Were our degrees really worth what they cost?

Perhaps there were many ways for both Jess and I to reach the a similar level of financial independence that we currently have. Growing up in blue collar families, there were several opportunities to take over small family owned businesses, work in an hourly job and put in overtime hours, live at home to save on housing/food costs.

However, going to college was not for pure financial reasons. We do not measure costs as a function of financial gain/loss or even opportunity gain/loss. We have in the past and will continue in the future to measure the gain as a quality of life. There were much more than just a degree and a job offer at the end of 4 years that we looked forward to. It was quality of life, leaving the area we grew up, and exploring the rest of the world, expanding our knowledge base, and getting out. For sure we could have been as well off financially as we are now if we went to work right out of high school, but it is extremely difficult to fathom the opportunities we have come across and the white collar life that we now life today. We have explored parts of the globe many people double our age have not seen, we have met people in high places and a lot of power, we have expanded our social networks beyond just a small town in New Jersey, and perhaps most importantly, we have given ourselves a better quality of life than we ever thought possible.

This infographic does a fair job putting a college education/degree in terms of financial and opportunity costs. However, there is much more to life than that!


Research by Online Degrees.org