How much is a US college degree worth?

http://Payscale.com has a cool ROI report here: http://www.payscale.com/education/average-cost-for-college-ROI Shows the return per college based on their data. Cal Tech is #1 with $1.7m net 30 year ROI, Georgia Institute of Technology has the highest percentage ROI (13.3%).

There are signs that we are about to face a college degree glut. It looks like recent graduates, in fields like law or architecture, fare poorly on the job market. Graduates in journalism are flipping burgers. Some think it will be temporary, but who really knows? Nobody really knows what the *actual* value is because we have no idea what the wage differential will be in the future. You don't value stocks based on their performance for the last 20 years, but rather on the expected performance. The same thing applies to education. What we do know is how much people are willing to pay. How much it will have been worth to them in 20 years is impossible to tell. BTW the comparison between high school and college graduates is a bit silly. For one thing, it is not the same people. A clever fellow who was accepted at Harvard but decides not to go and to pursue a start-up instead cannot be compared with a high school drop-out.

The variations are now so large that averages across all college graduates are useless.  Saying you have a degree, even from a prestige school, really doesn't tell an employer anything.  Maybe you have a useful skill.  Maybe you're able to work really hard, Or maybe your parents paid a couple of hundred grand for you to party.

This is an Awesome question as I earned my bachelors of science degree in business with a concentration in marketing.  I sure learned a lot while going through school, but found out that overall, business degree are a little over rated and then I came across this Great blog post: Click --> http://teamprojectmayhem.com/blog/college-degrees-with-the-best-return-on-investment/?id=mkemperteam This blog post was very eye opening and I found out that there are many degrees that have a High Return on Investment (ROI). After reading the blog, I feel confident that I will have a High ROI with my business degree!

The importance of a college degree cannot be underestimated. If you don’t have a college degree, getting a well-paid job seems to be a distant reality. So someone holding a degree is bound to get a good return on their investment. It also depends on what you've majored in. Unfortunately, the employment outlook for one holds a degree in languages, social sciences, or liberal arts,  isn’t as bright as a medical, engineering, IT, or business degree. It's important how you go on choosing a major. If you're exceptional at what you do, then no matter what degree you hold, you're bound to carve a niche for yourself sooner or later. The college you graduate from must be accredited by a recognized accrediting body. If it's not, the degree you get has little value. Students from accredited colleges have an edge over those who graduate from diploma mills, as accreditation signifies that the college imparts quality education. Take a look at the career-focused programs offered by Stevens-Henager College for quality, post-secondary education. See: http://stevenshenager-college.com

See the following blog post if you are interested in college degrees with best ROI: http://teamprojectmayhem.com/blog/college-degrees-with-the-best-return-on-investment/?id=omnigizmology

We developed a calculator that lets you compare the value of degrees from different universities. See how much income you can expect to earn for the first 10 years of your career after you graduate https://www.upstart.com/calculator

A degree is worth what the market will pay you for it. I.e. Don't glamorize your college experience. You are there to learn X so you can do Y and get paid Z.  Choose majors wisely.