Are you financially better off than your parents were at your age?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I did a little blog for my company on the payback of higher education last year, for associate, bachelor, and master's degrees. If I remember right, the average payback period for a college degree is six years in terms of salary. I assumes various years of lost income pursuing the degree, and then analyzed the average income differential once you get the degree. For all three types of degrees, the payback period was about six years. i thought that was interesting.

But your point also reminded me of the cost. That payback period was for a public school and in-state tuition, and I think I included room and board. For all the talk about massive student debt, I was shocked at how inexpensive college costs are if you're doing an in-state public school. There's no need to go $200,000 in debt for a college degree if you think the quality of public universities is adequate.

People like to include meals, rent, and pretty much every other expense when talking about the price of college. It's as if they think they wouldn't have to eat nor pay rent if they weren't taking classes for some reason.