What is a College Degree Worth these Days? The Case for a U.S. Gap Year Campaign…
The American dream, rags to riches, is an alluring thought. Our society has constructed a fool-proof plan to get you from American dream to American reality: college. Get your degree and you will always have enough to pay your mortgage, take family vacations and finance that spacious, yet stylish, minivan you’ve always wanted. How about a bachelor’s in business? Sounds respectable; will most likely make your parents proud. But is a college degree really a guarantee to financial success (or even stability)?
Flat out truth is currently, a college degree is approaching worthlessness…
The recent sadder truth is sometimes a college degree even hinders your chances at certain jobs. Sounds insane right? Paying all that money (on average $68,000 for a 4 year university), dedicating 4 years of primetime life to be rejected at job interviews for being over-qualified or being fired because you deserve a salary that allows repayment of your student loans. It makes no sense, right? Oh but it does.
THE FACTS
“The number of college grads seeking work is at an all time high, which means more bad news for the broader economy.” - CNNMoney.com
Current unemployment rates show that 1.4 million college degree holders are out of work. Why? Simply, because the economy is in the shitter. For employers, that means either cut the workforce to save money or pay the workforce less money to save money. Who typically demands less money? People without college degrees…It then becomes cost effective for employers to maintain a college-degree-free workforce and your education, all $68,000 of it, gets you fired. 
Thinking of becoming a lawyer? lawyers are being fired left and right because firms aren’t able to maintain a workforce that demands such high salaries. Their student loans are upwards of $140,000 so getting by on a $30,000 per year salary isn’t an option. According to MSNBC, about 20,000 attorneys are currently unemployed (with interest accruing on their unpaid student loans daily).
There are 13.2 million more job seekers than there are jobs available. You better believe a large chunk of these seekers hold college degrees. According to the Washington Post, unemployment is growing most rapidly among white-collar and college-educated workers with long work experience.
A new term, “trading down”, has been introduced into the job-finding vernacular. To trade down is to settle for a job title and salary below that of your previous position. This means that we now have waitresses with bachelor’s in economics and produce stockers with PHDs. Sounds like you could have kept the burger flipping job without going full circle like these guys.
The Curse of the Class of 2009: Now this is truly scary (not just because it has the word “curse” in it). The curse is that people currently working their asses off and paying tuition for school will graduate into a job market that has nothing to offer them. Now take a minute to let that sink in. Clearly, going to college straight from high school, RIGHT NOW, is NOT your best option. We’re not saying college isn’t valuable educationally but currently, spending your time and money at a university gives you little, if any, return. So what can you do?
The Case for Traveling
Not taking an RV to the Grand Canyon with the family but real-deal, you and a backpack, in a foreign country, trekking through the unknown, eating things you never knew existed, sleeping on bunk beds with a room full of strangers, type traveling. More than being fun (which it is), traveling before going into college or a career is a viable way to add value to whatever you have determined is your current worth. The UK and Australia, in comparison to the United States, have very different takes on what makes a young person “valuable”. Whereas in the U.S., a college degree has been the primary signifier of educational value, in Europe and Australia, gap years (where people take a year off to travel before school or work) are highly encouraged because a well-traveled individual is worth more on the job market due to their expanded perspective of the world. Luckily, the U.S. is slowly catching on – Off Track Planet, for instance, has begun working on building alliances with travel companies worldwide to help promote and popularize the concept of gap year and backpacking travel to high school and college-aged students exclusively within the United States (also, check out this interview of the authors of The Gap-Year Advantage).
Since employers are passing on college grads to save money, something like travel experience, work abroad and participation in international volunteerships distinguishes you as a candidate. Endless volunteerships are available in every corner of the world (Check out these volunteer programs here!). The networking you do abroad connects you to more opportunities than you ever thought possible.
In the past, at least a little piece of cheese would be waiting for you at the end of the college rat race to career world. Currently, it’s just the bare metal rod of the trap, nothing else. Protect yourself from getting stuck in debt for no good reason by traveling, volunteering and learning about the world. College will still be an option, if you choose to pursue it, upon your return.
Written By: Anna Starostinetskaya
Head Writer/Editor-in-Chief of Off Track Planet. Pescatarians are not just cheating vegetarians; we're our own breed and the extra protein makes us more feisty! Rawr
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Im a statistic too…
Master’s from Columbia Univ. currently working as a part time “teacher’s assistant” and private English teacher in Barcelona…I think I deserve a better title and salary, at least thats what my mom says, but heck, its awesome living abroad and making it work with such a low Spanish salario.
Good luck kids!
I feel that I’ve learned more from traveling opposed to going to college. However, this does not mean one can not exist without the other. In fact, I think the most valuable person in the job market is the one that have travel experience and a strong educational background.
Interesting report. It’s quite related to my most recent post in which I analyze our endless quest for the dream career.
It couldn’t be said any better. That is why I choose Community Colleges over 4-year Uni’s and I apply for as much free money I can get.
Also, always look for fellowships not internships.
It’s so weird because I’m doing that gap – year thing.
Brilliant take on education vs. travel. Unless you study advanced engineering or nursing, there are few job opportunities out there for college grads in the US. When looking for a job, my travel was always an impressive point to interviewers. I did the gap year assbackwards- college, then 7 months travel, came back home and ended up painting houses for a couple years before finally landing a stable office job…which I plan to quit as soon as I save enough to go travel again!
I was fortunate enough to have a full 4-year scholarship to a university so I have few student loans (only 1 small one, around $5000, for a summer study abroad I did), and I don’t regret college for a second. But now I am stuck working retail because I majored in something I actually liked (anthropology and French) and I don’t have the funds or availability to go anywhere for grad school right now.
And unfortunately, it is not an option for many people to travel the world after college or high school. I would love to, and if you’re middle or upper class, then yeah it’s very possible, because your parents can help you out with money problems while traveling. but when you’re like me with one disabled parent and one deadbeat parent, it’s not really an option. I am desperately trying to move to France this year (applying to teach English there) but if that doesn’t work out, I’m going to still be stuck in this boring retail job for another year while I finally am able to start applying for grad school (will have sufficient funds saved up finally).
It’s a shame America doesn’t have a gap year. So many people haven’t seen anywhere outside the borders of the US.
I learned a lot about life and myself during my travels, more so than any other period of my life.