This infographic has some interesting information about college. Scroll down and look at the college majors with the highest unemployment. Compare that to the starting pay for some of those college majors. These are good details to know when you are looking at the cost of college.
Will your child get a job?
Can your child earn enough to pay off college debt?
Our children don’t always understand the long-term consequences of college debt, and we need to help them think it through. What will the consequences be? How long will it take to pay off the loans? Whether the debt is carried by the parent or the student, it’s helpful to guide their decisions.
I suggest a general rule of thumb. If your child could live at home for one year and make enough money at a minimum wage to pay off their college loans within one year, then it might be worth going into debt. Otherwise, think long and hard about the financial consequences. Carrying a higher debt load might be something to consider if you are reasonably certain of a reasonably high salary that you could still pay off within a year of working.
Click on the infographic to see a larger image you can read easily.
Work hard at the college admission process, and you’ll be surprised at how affordable college can be. Sure, it’s often expensive, like a car is expensive, but you can get a good price that you can afford. Check out my book on College Admission and Scholarships from Amazon.
When was that graphic made? It looks accurate for about 2007, at least for computer science! My husband used to earn about what that graphic said at mid-career. Then the economy tanked. Companies hired more and more guys overseas. My husband had to compete against them for a job. Now my husband at a little past mid-career makes a little over what the graphic says for starting salary. There’s an additional wrinkle – as a programmer, you have to find a new job if the company you work for isn’t buying into the latest operating system, software tools, etc. If you stay with such a “stagnant” company too long, you are totally up a creek without a paddle if you need another job because human resources personnel assume you are incapable of adapting to the latest whatzits. I don’t know who you have to know in order to get a job programming games, but my husband has been trying for well over 20 years, but he’s pigeonholed as a database programmer because that’s what he’s done from Job #1. So unless your student has a long list of wonderful games they’re already selling on the InterNet, think long and hard about computer science.