Whether college is worth it depends on available financial assistance

The argument

Someone who has to pay for all of their tuition and living expenses out of pocket will have a different threshold for assessing the value of university than someone who has received a significant sum of financial assistance or very favorable loan conditions. Many students have left college with tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, if not hundreds of thousands. Having large amounts of outstanding debt can burden someone for decades, especially if they don't immediately find a salaried job upon graduating. Finance companies may not allow you to mortgage a home, even if your credit is good and all of your student loan payments are up to date. Federal loan services also can make it difficult to understand exactly how much you will need to pay before taking out the loan. For instance, one woman has made public her student loan nightmare, in which she was told repeatedly by her financial aid office that the monthly payment would be "about $50 per loan," and then upon graduating, she found out that she would need to pay $200 per loan. There was no legal protection for her for this occurrence.

Context

Some governments and universities offer financial assistance or favourable loan terms to eligible students. The amount of financial assistance available to a student is a significant factor in assessing the value of a university degree.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Even if one does not receive sufficient financial assistance to go to college loan-free, that doesn't mean that choosing to go to college is a bad financial decision. Having a college degree gives graduates access to many high-paying jobs that require degrees. On average, people with bachelor's degrees earn about $32,000 more annually than those without a bachelor's. Additionally, this earning gap between college graduates and those who have not graduated from college has been steadily widening. Thus, it will be even more financially beneficial to have a bachelor's degree in the future. Securing a high-paying job as a college graduate can balance out the financial consequences of taking out loans. So, even if you don't receive financial assistance, going to college may be worth it because you will be able to get a higher paying job than someone without a degree.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Financing affects the cost side of the calculation, not the value of the education, and the argument treats it as though it determined the whole. Two graduates of the same course with different funding have received the same thing. [Rejecting P2] The counter-argument on record supplies the missing side: the earnings premium associated with a bachelor's degree is large and has been widening, which can offset substantial borrowing over a working life. A framing that counts the debt and not the return cannot reach a verdict either way. [Rejecting P3] A single account of poor advice from a financial aid office establishes that the process can be badly administered — a real problem, and one addressable by disclosure requirements — rather than that the value of the degree is contingent on it. [Rejecting C] The position is also almost unfalsifiable as stated. That the answer 'depends' on circumstances is compatible with every position in this debate, and singling out financial assistance while omitting field of study, institution, completion rates and the local labour market picks one variable from among several that matter more.