Will College Pay Off?: A Guide to the Most Important Financial Decision You'll Ever Make

by Peter Cappelli

Overview

The decision of whether to go to college, or where, is hampered by poor information and inadequate understanding of the financial risk involved.

Adding to the confusion, the same degree can cost dramatically different amounts for different people. A barrage of advertising offers new degrees designed to lead to specific jobs, but we see no information on whether graduates ever get those jobs. Mix in a frenzied applications process, and pressure from politicians for "relevant" programs, and there is an urgent need to separate myth from reality.

Peter Cappelli, an acclaimed expert in employment trends, the workforce, and education, provides hard evidence that counters conventional wisdom and helps us make cost-effective choices. Among the issues Cappelli analyzes are:

What is the real link between a college degree and a job that enables you to pay off the cost of college, especially in a market that is in constant change?
Why it may be a mistake to pursue degrees that will land you the hottest jobs because what is hot today is unlikely to be so by the time you graduate.

Why the most expensive colleges may actually be the cheapest because of their ability to graduate students on time.
How parents and students can find out what different colleges actually deliver to students and whether it is something that employers really want.

College is the biggest expense for many families, larger even than the cost of the family home, and one that can bankrupt students and their parents if it works out poorly. Peter Cappelli offers vital insight for parents and students to make decisions that both make sense financially and provide the foundation that will help students make their way in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610395274
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Peter Cappelli is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at The Wharton School and director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources. A research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, he has long been involved in federal government policy-making regarding the workforce and education. He was also co-director of the US Department of Education's National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce, and a member of the Executive Committee of the US Department of Education's National Center on Post-Secondary Improvement at Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Why Do People with More Education Get Better Jobs?: The Link Between Education and a Good Job 5

2 How Are We Doing?: The State of Education in the United States 55

3 Does College Pay Off?: It Depends 89

4 The Cost of Going to College 115

5 Getting That First Job After College 145

Conclusions 175

Appendix 189

Notes 193

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

“If you want to figure out what to do with your life—or help your child do the same—Cappelli tells you what you need to know. College is a sweet deal for kids who hit the trifecta: attend a reasonably priced, reputable school, choose a high-earning major, finish on time. Otherwise, buyer beware.” —Barron's

“[A]stutely examines the enduring relevance of a college degree... [I]lluminating statistical and survey data… Cappelli's eye-opening report card on the current state of American education gives mounting tuitions a failing grade... Salient reading for students, parents, and educators on navigating toward a coveted college degree.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A valuable, commonsensical analysis of an ever-more-important subject.”—Booklist

“Cappelli's well-reasoned and documented answer helps families evaluate their options in terms of their individual financial situation. VERDICT Academic and yet highly readable, Cappelli's book provides nothing short of consumer protection to families and their students as he addresses the complexities of the higher education marketplace, the unpredictable job market, and the cost of college.”—Library Journal

“It's precisely the right moment for a book to help 18-year-olds and their parents make this important educational and financial decision... Cappelli offers some good tips: Student loans are stickier than a mortgage: You can't escape them with bankruptcy, and you may find your wages garnished if you try to walk away from them, never mind your bad credit rating. Don't rely on data released by colleges, particularly employment rates, which are often calculated based on dubious self-reporting surveys. When you visit a school, check out the tutoring center and see if anyone is around to help; it's a good proxy for the campus support system. Most important, finish on time. A surefire way to erode your return on college is to graduate late or not at all.” —Wall Street Journal

“Thought-provoking work... The author notes that sending children to college is a huge expense that hurts many families' ability to meet other important needs, such as retirement. His focus is primarily on the US higher education system but many of the themes are universal.” —Emma Jacobs, Financial Times

“Informative and refreshingly skeptical.” —John Cassidy, The New Yorker

From the Publisher

05/15/2015
Cappelli (George W. Taylor Professor of Management, the Wharton Sch., Univ. of Pennsylvania; Why Good People Can't Get Jobs) tackles the titular question in this well-researched response. He considers the query with facts, figures, and ways of thinking that give families the context and tools to make an informed decision. The author lauds the benefits of a college education for the individual and society. However, the price of going to college has dramatically increased. Those additional costs are being paid with loans against retirements and student's future earnings. Concurrently, employers are less willing to train new hires, advertising for specific job skills and prior experience. In response, four-year universities, community colleges, and the newer for-profit institutions market programs they insist will prepare students for the real world and specifically a job. Cappelli's well-reasoned and documented answer helps families evaluate their options in terms of their individual financial situation. VERDICT Academic and yet highly readable, Cappelli's book provides nothing short of consumer protection to families and their students as he addresses the complexities of the higher education marketplace, the unpredictable job market, and the cost of college.—Jane Scott, Clark Lib., Univ. of Portland, OR

Library Journal

2015-04-01
A workforce and education expert weighs the perks and pitfalls of higher education.Cappelli (Management/Wharton School; Why Good People Can't Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It, 2012, etc.) astutely examines the enduring relevance of a college degree despite problematic funding and postgraduate employment issues. In dense chapters full of illuminating statistical and survey data, the author reports on the affordability and effectiveness of a college degree, directing his assessment to benefit future students and their families. As he notes, astronomical tuitions figure greatly into the equation, as American college costs run about four times higher than in other countries, making the decision to attend a postsecondary school an increasingly risky one. Cappelli also examines the variation in degreed students who fail to achieve success in the postgraduate employment marketplace and those who become overwhelmed by the financial burden. The factors affecting these trends are in constant flux, writes the author, and vary from the labor market requiring functional job skills to the student dropout rate and the education-to-career paths that have evolved as rapidly as their corresponding business models and sophisticated hiring processes. Cappelli's eye-opening report card on the current state of American education gives mounting tuitions a failing grade, though enrollment and retention numbers are promising. The author's drilled-down conclusions suggest that students are matriculating at the same level today as they did years ago, but the expense alone has thrown many families into the depths of student loan debt or default. Whether or not investing in college is worth the risk is a major decision about which families and children need to educate themselves. "College is still accepted as necessary for advancement but also increasingly expensive," writes the author, "and increasingly risky in terms of the likely career payoffs." Salient reading for students, parents, and educators on navigating toward a coveted college degree.

Kirkus Reviews