Costs can vary greatly based on the kind of institution. Based on the College Board, the average cost of fees and tuition (which might include a library, transportation to campus as well as student government and sports facilities) during the 2010-2021 academic year was $37,650 for private institutions, $10,560 for residents of states who attend public institutions, and $27,020 for students from out-of-state attending public universities.

These figures do not consider the cost of living expenses, such as rent, food, textbooks, or school supplies, which may easily add another $10,000 to $18,000 to the annual total. If you take those figures and double them by the years you want to spend in college; you will quickly realize that college will not be cheap. It should be no surprise that the total amount of student debt surpassed $1.5 trillion in 2020.

The Reasons Why a College Degree Is Still Necessary

When you look around and see that many recent grads are having trouble finding a job, it might be a bitter pill to take to pay for college. Despite this, the results overwhelmingly support that attending college will be worthwhile for most students.

The Pay Gap

By the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is still a significant wage discrepancy between those who have completed four years of higher education and those who have just completed high school. Employees with just a high school diploma get an average weekly income of $781, while those with a bachelor's degree from an accredited college earn a median of $1,305. When workers with Ph.D. degrees are contrasted with individuals who have some college education or none at all, the gap between the two groups is significantly wider.

The Difference in Earnings Over a Lifetime

The disparity is made even more pronounced by the fact that the lower your level of education, the greater the likelihood that you would be jobless. It should come as no surprise that greater unemployment rates and yearly incomes may result in considerable variances in the long term, given that these statistics can add up to large discrepancies. According to research conducted at Georgetown University, skipping college might result in a loss of earnings equal to one million dollars throughout one's working life.

The Effect That Earning a Degree Will Have on Your Future Income

However, attending college or not is not the only factor to consider. Your choice of degree will also greatly affect your long-term financial outlook. The same research from Georgetown University found that the difference in lifetime earnings between the majors with the greatest and lowest incomes was $3.4 million.

Unsurprisingly, degrees in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, as well as health care and business, are among the highest earnings. Education, the arts, and social work are the three fields that produce graduates with the lowest median incomes.

There are, without a doubt, many options available, in addition to a wide variety of possible incomes, for every degree. To thrive, our economy needs more educators and engineers. In the same way that we need accountants, we need social workers. It's easy to get caught up in wondering which college degree would net you the most money, but it's more vital to look for something that you'll be good at and that you'll also love doing.

The contemporary digital economy is causing rapid change in the future of employment, and one thing that is becoming clear is that despite the existence of specializations and core areas of study, some industries are converging. A competitive candidate is interested in learning, which may involve crossing several fields of study, such as technology and finance, business and social studies, and mathematics and psychology. These points of contact are the sites of a significant amount of achievement.

Conclusion

Be sure to look at the data presented in the previous section before you conclude that the cost of attending college is too expensive. On average, the financial advantages of attending college far surpass the initial expenses. Before making any choices, it is important to do a cost comparison between going to college and working after high school. If you are worried about not having enough money for college, you should talk to a financial counselor about developing a plan for college savings.