College keeps getting more expensive. Tack on living expenses, out of state tuition, and degree length – the expenses just keep growing. The expectation used to be that this expense was a highly valuable investment. It would pay itself off through career and financial success. Now, with expenses increasing and the current job market, this is a tough assumption to make. Instead, it takes careful planning and consideration for students to see a positive return on a college education.
Whether funded by scholarships, private loans, or family, it is important that students are aware of the potential economic outcome of their future plans.
Where to Find Helpful Information
Researching the return on investment for specific majors, colleges, and student loans is essential for students to get the highest return for themselves. Understanding salary outcomes based on not only the program but the school can help students achieve their goals with the greatest positive impact on their career and financial success.
The Department of Education and Payscale both offer online systems that compare the return on investment for many of the factors students must consider. Students can mix and match comparisons of schools, majors, and salaries with easy to use, interactive systems.
Each student has a multitude of factors to consider when applying for colleges. From their family’s financial status to their dream job, a student’s process of researching and deciding on a college path is individual. Ensuring that students are aware of where they want their future to go and what tools they can use to plan it can improve their opportunity for a high return on their college education investment.
Planning and Preparation Essentials
Students should know certain intentions and facts about their future before they begin planning how to get there. First, they need to know where they want to go. What are their career interests? Can they picture themselves doing that job for the next 40 years? Students need to consider not just the prerequisite years of experience and education needed to achieve their dream job, but also the amount of time they will spend doing that specific job.
To figure this out, students can often talk to their guidance counselors. Counselors provide students with personality assessments to point them in a starting direction. Then students need to think about what they like to learn, and what they enjoy about learning it.
Finally, students need to research the study requirements and salary expectations for the jobs they are considering. This includes the past and projected growth rate for that profession. Will that salary be adequate and worth the amount of education required?
Answering all of these questions can help students gain a clearer perspective on where they want to end up in their future. With a specific picture in mind of their future, and a realistic understanding of how to get there, students will start out their college journey on the path to gain the highest returns on their educational investment.
