In high school, I only worried about what college I could get into and what was the reputation of the college. Cost was irrelevant because I had no job (I had w

In high school, I only worried about what college I could get into and what was the reputation of the college. Cost was irrelevant because I had no job (I had worked, but for only around minimum wage) and didn’t know what kind of job I could get after I graduated. I had no ability to effectively price shop, to compare the value of the degrees of different colleges, and the ability to get reviews of each college seemed “impossible” (opaque and/or difficult to get started). In retrospect, I was a terrible consumer of the college product, but I don’t know how I could have changed it at the time, given my situation. I know the US federal government required colleges to publish key metrics such as the average salary by degree/program and specific costs like tuition. Those are incredibly valuable compared to the info I had, but I’m curious if high school students today are any better at making value judgements before they have had a non-trivial paycheck.