“Determine on some course,
“More than a wild exposure to each chance
“That starts in the way before thee.”
~William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Act IV, scene 1
What is the value of a college degree? Is the value of a college degree rising or falling or staying about the same? Is a degree worth the cost of college? Are some college degrees worth more than others – does the field and major in which the degree is awarded matter? Does the college matter?
These questions are but some of the numerous related questions confronting parents soon after a child is born, as they are bombarded by advice pressuring them to open college-savings funds and enroll the child in elementary and secondary schools that are most likely to prepare him or her to be accepted into their choice of colleges. Then, students and parents alike face a similar battery of questions again as high-school graduation approaches.
To make makers worse, these questions all must be contemplated in a state of great uncertainty in today’s world, which is changing at a dizzying rate, where the direction and magnitude of the change frequently are incomprehensible and usually incalculable with any high degree of precision.