Is College Worth the Money? Essay Example

College education should be measured in terms of investment value rather than cost (Cheever Jr.). Daniel S. Cheever Jr. argues that the debate regarding college always centers on the cost of getting a degree which ignores the fact that college education is an investment in the future. Just focusing on the cost alone is a mistake and a better criterion should be to compare the cost against the expected return in terms of lifetime earnings. If the focus is on value, even a college with higher costs may turn out to be better investment than a college with lower costs.

The focus should be on the quality of learning and not just the name of the school or the nature of the degree. Students go to college to prepare for life and the quality of education one gets is influenced by numerous factors including the quality of instructors and class sizes. Parents should demand that colleges develop methods to measure the quality of their education so that it is easier to assess what the parents will be getting in return. Moreover, colleges should also take the initiative to provide lifetime guidance to their alumni and not forget them once the degree has been granted.

When the parents will look at college education as investment, the debate will be more meaningful and parents will make better decisions. The focus on costs may result in public outcry and even debates in Congress but it will not address the fundamental problem as to whether students are being adequately taught to survive in the real world or not.

Reference

Cheever Jr., Daniel S. Is college worth the money? 3 June 2005. 6 April 2012 <http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/06/03/is_college_worth_the_money/>.