DISTANCE LEARNING | CONTINUING EDUCATION | ONLINE DEGREES

The scenario is all too familiar. You work hard at your job. You get your paycheck. You pay your rent, your gas bill, your electric bill, and, of course, your cable bill. In shock, you squint at the meager handful of change left over. And you haven’t even bought dinner yet. Then you start planning to take more overtime to make ends meet. You will continue to repeat this sequence every month indefinitely. This scenario is referred to affectionately as “The Rat Race” and too many of us are stuck in it.

Enough is enough. Today is the day you start planning your escape from the Rat Race. Let’s take a look at your options. Stage an elaborate bank heist and make off with millions to a Caribbean island free of extradition laws? Not recommended. Keep sinking your pocket change into the lottery? Not recommended- like any gambling, even wins have a way of balancing out over time in the establishment’s favor. Change your identity? Not recommended- this costs money, which you don’t have. In fact, let’s say that any options that are illegal or rely on insane odds are off the table. You want something legit and long-term. Something that increases your income and/or decreases your expenses.

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I recommend (cue trumpets) EDUCATION!!! DEGREES!!! CERTIFICATES!!! (And I just exceeded my exclamation point quota for the month) Sure, going back to school is tough. You have to get used to reading textbooks, doing homework, taking notes, all that fun stuff, again. But think about the advantages. Higher degrees make you more marketable for better jobs. That means higher pay and higher likelihood of promotions. And that’s not just right out of school. Studies show that college degree holders earn far more than their GED-bearing counterparts, with the difference increasing with each passing year. They also experience the freedom to move upwards indefinitely at work while the others experience a glass ceiling sooner or later.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “I can barely make ends meet now; how am I going to pay for tuition, books, and all that other stuff?” The good news is, financial aid options are all around you. Scholarships exist for nearly every type of person you can think of- single mothers, left-handed people, military veterans, chess players, tall people, short people, science fiction fans, you name it. On top of those, the government is happy to help with Pell grants and low-interest loans. Often, employers will reimburse employees on school costs. With all these resources, money is not an issue.

If you’re worried about time constraints, schools offer full-time programs, night classes, and online classes that allow you to log on whenever you are available.

Education is your key to getting out of the Rat Race once and for all- your escape hatch, if you will. If you’re interested in learning about getting back into school, check out these convenient, nationally recognized programs. Have more questions? Check out these education articles and tips.

What is the value of a college degree? For most people, the answer to this question seems self-evident. Aside from its intrinsic value, numerous reports have confirmed that an individual’s job opportunities and earning potential increase significantly with a college degree. And yet, there seems to be a small but vociferous faction that claims otherwise. Take this article, for instance — “Wise Up! Skip College. Buy a Franchise” — which recently appeared on the website Franchisepick.com. The author writes:

Recent H.S. Graduates, you are at a crossroads. One path leads to the instant gratification of 4-5 years of partying and debauchery at Mediocre U., then a meaningless diploma, a mountain of debt, and an eventual minimum wage position cleaning the grease traps at the local Bun ‘N Run. The other path? Skip college, invest the same amount of money in a Bun ‘N Run franchise opportunity, and, in four years, be partying in high style aboard your yacht while MBA candidates clean your grease traps and deposit your daily haul.

While written tongue-in-cheek, this article does reveal a genuine suspicion among many people that a college degree just isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve read a number of these articles, and most, if not all, tend to discount college degrees for one or both of the following reasons: (1) college degrees are too expensive; and (2) success can be had without a college degree. I’d like to address each of these reasons and see if they hold water.

First, let’s address the cost of a college degree. The College Board reported last year that the average cost of college, including room and board, was about 13,000 at public schools and 30,000 at private schools. That amounts to about $50,000 and $120,000 for a four-year degree, respectively. Given that most students attend school full-time, one might also add to those figures the cost of lost wages, which could easily be another $100,000, thus bringing to the “true cost” of a college degree to somewhere between $150,000 and $230,000 dollars.

That’s quite a hole. Still, even with that debt, studies have shown time and time again the long-term financial benefits of a college degree. For instance, the United States Census Bureau reported in 2004 that an individual with a bachelor’s degree makes about $30,000 more annually than someone with only a high school diploma. Over the course of a working lifetime, that’s more than million dollars. Thus, any initial savings made possible by skipping college are greatly outweighed by the long-term consequences, which are severe.

That brings us to the second reason. Can’t you succeed without a college degree? What about all the people that have made millions without going to college? Good question. It’s true there have been dozens of noteworthy people who never attended college or who never finished. The list includes such luminaries as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. Well, what of them? First of all, the fact that they are notable — meaning rare — tells you how often it happens.

Basically, it’s a case study between possible and probable. It’s like the casino telling you to play roulette all day instead of working for a living. Sure, you can strike it big and live out the rest of your days in luxury — that’s possible. But statistics show that it’s far more probable that you’ll lose everything and end up “smoking doobies in a van down by the river.” So, unless you think you’re then next Albert Einstein or Bill Gates, a better bet would be to play the percentages and go to college. After all, there’s a reason why no one publishes a list of millionaires and other notables who actually finished their college degree. Those people are the rule, not the exception.

Thus, any pundits who claim, sarcastically or not, that a college just isn’t worth the trouble or the money, are in error. Yes, college degrees are expensive, but they are also investments with the potential for a big payoff. (Granted, as with any investment, that payoff isn’t assured, but the likelihood of success is far greater.) It’s true that some people have succeeded without a college degree, but those people belong to a very small minority. Don’t let anyone fool you: significant monetary success without some kind of education is hardly a well-worn track. That’s why it’s newsworthy when it does happen.

In the final analysis, it seems the grounds for discounting the worth of a college degree are based either on poor math or logical fallacies — two errors, ironically, that a college education is supposed to correct.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benjamin Welch has been a college instructor in writing and composition for nearly six years. When he’s not teaching or playing golf, he offers advice for students seeking information about online education and online degrees.

Right now, many college graduates are in the process of exchanging their caps and gowns for "business casual" and their diplomas for paychecks. The question is: what is the exchange rate?

Recently, CNNMoney.com published an article on precisely that topic, entitled, "Most Lucrative Degrees for 2007 Grads." Overall, the news for recent graduates is good — employers are hiring 17.4 percent more college graduates than they did last year, and most — though not all — starting salaries are increasing (sorry fellow liberal arts’ majors, but we knew what we were getting into).

Here are some of the more lucrative college degrees, along with their percentage increase over last year, as reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE):

Chemical engineering: $60,054 (up 7.4%)

Electrical engineering: $54,599 (up 3.2%)

Mechanical engineering: $54,587 (up 7.7%)

Computer science: $51,070 (up 2%)

Civil engineering: $47,145 (up 4.8%)

Management information systems: $46,568 (up 5.5%)

Business administration: $43,523 (up 9.2%)

Marketing: $41,323 (up 14%)

Accounting: $46,508 (up 1.7%)

And here are some of the less lucrative:

Liberal arts: $30,502 (down 1.1%)

As a recipient of both an undergraduate and graduate degree in the liberal arts, I think I can speak for the entire liberal arts’ community when I say, with utter shock and indignation, "$30,502 a year? You’re kidding, right? That’s much more than I expected."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benjamin Welch has been a college instructor in writing and composition for nearly six years. When he’s not teaching or playing golf, he offers advice for students seeking information about distance learning, online education and online degrees.