Episode: 496

Episode Title: The College Question

Is college right for you? Here are some numbers to consider before you make that decision, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 496 show:

Hello and welcome to The Perna Syndicate! I’m your host Mark Perna, and today we’re talking about college. Some of the recent numbers are pretty scary. 

A recent report found that only 46% of U.S. college graduates are working in their field of study. Twenty-five percent are earning less than thirty thousand a year, and what’s worse, approximately one out of seven earns less than fifteen thousand per year. For reference, the federal poverty threshold is just over fourteen thousand annually. 

Add student loan debt to that picture—now averaging almost forty-one thousand dollars per borrower—and it’s far from a pretty sight. But it gets worse. 

A March survey found that the Class of 2022 is overestimating their starting pay by more than fifty thousand dollars. That’s right—young people who graduated this year think that they will land jobs paying fifty thousand more than what they’re actually going to get. They’re in for a rude awakening. 

This is just not how it’s supposed to be. No one goes to college planning to use their degree to earn less than the federal poverty threshold. At the same time, college IS absolutely necessary for certain career paths. It all depends on where you want to go and what you need to get there. 

I’m not and never have been against college, but it has to be viable for the individual. That’s why I want to talk about the factors that play into the decision to attend college, both for students and for people in the workforce who want to advance their skills.  

Stay tuned this week as we ask the question, is college right for you? See you back here tomorrow on The Perna Syndicate!