Is Georgetown worth the cost?
The factors that contributed the most to making the cost of college “worth it” were not the conventional ones
Gallup, in collaboration with Purdue University, this week released the results of a survey examining the relationship between “student debt, experiences, and perceptions of college worth.”
The Gallup-Purdue Index 2015 Report answers the question: Is college worth it? This 2015 report compiles the answer of “more than 30,000 graduates from across the U.S. with a bachelor’s degree or higher and with Internet access.”
We reached out to some recent graduates to ask how they felt.
Alum Filippo Colnaghi, who graduated from Georgetown in 2014, said: “In this community, you end up making a strong network of friends who can either be useful for business, or simply best friends who will be there for the rest of your life.
I’d definitely pay every dime of the GU tuition to have the friends I have now.”
However, in recent years, these justifications have been subject to debate due to numerous burdens such as rising fees, increasing student debt and diminishing financial returns.
Not surprisingly, as the burden of debt increases for students, their perception of whether or not their education was “worth it” diminishes. Nonetheless, overall, fifty per cent of recent graduates do strongly agreed that their education was worth the cost, regardless of debt.
Almost 71 per cent of 2015 graduates with a bachelor’s degree have a student loan debt at an average of $35,000. According to the Gallup-Purdue Index, only one-third of recent graduates with this level of debt strongly agree their education was worth the cost.
Considering the heavy investments families make in their children’s educations, might it be the case that college just isn’t even worth it today?
The cost of education is only one factor the Gallup-Purdue index examined in whether or not college cost was worth it.
This study found no correlation between the type of college attended, like an Ivy League or state school, with the quality of the alumni’s careers.
Instead, the specific, relational experiences in college influenced whether or not college was “worth it.”
The factors that contributed the most to making the cost of college “worth it” were not the conventional ones such as the college’s reputation, but instead ones related to relationships: meeting exciting professors and fostering valuable relationships with them, engaging in extracurricular activities, holding leadership positions, having a paid job or internship and being part of a frat or sorority.
Educational leaders can maximize the value of college offered by encouraging important relationships between faculty members and students and offering opportunities to get involved in activities beyond the classroom.
Another 2014 Georgetown grad, Sina Cherazi, said: “The system is far from perfect. Key legislation and regulatory changes need to invert the way our government handles student loans, accredits bottom-rung universities, and subsidizes public education.
“However, to categorically claim that college is not ‘worth it’ is a lazy premise – perhaps similar to simply declaring that ‘social security is too expensive.'”