As high school students begin to look at colleges, one of the first things that catches their eye is the price. From 2013-2023, the average tuition has increased by over 25%, and with the total cost to attend universities, such as Northwestern, coming in at nearly $100k per year, many are left reconsidering whether it is worth it at all. 

Not only have costs been rising, but questions over the importance of college have skyrocketed as well. According to Pew Research, over 29% of Americans believe college today is not worth it, and almost 50% say colleges’ influence on getting a well-paying job is less than it was 20 years ago. Not only has the general public’s perception shifted, but large public figures have also begun to question the value of college. Billionaire and Silicon Valley pioneer Vinod Khosla notoriously stated during a podcast interview that, as the world shifts to an AI future, “college is dead.” Similarly, billionaire CEO of Palantir, Alex Karp, stated that college degrees don’t matter at Palantir.“People with less than a college education are creating a lot of value – and sometimes more value than people with a college education.” But is college really not worth it anymore? 

Besides the cost, the biggest downside that people see in college is the time lost. Going to college takes four or more precious years away that could be spent working and earning money. Add in the cost of attending college and the potential extra years lost if you decide to go to graduate school, and it is clear that there is a substantial head start for those who don’t go to college. 

But this head start is illusory. Suppose that two average students graduate from high school at the same time. One begins working immediately, and the other goes to college and then begins working. Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner, economists from Harvard and UVA, crunched the numbers, examining data on workers’ education and earnings from the March Current Population Survey. They found that though the college graduate would start far behind, by the age of 34, they would surpass the high school graduate. Economists from Georgetown University similarly found that in their lifetime, the college graduate would have earned a total of almost $2.3 million as opposed to the high school graduate’s $1.3 million, a striking million-dollar difference. Clearly, going to college is very lucrative, but why is this the case? 

Long-term, those who go to college gain a massive advantage. The difference in wages lies in the differences in the jobs that those with degrees are typically able to obtain. Over the past century, massive shifts have occurred in the economy and the job market. In 1900, 40% of U.S. jobs were in agriculture, yet by 2010, this number was down to just 2%. In today’s day and age, cognitive skills, the mental abilities we use for thinking, learning, remembering, and problem solving, are essential. This is especially true when it comes to higher-paying jobs. Careers in fields such as marketing, software development, engineering, accounting, and financial analysis are high-paying but also very cognitively demanding. Because these jobs require high cognitive skills, additional education is needed to develop these skills. So how does one get these cognitive skills and, in turn, the top-paying jobs? Through going to college. 

Not only is this head start elusive, so is the cost of college itself. Although private and out-of-state schools can be extremely expensive, if you go in-state, the average cost of attending is only $9,750. Additionally, although top universities such as Northwestern have almost 100k sticker prices, this is not usually the real cost. Universities such as Northwestern are committed to meeting 100% need, meaning the cost will only be what you are reasonably able to pay. Financial aid is also not restricted to the top private schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 87% of students across the country receive financial aid. So don’t let yourself fall for the high sticker prices of colleges; they are a lot less scary than they seem.

There is one important caveat to the value of college, though: enrolling is just the beginning. You must also graduate from college to get the lucrative returns. College dropouts make almost 70% less than college graduates, and although they make more than those with no college, this is only around 20% more. Furthermore, college dropouts are twice as likely to find themselves unemployed compared to those with degrees. Considering the high costs of attending college and the time lost, attending college but not graduating can wind up being a terrible investment.

So is college worth it? For most students, absolutely. Despite the fear of high costs and falling behind, college offers a very high return on investment for students to bet on themselves. In fact, the public seems to be getting it all wrong. The value of a degree has not gone down in the past 20 years; economists have shown that it has skyrocketed upwards. College has always been valuable, but now more than ever before, it is worthwhile.