The Value of Education?

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The Value of Education?

or, justifying the $200k price tag

By Carla Vass

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Let’s be honest. I have friends that are spending $20,000 on college. And not just this semester. For the entire four years. They go to a very well regarded, respectable state school. And they pay in-state tuition. Don’t even get me started on the people I know who go to Oxford, which, the last time I checked, was ranked the No. 1 school in the world. For the entire four years, those students will pay the equivalent of approximately two years of tuition at Columbia (depending on exchange rates).

Did I mention that I’m an English major? This means that while I can go on and on about the incredible English program, basically what people hear is that I’m paying about 200 grand to read books that could be procured at the library for a grand total of $1. On the other hand, if I’m going to be getting a degree in reading and writing, it’s probably good to be able to say that I got it from Columbia.

I find myself thinking about the cost of my education more and more these days, usually in inverse proportion to the height of the Dow. More specifically, I wonder if I can really justify spending such a large amount of money on school, when I know that I could be getting more or less an equivalent education for a fraction of the cost.

I recall many kids from my high school, who, despite having had their pick of the Ivies, decided to attend our local state university and save money for graduate school. In particular, one of my best friends plans to attend medical school, and I doubt very much that her future school will mind where she earned her 4.0 GPA and magna cum laude honors.

I am certainly grateful to go to such a wonderful, well regarded school. Most of the professors are rock stars in their own right, with interesting books and research under their tenured belts. Class sizes are small (for the most part) and I get the kind of individualized attention that is harder to come by at a larger school. The facilities are wonderful—Butler has such an old and storied feeling to it that, when I study there, I’m sure to become smarter just by osmosis.

There is also the unbeatable combination of attending a top university that is actually located in New York City—Dartmouth is quaint, but I can’t hop in a cab and find myself, five minutes later, at some fabulous, overpriced restaurant downtown, can I? On the other hand, I’m sure that no one at Dartmouth has the problem of having to avoid public urinators.

But I have a sneaking suspicion that a large part of what I’m paying for is also the privilege of being able to say that I went to Columbia. And now, when as a country we’ve exhausted our main forms of currency, is this brand-name currency worthless as well?

At this school, we are undeniably given internship and job opportunities vis-à-vis high powered alumni that one would not necessarily get at another university (part of this is also just virtue of being in New York City). We also have the opportunity to meet extraordinarily talented, driven students, who will most likely be running things one day and perhaps giving us our paychecks. A college education is still a means to an end, the end being a high-paying job (why else are banks more willing to give student loans to students attending selective schools?).

But maybe that’s the problem. In the post-Bush, post-consumer driven economy days, we all find ourselves forced to reevaluate our priorities. Statistically, all of us aren’t going to become extremely wealthy, regardless of where we attend college. I’ve come to accept that I may never rise above the ho-hum middle class. But I also don’t really mind. I don’t want to be a corporate robot, endlessly turning out excel data sheets all day, 8:30am to 6:30pm (welcome to the new working hours, buddy). Today’s luxuries are the ability to make your own hours, to do something you find enjoyable, to be able to spend time with friends and family, and in the process, to be able to earn enough.

So where does this leave me in terms of education value? Maybe graduating with a degree from Columbia means nothing more or less than the fact that I went to an exceptionally good school. And that might just be worth 200 grand.

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2 April 2009
vol. 6, issue 8

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