Why You Should Shy Away From Going to a Four-Year Institution in 2021
Since I was little, I was told in order to be successful I needed to do two things: work hard and go to college. Now, as someone who works in higher education, the best advice I can give is to reconsider one of those ancient phrases of wisdom, don’t go to college.
Higher education is a massive industry, with schools like Harvard, the University of Michigan, and many others being evaluated at well over a billion dollars. In fact, the University of Michigan gave over a billion dollars in aid in the 2017–2018 school year alone, and still charges a large amount for the average student to attend. For most of us, that type of money sounds unreal. And it is. The cost of higher education has been inflated and overvalued, especially in a time period where you can practically learn anything — excluding a few niche industries like nursing, counseling, etc — with a simple Google search. Universities over employ, unwisely spend money, and are politically driven within; meaning tuition for students continues to rise regardless of the product they are offering.
Toss in a global pandemic and you have a lot of unhappy students from the class of 2020–2021. With classes being entirely online, universities continue to charge students the same cost of tuition, if not more, for their college “experience”. Students are feeling robbed of their hard earned money after being assured by admission reps that the year would be a normal year. Unfortunately, with the pandemic still in full force, it may be wise to reconsider school for the year of 2021. This is especially true for students wanting an in-person experience or plan on paying a large sum in tuition. If you are a student who doesn’t mind an online experience, my advice is to find an affordable, online program that meets the career outlook you are looking for. Attending the most prestigious institution for 5 times the price online may not be financially wise for those who already plan on taking tens of thousands of dollars out in loans. In more cases than not, you will overpay for a degree that you could have gotten elsewhere for a fraction of the price.
My advice for students who want to earn a four-year degree? Take a gap year if you can and tackle some of your general education courses from a local community college for a fraction of the price. Community college is an excellent option for students trying to save money and truly get what they pay for. Community college has continued to stay cheap and also offers generous scholarship options, making it very affordable for students looking to complete their first two years of school before pursuing their bachelors. Don’t believe me? Call your local community college or look at their website and compare the cost of tuition between the two. Chances are the community college will be significantly cheaper. Still unsure which you should do? Then consider taking a year off completely just to work, you may find something else you love doing that doesn’t require education at all…
