WHAT A DIFFERENCE 50 YEARS MAKES.

The "man" on the left is a proud college boy who was the first in his family to attend college. The man above is the same man after getting his ass kicked by the world many times over. The man on the left thought he was pretty smart to have received
that college degree with a major in chemistry. The man above knows very well how lucky he was to be able to finish college and to graduate with mediocre grades. The man on the left earned his way through school with little help from family or student loans. He was lucky enough to have a job that allowed him to set his own hours and earn enough to pay his own expenses. He also got a grant from the National Science Foundation that paid for his last year.

Timing Means A Lot. College, even at a state supported university, costs many times what it cost in 1960. Retirement plans are often decimated by education costs for kids. In addition, many students graduate with mountains of debt. All this and the majority of students move back home after graduation. When I graduated, I had 20 or so on-campus interviews and 5 or 6 interviews where I was flown all over the country for on-site interviews. The company that hired me spent thousands to move my wife and I from Colorado to Delaware. No such luck today. Which leads me to the major point of this post.

Is College Worth It? I have to question the value of a college education today. Statistics show that the average college graduates earn considerably more over a lifetime than those without an education. I don't question those statistics but you also have to take into consideration that those who attend college have, on average, more ambition than those who don't. There have always been more opportunities for those with higher than normal ambition. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and countless others have been quite successful without finishing college.

Keep My Opinions To Myself. My daughters have chastised me not to talk this way around my grandchildren. I guess I don't mean to say that I don't recommend college. If you can afford it your children will probably be better off with an education than without. If you have a child with a strong ambition to work in a field that requires an education, it is probably worth it. But if you are having trouble sending your child to college without jeopardizing your financial security, don't feel guilty. There are ways to accomplish educational goals without taking a vow of poverty.