Sarah Ryan Is The Tassel Worth The Hassel?

 

Sarah Ryan 

Is The Tassel Worth The Hassle? 
Paying for College 

 

 

Introduction 

Every year hundreds of thousands of high school seniors apply to a four year college, and 
in turn owe their schools hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition. Paying off this cost 
can take years. The real question is, do the positives outweigh the negatives? Is receiving a 
higher education going to benefit YOUR quality of life, or will it leave you thousands of 
dollars in debt with seemingly no benefits? 

 

 

 

 

The Economic Benefits of a College Education 

For our entire childhoods up until the end of high school, we are told that a college 
education is the ticket to a happy, healthy, stable life and without one we will have a much 
more difficult time being able to succeed financially. The good news is that the data mostly 
matches up with what we have been told. 

Education Vs. Unemployment 

Data has shown that people who receive a college education education are less likely to be 
unemployed in their adult life than their peers who didn’t. Much more likely. In an article 
written by The Washington Post, they back up this claim by bringing up a study done by the 
Hamilton Project. The writer of this article states, “The unemployment rate among those 
with a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.1 percent. The rate for high school graduates is 8.7 
percent, and for dropouts it’s a staggering 11.3 percent”. People need education in order to 
live securely. In the graphs below, you can see that the unemployment rate and the level of 
education you receive undeniably goes hand-in-hand. 

 

Education Vs. Earnings 

Studies have shown that typically people who receive a higher education also earn a higher 
salary. Data from the US Census and College Board has shown that people who enroll for 
college at age 18 and graduate usually are in good shape to pay off tuition and fees from a 
4-year public school by age 33. 

 
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In an article done by evernote on the earnings gap between high school graduates and 
college graduates, they report that high school graduates only earn about 62 percent of the 
college graduate’s average salary. On top of that, college graduates who are between the 
ages of 25 and 32 earn $17,500 more than employed adults with a high school education. 
Data from the US Census shows that household incomes of people with a college education 
are higher than those with anything lower. 

 

In an article written by The Mint called “Learning and Earning” data also shows that the 
higher form of education that somebody receives greatly increases their annual income. 

Education Vs. Quality of Life   
 
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Obviously, If graduating from college means that you could make more money, it would 
improve your quality of life, but what about your life expectancy? Not only can college 
improve your quality of life, it can make you live longer. In an article from The Washington 
Post written by Sarah Kliff it is suggested that college graduates live longer than high school 
graduates. The article states, “White men with less than a high school diploma had a life 
expectancy 12.9 years shorter than those with 16 or more years of education, according to 
new research in the journal Health Affairs”. It also says that for women the gap is 10.4 
years. Another way that college can improve your quality of life is the fact that college 
graduates are more likely to get married and live in a different household than their 
parents. The graph from the Pew Research Center shows exactly that. 

 
In another article by The Washington Post written by Dylan Matthews called “College 
Graduates’ Non-recession”, data clearly shows that those who graduated with a college 
degree actually gained jobs during the recession, while those who didn’t lost jobs during 
this period of time 

 
 

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The Potential Problems That Emerge From Student Debt 

When there’s pros, there’s cons, and college has a lot of them in terms of finances. 
Although a lot of the time college graduates can pay off their student loans, and the 
education they received pushes them further in life, for a lot of people it just pushed them 
backwards. A lot of times this setback begins well before it comes time to apply 

Debt Stories 

CNN Money Interviewed college graduates who say that their experience was absolutely 
not worth it. The people in this article never found a good job after graduating, and are 
having trouble paying off their debt while living comfortable lives. Saniquah Robinson Has 
$82,000 of student debt. She’s had a master’s degree for 3 years and is still having trouble 
finding a job. She says, “I am a mother of three, and my husband and I have been turned 
down from purchasing a home due to our income-to-debt ratio”. Another person, Shane 
Dixon, is $72,000 in debt from a masters degree. He found a job but it only pays $7.25 an 
hour, so he cannot live on his own. A third person, Jason Chura, is $80,000 in debt from a 
bachelor’s degree in journalism. He says, “Because of my debt, I can’t afford to marry my 
girlfriend of five years”. All of these people thought that they were doing themselves a 
favor when taking out these student loans, but it ended up costing them big time. 

False Expectations 

Many people will choose a major in college that they think will help them make the most 
money. This doesn’t seem like a bad idea at all, however a lot of majors have high 
unemployment rates. Business Insider did an article on the 20 college majors with the 
highest unemployment rates and states that, “some college majors that lead to high-paying 
jobs also come with above average unemployment rates”. They discuss how graduates 
who majored in petroleum engineering have a median salary of $87,000, but it is also the 
major with the highest unemployment rate. Therefore, a lot of people choose their college 
major thinking that it will end in great success, but don’t consider that the job search after 
graduation may be very difficult. It’s not only the students who go into the application 
process wearing rose-colored glasses, it’s also the parents. In an article from The Boston 
Globe called “Why I Don’t Have Any College Debt”, the writer says, “A 2002 study showed 

 
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that of students who had enrolled in four-year colleges, only 63 percent received a degree 
six years (no, not four years) later”. This means a little less than half of these students 
either dropped out or received a degree earlier. This could cause a lot of financial 
problems for a family because not only do you have to pay off student loans, you have to 
pay off student loans that you didn’t even use. 

Financial Setbacks 

A huge group of Americans do not make enough money per year to pay off today’s college 
tuition costs. In an article done by CNBC that was written by Kathleen Elkins, it is shown 
that 29 percent of Americans are a part of the lower class. That is around one third of our 
country's population. Those people make an average of $25,624 a year. Nowadays the 
average yearly tuition for a 4 year school is $50,000. That is almost double the amount of 
what the average lower class household makes per year. 52 percent of the country is made 
up of middle class households that make an average of $78,442 per year. The rest is the 
upper class, which makes an average of $187,872. They make up 23 percent of American 
households. Given this information, it is very clear that a great portion of students don’t 
even have the chance to go to college without lots of aid and scholarship money. This can 
make planning on going to college very difficult for many families all over the country. To 
avoid these issues, people try to save up for their kids to go to college, but parents have a 
lot of trouble doing that as well. The New York Times did an article on how college debt is 
changing middle class families. Parents said many things about having trouble saving 
enough money to send their kids college. They stated, “When children are young, the 
parents face an impossible trade-off between spending on their present family needs and 
wants and saving for college”. From the very beginning, years and year before application 
time rolls around, many families struggle with saving for college. 

The Economy 

Many of the problems people face when it comes to paying for a college education today 
are rooted from changes in our economy over the years. Matt Taibbi, the author of “The 
College Loan Scandal” says, “It’s not the cost of the loan that’s the problem, it's the 
principal- the appallingly high tuition costs that have been soaring at two to three times the 

 
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rate of inflation”. He’s not wrong. The Education Trust put out an infographic that states, 
“Since the 80s, college costs have skyrocketed by 583 percent”. 

 
In an article from Evernot called “Student Debt Is Terrible, In Charts” by Dina Elboghady 
they state that, “Student debt remains the second largest source of household debt behind 
mortgages” and “Student debt increased to $1.08 trillio, up $53 billion in the last quarter of 
2013 compared to the previous quarter. This article was written seven years ago, it’s hard 
to imagine what those numbers probably are today. There are a whole bunch of potential 
problems that can arise from student debt as well as many good things that can come from 
a college education. 

So, Is The Tassel Worth The Hassle? 

Even after all the information that has been provided already, there still is not an easy 
answer to this question. Everybody is different. For some, it may very well be worth it, for 
others, it might not be. How do you know whether or not college is for you? 

Payment Strategies 

Business Insider writer, Melanie Lockert wrote an article about how she paid off her 
student debt pretty easily using the “avalanche method” Melanie describes this method as, 
“The debt avalanche method focuses on the high-interest debt first, while continuing to 
make minimum payments on the rest of your loans” Another method is known as the 
“Snowball method” which is much more popular. It is the opposite of the avalanche 
method, “The debt snowball is attacking the smallest loan first, while continuing to make 
minimum payments on the rest of your loans”. If you think either of those debt payment 

 
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methods sounds manageable, then the tassel might be worth it. There are other factors 
that play into this decision, however. 

Your Major 

Evernote did an article called “The best college majors if you actually want a job after 
graduation”. In this article there is a chart that shows these majors and their 
unemployment rates. If you are planning on majoring in something different, that is okay, 
these are just the safest options. This doesn’t mean that you won’t get a job after 
graduation if you decide to major in something else, these are just the safest options. 

 

If you are interested in any of these careers, a college degree may very well be worth the 
student loans. If you would like to major in something that isn’t on this list that is okay, just 
make sure you have a plan when it comes to money and do your research before 
committing to a school. If you think you would be more interested in going into a trade or 
the workforce, the tassel definitely is not worth the hassle. 

Things Will Never Be Perfect 

Even college graduates suffer from financial troubles. Evernote has an article titled “Even 
college graduates have seen their wages fall”. And it’s true! But even in that situation, 
people who graduated with a bachelor’s degree were still better off financially. 

 
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Given this data and everything else, unless you have plans to go into a trade, take over a 
family business, or the workforce, the tassel is probably worth the hassle. Typically, even 
when college graduates are struggling financially, they are still doing better than high 
school graduates who are having the same issues. It is better to be safe than sorry. 

 
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Works Cited 

● “Download Handout - Chart of Education and Income Arc.pdf.” 
● Elkins, Kathleen. “29% Of Americans Are Considered 'Lower Class'-Here's How Much 

Money They Earn.” CNBC, CNBC, 30 Sept. 2019, 
www.cnbc.com/2019/09/28/how-much-the-american-lower-class-earns.html​. 
● “My Degree Isn't Worth the Debt!” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 
money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/news/economy/1106/gallery.student_debt/2.html. 
● Lockert, Melanie. “I Wanted to Pay My $81,000 in Student Loan Debt as Quickly and 
as Cheaply as Possible, so I Chose the 'Debt Avalanche' Strategy to Do It.” Business 
Insider, Business Insider, 7 Sept. 2019, 
www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans-debt-avalanche-why-i-ch
ose​. 
● “u3_by_education.Jpg.” 
● Yen, Hope. “Earnings Gap Between College And High School Grads Reaches Highest 
Point In 48 Years.” Evernote, 11 Feb. 2014, 
www.evernote.com/shard/s239/client/snv?noteGuid=655103f6-cadc-437e-9f04-44de
42f5f854.​  
● “Handout - Education and Employment.pdf.”  
● “Handout - Education and Household Income.pdf.”  
● De Luce, Ivan. “The College Majors with Highest Rates of Unemployment after 
Graduation.” B​ usiness Insider​, Business Insider, 9 Sept. 2019, 
www.businessinsider.com/college-degrees-with-the-highest-unemployment-rates?a
mp​.  
● Bissonnette, Zac. “Why I Won't Have Any College Debt.” Boston.com, The Boston 
Globe, 31 May 2009, 
file:///media/fuse/drivefs-00e5e0372cac84da26cbb2d055527fca/root/Why%20I%20
Won't%20Have%20Any%20College%20Debt%20-%20The%20Boston%20Globe%20(1
).mht. 
● 

 
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Zaloom, Caitlin. “How Paying for College Is Changing Middle-Class Life.” T​ he New York 
Times​, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2019, 
www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/opinion/sunday/college-tuition.html.  

● Kliff, Sarah. “The Difference between a High School Dropout and a College Degree? A 
Decade in Lifespan.” ​The Washington Post​, The Washington Post.  

● Elbohgady, Dina. “Student Debt Is Terrible, in Charts.” E​ vernote​, Evernote, 18AD, 
www.evernote.com/shard/s239/client/snv?noteGuid=e6c86f37-5cd5-4472-ba29-6bc
589e805a0¬eKey=2956aea12ecda0fbe451dd548dd21e3f&sn=https%3A%2F%2Fww
w.evernote.com%2Fshard%2Fs239%2Fsh%2Fe6c86f37-5cd5-4472-ba29-6bc589e805
a0%2F2956aea12ecda0fbe451dd548dd21e3f&title=Student%2Bdebt%2Bis%2Bterrib
le%252C%2Bin%2Bcharts.  

● Matthews, Dylan. “Don't Believe the Haters. College Is a Great Deal - and It's Getting 
Better.” T​ he Washington Post,​ WP Company, 28 Apr. 2019, 
www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/10/05/dont-believe-the-haters-colle
ge-is-a-great-deal-and-its-getting-better/​.  

● Ehrenfreund, Max. “These Are the Best College Majors If You Actually Want a Job 
after Graduation.” E​ vernote,​ Evernote, 23AD, 
www.evernote.com/shard/s239/client/snv?noteGuid=f2800581-273b-4519-a197-db9
d4df0e87e¬eKey=e873a9dab79bf628899fd55e3612ed24&sn=https%3A%2F%2Fww
w.evernote.com%2Fshard%2Fs239%2Fsh%2Ff2800581-273b-4519-a197-db9d4df0e8
7e%2Fe873a9dab79bf628899fd55e3612ed24&title=These%2Bare%2Bthe%2Bbest%
2Bcollege%2Bmajors%2Bif%2Byou%2Bactually%2Bwant%2Ba%2Bjob%2Bafter%2Bg
raduation.  

● Matthews, Dylan. “College Graduates' Non-Recession.” ​The Washington Post​, The 
Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2012.  

● Caumont, Andrea. “6 Key Findings about Going to College.” ​Pew Research Center,​ Pew 
Research Center, 27 July 2020, 
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/11/6-key-findings-about-going-to-college/.  

● “Learning & Earning.” T​ he Mint​, The Mint, 6 Mar. 2003, 
www.themint.org/earning/learning.php.  

● Taibbi, Matt. “Handout - Taibbi on College Loans.pdf.”  
● “Handout- Cost of College.pdf.”  

 
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● Yglesias, Matthew. “Even College Graduates Have Seen Their Wages Fall.” E​ vernote​, 

Evernote, 7 Sept. 2015, 
www.evernote.com/shard/s239/client/snv?noteGuid=bd043c31-aa8d-43e2-8363-969
22a2cb040¬eKey=c696f917229c9a84089c84b093e9d4d4&sn=https%3A%2F%2Fww
w.evernote.com%2Fshard%2Fs239%2Fsh%2Fbd043c31-aa8d-43e2-8363-96922a2cb
040%2Fc696f917229c9a84089c84b093e9d4d4&title=Even%2Bcollege%2Bgraduates
%2Bhave%2Bseen%2Btheir%2Bwages%2Bfall.  
 
 

 
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