FFEF MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

FFEF provides Dollars & Sense a monthly educational newsletter free to our members and also available to the general public. Topics include budgeting, personal finance, financial literacy, saving and spending practices, and the sound use of consumer credit.

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Newsletter January 2012, Edition 7, vol. 1

The Cost of a Good Education

Chances are you've been told more than once in your life that to get a good job, you need an education. While many people got a good job without an education, there are many more who got a good job because they did have an education. "Consider the median wage of full-time workers who are at least 25 years old. At the end of last year, it was $986 a week for those with a bachelor's degree or higher, versus $574 for those with only a high-school education, according to the most recent calculation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics." (The New York Times, October 7, 2005.) A four-year college degree can be a solid investment, but there is no guarantee you will get that well-paying job as soon as you graduate so be prepared to be patient.

An education costs money. When you are trying to get out of debt, the last thing you want to do is create new unnecessary debt, but it is very difficult to complete an education without some form of financial assistance unless you or your parents planned for college many years ahead. Typical debt statistics for graduating college seniors is more than $19,000 at public institutions and nearly $22,000 for private colleges. Some undergraduates borrow as much as $35,000. Graduate students typically borrow even higher amounts, with the additional debt for a graduate degree ranging from $27,000 to $114,000 for a medical degree.

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