The Value of a Dollar Versus the Value of an Education

Before I start this post, I will warn you that this may get naggy... I will try to rein in my passion for this topic.

I would also like to state that this blog is merely my opinion, not a passing of judgement on any choices people make.

Today on the train, I had the "pleasure" (aka pain) of listening to a young man talk with his friend about every detail of his life. I wasn't intentionally listening in, but my interest was piqued when he mentioned that he was offered a job from someone he met while working a shift at his hourly job at a chain clothing store. He said that they talked for an hour (while he was at work) and this woman offered him an opportunity for a job on the spot. Whatever.

Continuing...

The guy then tells his friend that he's not sure what he wants to do, though, because the woman offering the job said that it was too intense for him to continue going to school. Then he says that he's only a semester away from graduation but, sure, he could go back and finish that anytime. This truly disappointed me.

My livelihood depends upon students attending college, but my response is not from my need for a job, but from a place of personal values. It frustrates me to see people giving up a degree for something that seems more "valuable"--at the time. While it would be easy to make the quick, bigger paycheck tomorrow, what comes next?

We live in a society of immediate gratification--communication, food, entertainment, the list goes on... I can see how the immediate "big paycheck" seems reasonable. However, this choice comes at a great cost... not in dollars and cents (although it could one day). The perception has become that everyone's got to have a college education to get where they want to be, which can be both supported and refuted by any number of stories from people who have done both ways. I was fortunate to have my undergraduate degree paid for through the State of Georgia (thank you lottery) and my work with my university; however, I took out student loans to cover the cost of my graduate degree, so I understand the financial pains of going to school.

Here's what I see for this young man's future: he takes the job and quits school, is pleased with himself and the money he's making doing this great job, does the job for three or fours years, gets bored and is ready to move on (or advance upwards), then finds every position in which he's interested requires a degree! Sure, you can live without the degree for a while, but what happens when you're between the rock and hard place? At that point, you may be responsible for paying bills and living a particular type of lifestyle... you can't put rent, a mortgage, electricity, or credit card bills on hold because you want to go back to school to get a job that may or may not be there in the six months, year, or two years it may take you to finish that degree.

Can you put a dollar amount on an investment in yourself?