Is college worth it today?
“A recent study reported in Newsweek found that one in four Gen Z college graduates regret attending university — all the trouble, all the expense, all the debt.” - CPost
Worth it today is question without parameters. For the average person it can be worth it or maybe not. I don't think that college is necessary for being successful. I know many millionaires who never went to college. For the average person, going to a private school, even one like BJU, is probably not worth it for most degrees. BJU costs about $130K. If a child or parent can't afford it, I wouldn't go into debt. In fact, my recommendation for anyone is not to go into debt for college. For most, I would recommend going to a local community college for the first two years and move over to a standard school for the last two years. Most community colleges have feeder programs into a regional or state university, making the transition easier. There are plenty of options for non-college graduates to make between $100K to $200K quite easily. One example would be to work as an electrician apprentice. You can make between $12 and $20 for your first two years and then bump up to $25 to $30 an hour after the 2 year internship. Then you can go to a linesman school for $12K and then get an internship as a linesman. After two years you will make at a minimum of $100K and if you are resourceful and willing to travel you can make $200K to $250K at 22-23 years old, having spent only $12K. Way better than going to school, racking up $200K in debt and then work as a social worker for $30K a year. Definitely not worth it.
"Generally yes, but..." is, from everything I've gathered, still the best answer to the question. And the qualifications for the statement are growing.
Especially with the rise of LLMs, as mentioned in the article, the answer may soon be a qualified, "For most people no, but...."
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