UNITED STATES—It seems like this is a debate that is happening all the time, especially for young adults, but some parents are starting to get in on the debate as well. I’m referring to the cost of higher education. I personally feel if a person wants the change to seek a higher education, they should be able to do so without having to break the bank in the process.
I will share a bit about my tale, which was many years ago, as an undergraduate, I kind of knew early on, exactly what I wanted to do in life, and it has never changed. I have always been a fan of cinema and making movies has always been a goal of mine. However, when I was a freshman in college, I was initially a journalism major. That first year was tough and I came to despise it, and immediately changed my major to English, where I started to flourish.
I ultimately graduated with a BA in English with a concentration in Film Studies. Basically, I have 2 degrees, with the other not clearly stating it, but I took all the courses to satisfy those requirements. The question I know what many of you are thinking is rather I came right out of college with the job of my dreams? The answer is no, and that was the case for many of my friends as well.
They graduated, but not many of them landed a job. For me specifically, I already had a job, and gained another one, and then had an internship that ultimately turned into a good paying position. However, I’m still not centralized in the cinema world like I would like to be, but I’m moving towards that direction with my latest educational foray and just harkening down and spending more time investing into my actual drive.
However, after thousands and thousands of dollars, you do reflect if all that money I spent on my education was worth it. During my first foray into my first degree, I limited loans as much as possible. I had very little student loan debt compared to my counterparts. I had friends who took out loans and didn’t use it for their education. They spent it on all other things. After earning my psychology and graduate degree in sociology, I realize my passion has always been and never changed: teaching and cinema. So, I focused on going back to school to obtain a doctorate and gosh is it expensive as hell.
I have always been one who takes my education very serious, and I don’t play around with it. If I am paying out of pocket, I have to excel to the best of my ability. For me I’ve NEVER had lower than a 2.0 in any course I have taken. If you’re asking what that means, it’s a C. My school grades on a numerical sale 0.0 (which is an F) to 4.0 (which is an A+). The cost of a single course today compared to what it was nearly 20 years ago is just haunting. I recall as an undergraduate that a 3-credit course was around $550 to $600. Today, a 3-credit course is about $1600.
Can you imagine what you can do with that amount of money? You can do a lot people, a real lot, which is prompting many people to consider going into trades, where you still have to pay, but you don’t have a ton of debt, and you can really hone your skills and make a ton of money in the process. Whatever works, works, but parents are questioning it also because imagine paying over $50,000 for one of your kids’ college education and they don’t land a job.
The job market is tough, and it comes in waves. There are some industries that are great
right out of college, others like liberal arts where it’s a struggle. It’s also frustrating if you complete college and you find yourself working in retail or a fast-food restaurant where you’re barely making beyond the minimum wage. I remember my first job paid like $5.95 an hour, today, I’m making quadruple that if not much more.
There are many universities that are just greedy, and you see the cost of tuition going up year after year. Precisely, how are students and their parents expected to keep up with that. Trust me from personal experience it is indeed tough. I had to sacrifice a massive chunk of my first 3 years of college working my ass off to pay for my college tuition. It was either work and pay for class or not work and not be able to attend or sign up for classes. Tough decision, yes, but it made me the man who is more responsible than most people can imagine, and I wouldn’t trade it in for anything in this world.
There is sometimes more to higher education than just costs, you have experiences, you adult and you learn more about yourself as a young adult than I ever imagined. Sometimes the challenge is great with higher education because you reflect on life, decisions made and what worked, what didn’t and perhaps what you would love to change. For me, I wouldn’t change my endeavors for anything in the world.
