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"First to market" applies as much to education as to business. The payoffs for finishing education sooner rather than later are enormous. A student may benefit

"First to market" applies as much to education as to business. The payoffs for finishing education sooner rather than later are enormous. A student may benefit from being more mature if they delay college or graduation. But it's unlikely that benefit exceeds the compounding value of finishing the same amount of school two years earlier. In other words, I strongly disagree with the premise that teenagers should delay college, for the same reason we strongly discourage people to delay saving for retirement. Investment compounds. So it's confounding he accuses people of making a poor "major investment decision" while advocating a delay in investment. The answer whether to delay or start school unprepared is a math-intensive one, and is likely different for every student. But if you believe the majority of 18 year olds are prepared to continue school immediately for another four years, it seems reasonable to advise them to go to college immediately. Does maturity compound? I don't know. Education definitely does. > ...Greek systems that appeal to many affluent families but also incubate cultures of dangerous play... Rethinking the expectation that applicants to selective colleges be fresh out of high school would go far in reducing risk for young people while better protecting everyone’s college investment. Reducing what risk? Of sexual assault and alcoholism? I don't know if being young has anything to do with being a violently misogynist psychopath. Maybe being a victim of one does. But the rest of the world tracks teenagers into either conscription or education at 18 too. There's less of a fraternity culture at Tsinghua for sure. I don't know if there's less sexual assault or substance abuse. Even if there were, we'd sooner indict fraternities than people being young, wouldn't we?

sliverstorm 12y ago
But it's unlikely that benefit exceeds the compounding value of finishing the same amount of school two years earlier. Best I can tell, all that compounding value gets you one thing: more money in retirement. Therein lies my objection; letting your retirement dictate your first 65 years of life seems like folly.
- onedev 12y ago
  I'm going to retire when I'm dead.
- happyscrappy 12y ago
  To quote Thoreau: "This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it reminds me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet. He should have gone up garret at once."
- Domenic_S 12y ago
  It makes perfect sense to me. Choose the retirement you want based on the early life you want. IOW, choose your desired outcome based on the type of effort you want to put in up front. Your retirement only "dictates" inasmuch as you've decided that your retirement should be one way or the other.
7Figures2Commas 12y ago
The fundamental flaw in your comment is the assumption that education is an investment that compounds in value. That's not the case for a large percentage of the young people who go to college today. Many will exit with weak earnings prospects and crippling debt that will compound.
- sp332 12y ago
  Weak earnings prospects? Unemployment among people with a bachelors degree was under 4% last year. It was over 7% for people without one. http://www.businessinsider.com/college-vs-no-college-unemployment-rates-2013-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/college-vs-no-college-unemplo... Edit: Obama's pay-as-you-earn program puts an upper limit on how harsh the debt load can get.
  - Domenic_S 12y ago
    Puts an upper limit on how harsh the debt load can get... on a month-to-month basis. If you're deciding affordability based on monthly obligation instead of total cost, you're doing it wrong.
    - sp332 12y ago
      The max total cost is 10% of your income for 20 years. After 20 years you just stop owing any money, you're done. Making the monthly payment is more important than total nominal cost. That's because missing a payment adds penalties that make it much more difficult to get out of debt. So making sure the monthly amount is doable is really important.
      - Domenic_S 12y ago
        > making sure the monthly amount is doable is really important. Of course it is, but you can't be so preoccupied with the monthly affordability that you forget about the total cost. (N.B. this is a trick car dealers use every day to get you to pay too much for a car) In this sense it's not unlike the US healthcare debate where everyone was so preoccupied with how to make hospital bills affordable with government-mandated insurance that we totally forgot to ask why an aspirin costs $75 in the first place.
galago 12y ago
Does maturity compound? I don't know. Education definitely does. College loans compound if you can't pay them. The state university I attended has a 6-year graduation rate of 65%. The graduation rate is the same for students who took out loans. So, probably about a fifth of students end up in debt with no degree. I personally wish I had waited a year or two before starting college because I think I would have performed better.

sliverstorm 12y ago

But it's unlikely that benefit exceeds the compounding value of finishing the same amount of school two years earlier. Best I can tell, all that compounding value gets you one thing: more money in retirement. Therein lies my objection; letting your retirement dictate your first 65 years of life seems like folly.

onedev 12y ago
I'm going to retire when I'm dead.
happyscrappy 12y ago
To quote Thoreau: "This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it reminds me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet. He should have gone up garret at once."
Domenic_S 12y ago
It makes perfect sense to me. Choose the retirement you want based on the early life you want. IOW, choose your desired outcome based on the type of effort you want to put in up front. Your retirement only "dictates" inasmuch as you've decided that your retirement should be one way or the other.

7Figures2Commas 12y ago

The fundamental flaw in your comment is the assumption that education is an investment that compounds in value. That's not the case for a large percentage of the young people who go to college today. Many will exit with weak earnings prospects and crippling debt that will compound.

sp332 12y ago
Weak earnings prospects? Unemployment among people with a bachelors degree was under 4% last year. It was over 7% for people without one. http://www.businessinsider.com/college-vs-no-college-unemployment-rates-2013-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/college-vs-no-college-unemplo... Edit: Obama's pay-as-you-earn program puts an upper limit on how harsh the debt load can get.
- Domenic_S 12y ago
  Puts an upper limit on how harsh the debt load can get... on a month-to-month basis. If you're deciding affordability based on monthly obligation instead of total cost, you're doing it wrong.
  - sp332 12y ago
    The max total cost is 10% of your income for 20 years. After 20 years you just stop owing any money, you're done. Making the monthly payment is more important than total nominal cost. That's because missing a payment adds penalties that make it much more difficult to get out of debt. So making sure the monthly amount is doable is really important.
    - Domenic_S 12y ago
      > making sure the monthly amount is doable is really important. Of course it is, but you can't be so preoccupied with the monthly affordability that you forget about the total cost. (N.B. this is a trick car dealers use every day to get you to pay too much for a car) In this sense it's not unlike the US healthcare debate where everyone was so preoccupied with how to make hospital bills affordable with government-mandated insurance that we totally forgot to ask why an aspirin costs $75 in the first place.

galago 12y ago

Does maturity compound? I don't know. Education definitely does. College loans compound if you can't pay them. The state university I attended has a 6-year graduation rate of 65%. The graduation rate is the same for students who took out loans. So, probably about a fifth of students end up in debt with no degree. I personally wish I had waited a year or two before starting college because I think I would have performed better.