Most Students View College as Investment in Their Future
August 9, 2007
So what is college? Four years of fun? Freedom from the parents? A great place
to meet girls or guys? As it turns out, most college-bound students are very
practical in their views of what college is to them. More than half of the 405
users surveyed on the College Toolkit website (www.CollegeToolkit.com)
responded that college is "an investment in my future."
Twenty-two percent of respondents still think of college primarily as a bastion of knowledge,
viewing it as "an opportunity to learn." Only a handful of students have visions of "Animal
House" or "Old School" when defining what college is to them, responding that college is
"4-6 years of fun."
"The cost of college continues to push higher and higher. College graduates are leaving
with more and more student loan debt. It only makes sense that young adults are beginning
to view college in cold, hard financial terms of 'investment and return.'" CollegeToolkit.com
president Mark Rothbaum said.
This dollars-and-cents approach can be seen in the majors that students are choosing. According
to the Department of Education's NCES database, the number of bachelors degrees awarded to English
majors increased 8.0 percent between 2001 and 2006, while the number awarded to business majors
increased 22.2 percent.
"When a college education can run upwards of $140,000, a cost-benefit approach probably isn't
a bad idea." Rothbaum said.
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