I grow up.
However, the more work experience you get and the more people you talk with, the better off you will be. In an intentionally controversial post, I claimed that teens should work, even if it results in lower grades. The point of the article is that life experience is tremendously valuable.
If you’ve talked with different people and had some work experiences yet still feel confused, consider something like the Career Direct package from Crown Financial Ministries.
5. Do Decide What Motivates You
In college, there is no one to motivate you. It’s almost as if the people around you expect you to be an adult who can care for herself.
You will spend your time doing whatever motivates you.
If you are motivated to learn, you will spend time learning. If you are motivated to have fun, you will spend time trying to have fun. If you are motivated by acceptance, you will spend your time trying to be accepted. If you are motivated by sports, you will spend your time playing sports.
If you are in college or getting ready to head to college, just remember a good deal is not about your scholarships and tuition payments. It’s about how much you learn, grow, and develop. To get a real bang for your buck, make an effort and you will get a great rate of return on your college investment.
Just remember, a college degree does NOT guarantee a good job.
Photo by SBA73.
What other advice would you offer on how to get more value out of college education?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This issue is the source of constant frustration in my life. My husband and I both went to at least one semester of school and then dropped out. We weren’t ready and didn’t have the initiative. Now we know we want to go back to school, but neither one of us can get a good grasp on what degree(s) to pursue… It drives me absolutely mad that we can’t seem to figure this out. Sometimes it is so frustrating. I’ve talked to dozens of school reps, but they are always trying to sell me on their school instead of helping figure out what degrees I should take. (To be honest, I don’t think they even know…) Ugh. I’m getting frustrated just talking about. Sorry for venting, but the article got me thinking about my dilemma…
You hit the nail right on the head Craig. A college degree alone doesn’t guarantee a good job.
I would actually argue that you shouldn’t put TOO much emphasis on a college education. Yes, a degree may be required for many of the jobs out there. But that may only get your foot in the door. Once you’re in, it’s up to you to show some drive, motivation, and work ethic to move ahead. But those are traits that you can develop even if you don’t attend college.
I heard someone once say that because of the changing world, a college education becomes obselete several years after you graduate. I feel like that certainly has been the case for me. That’s why college graduation is only called a “commencement ceremony”. It should just be the beginning of your pursuit of knowledge. And that’s why I think it’s up to the individual to constantly be re-educated and kept up-to-date on information that affects their industry.
Many great points! A degree doesn’t guarantee a good job. Or any job for that matter. It does take a level of maturity, support, and ambition to go along with your degree to land that “good” job. I think ultimately, degree or not, doing what glorifies God and what you love is what I think most of us desire to achieve.
I respectfully disagree. College is a great place to explore your options if you’re uncertain about what you want to do. The important thing is to DO something – even those experiences you discard have valuable lessons.
Just be sure not to borrow too much money while doing it; you don’t really need an iPhone, Starbucks or a new car.
I’d love to hear more about the really great paying jobs that do not require a college education. Even when Bill Gates retired, that was only one job, and you didn’t get it. (And I wonder how many people without degrees HE hired? I notice his gives a lot of money to higher education.) I never found one.
Craig,
I could not agree more with this post. I too, took a year off between high school and college (thanks to the wisdom of my parents). I believe that success at college also requires a level of maturity that many teenagers do not possess at high school graduation. Unfortunately, college is fast becoming “the thing to do after high school” and the reasoning/purpose behind college degrees is lost in the process. An understanding of self is essential to one’s decision to enter college and should not be overlooked in the rush to pursue higher education.