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All I have to do is take one quick look at unemployment rates to understand just how valuable college is. In the rhetoric over rising costs, the benefits have n

by enjo 14y ago

All I have to do is take one quick look at unemployment rates to understand just how valuable college is. In the rhetoric over rising costs, the benefits have never been more clear.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
Could you elaborate?
- enjo 14y ago
  The unemployment rate for college degree holders has more or less been 50% less than the overall rate for the last several years. College degree holders, as a class, weathered this recession far better than anyone else. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm
  - fyolnish 14y ago
    And of course the fact that the richer and/or smarter of us tend to be the ones who attend college is not a factor at all.
  - rflrob 14y ago
    The real concern is not whether college degree holders, as a class, do better, but whether a 17-19 year old would do better by entering that class. What those statistics don't include is something for recent grads. Ideally, you'd want to look at the unemployment rates for people approximately 24-30, stratified by college degree or not. And even then, it wouldn't necessarily give you a complete picture, due to all kinds of selection bias in the people who do or do not go to college. I would predict, however, that the unemployment rate for recent grads would be closer to the non-college graduate rate for the same age than to the all-ages college graduate rate.
  - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
    It's difficult to say for many reasons. You have selection bias going on, and maybe a bit of cargo cult ingrained into society. Not that I'm against college, but to make it a primary cause is probably not very accurate.
barrkel 14y ago
Huge correlation = causation implication in your comment. It's not clear how much intrinsic value college has vs what its signalling[1] value is for the people who go through it, and what alternate signalling approaches are available to them elsewhere. Many college degrees are an indication that you have the determination to spend (aka waste) a big chunk of your money and youth to prove your ability to persevere, or indicate to other people that you're made of the right kind of stuff. The older I get, the more dismissive I am of college (undergraduate level) as anything other than a social marker. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)
anigbrowl 14y ago
I agree, but we need to control for recessionary effects, no?
OGinparadise 14y ago
Place $100K (let's leave it at $25k /a year) in an investment account when you're 18-22 and take it out 40 years later. Add the fact that you are not working for 4 years and it's even more. I am not dissing college, bu let's compare fairly: college isn't free, it requires lots of time and money.

by enjo 14y ago

All I have to do is take one quick look at unemployment rates to understand just how valuable college is. In the rhetoric over rising costs, the benefits have never been more clear.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago

Could you elaborate?

enjo 14y ago
The unemployment rate for college degree holders has more or less been 50% less than the overall rate for the last several years. College degree holders, as a class, weathered this recession far better than anyone else. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm
- fyolnish 14y ago
  And of course the fact that the richer and/or smarter of us tend to be the ones who attend college is not a factor at all.
- rflrob 14y ago
  The real concern is not whether college degree holders, as a class, do better, but whether a 17-19 year old would do better by entering that class. What those statistics don't include is something for recent grads. Ideally, you'd want to look at the unemployment rates for people approximately 24-30, stratified by college degree or not. And even then, it wouldn't necessarily give you a complete picture, due to all kinds of selection bias in the people who do or do not go to college. I would predict, however, that the unemployment rate for recent grads would be closer to the non-college graduate rate for the same age than to the all-ages college graduate rate.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  It's difficult to say for many reasons. You have selection bias going on, and maybe a bit of cargo cult ingrained into society. Not that I'm against college, but to make it a primary cause is probably not very accurate.

barrkel 14y ago

Huge correlation = causation implication in your comment. It's not clear how much intrinsic value college has vs what its signalling[1] value is for the people who go through it, and what alternate signalling approaches are available to them elsewhere. Many college degrees are an indication that you have the determination to spend (aka waste) a big chunk of your money and youth to prove your ability to persevere, or indicate to other people that you're made of the right kind of stuff. The older I get, the more dismissive I am of college (undergraduate level) as anything other than a social marker. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)

anigbrowl 14y ago

I agree, but we need to control for recessionary effects, no?

OGinparadise 14y ago

Place $100K (let's leave it at $25k /a year) in an investment account when you're 18-22 and take it out 40 years later. Add the fact that you are not working for 4 years and it's even more. I am not dissing college, bu let's compare fairly: college isn't free, it requires lots of time and money.