Is College Really Worth It Today?

As more and more students have graduated and entered the workforce, they have found themselves collectively asking, "Was college really worth it?" One of the factors prompting them to ask this question is the tremendous debt load that they end up with after graduating. Depending on the quality of the college that they attended and the amount of assistance that they received, it's not unusual for just graduated students to owe anywhere from $30,000 to $80,000 or more on their student loans.

In years past, this may not have presented such a huge problem. For example, as recently as ten years ago, if you graduated from a prestigious college, you would have tens or hundreds of employers lined up waiting to hire you into their programs.

But that was prior to the record amount of layoffs that have taken place over the last 10 years. It was also before thousands of companies started to send much of their work offshore to India and the Philippines. And it was before the record influx of foreigners from England, India, and other countries competing for the high paying jobs that were once ours.

During the last ten years, starting salaries for most graduates have also decreased. Part of this is due to the increased competition for a lessening number of available jobs making it basically an employer's market. In addition, careers that were hot when students first started to get their degree, have cooled off a bit. For example, unless you are a much in demand specialist, the demand for high tech talent has dramatically decreased. In fact, unless you're in the health field, it's hard to pick out many industries where there is a real positive outlook for the near to medium future.

So, assuming that you have recently graduated and have to begin to repay your student loans that amount to anywhere from %500 to $900 a month or more - you are going to find yourself facing some hard choices. For a large number of these ex students, this means returning home to live with their parents while they look for a job. In fact, many of those that are lucky enough to find jobs, choose to live with their parents to make it easier to begin paying off their student loans as well as being able to pay for the new car they just bought to get to and from work.

For students who have already begun their new lives with a spouse, a baby, or both, the financial and debt situation is even worse. After paying for rent, clothes, utilities, their loans, and other basic expenses - many will find themselves just barely scraping by - even on two incomes. As a result of this new reality, many are being forced to reevaluate and downgrade the vision of their future that they've held in their mind all through college.

Will things get better? After all this country has been through many ups and downs in the past. The huge difference this time, however, is that jobs have slowly, but inexorably, become globalized commodities. And employers who once were limited to finding skills that they needed in their own back yards, can now look for that talent pretty much anywhere in the world. So, unfortunately, it's looking more and more that if you want a secure job where you won't get laid off, you are going to just have to create your own.

Article Source: http://www.moneyarticlelibrary.com

Please see David's other bankruptcy related articles relating to chapter 13 bankruptcy information and chapter 7 bankruptcy information and other financial issues at his website.

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