College Post #1: Don’t Go Into Student Debt to Study a Social Science
The goal of the College Posts is to better inform students considering going to college and those who are currently attending. Hopefully, it can contribute to a discourse for substantive improvements to higher ed. Generally speaking, these will be things I wish I had known as a senior in high school or a college student.
As to the title of this post, let me be clear. I’m not saying don’t study the social sciences. What I am saying is don’t burden yourself with non-dischargeable debt for the sake of studying a social science. The statistics reported in popular media claiming that a bachelor degree increases your wages post graduation are misleading and rely on wage analysis that poorly accounts for discipline. Your time as a student is valuable and the administrative circumstances that force you into college debt can be mitigated in some ways. With that in mind, I think the returns of investing in a social science degree via debt are dubious at best.
I know this from personal experience. I delayed attending college, choosing instead to enlist in the military. Eight years later I graduated from a public 4-year college with zero debt primarily through the use of the G.I. Bill and a bachelor degree in economics. Through that experience, I learned some important lessons:
If you’re financially independent, specifically not being claimed by your parents on their taxes, then resources become available to you simply because of an administrative designation.
What you major in is significantly more important than where you go. While I love economics, I’d have been much better served studying mechanical engineering, both professionally and personally, and studied economics as a hobby. 1
Don’t attend any school as an out-of-state student. You’re arbitrarily being charged more money. If you truly value a school outside of your home state, establish residency in the new state then enroll.
If your primary interest in going to college is the “social value”, you’re almost certainly making a bad decision. I'd suggest instead that you graduate high school, move to a college town, and tend bar until you have a better idea of what you’d like to study.
Don’t live on campus if it isn’t required. Universities overcharge for room and board.
Don’t be forced into rushing to attend university. The system isn’t going anywhere and settling to get into college faster is going to be more detrimental than many would lead you to believe.
Don’t enlist in the military if you have better options available to you.2
Note that when I reference the “social sciences” I mean the generally accepted definition that includes psychology, political science, economics, history, sociology, anthropology, and any sub-fields. This isn’t exhaustive but by and large if you're considering one of those majors as an undergraduate student then it’s likely you’re the type of individual I'm trying to speak to.
I believe social science has some amount of value to add to society, albeit with well documented caveats. However, less attention has been paid to the system through which we educate people in these topics, the returns expected for those who pursue a degree in the social sciences, and the incentives that drive all the agents operating within it. It seems to me that the institutional incentives in higher ed have been corrupted. Anyone who is considering engaging with it ought to fully understand that, not take universities on their word, and pursue strategies that are in the individual’s long-term interest.
I’m primarily concerned with the well-being of people who are vulnerable to being misled by marketing and social pressure to make poor financial decisions. This series is ultimately focused on helping people make better decisions. That said, I do want to be cognizant of my own biases and not project my regrets onto the population at large. If you know of a good resource related to higher ed, please share it. I’m not overly concerned about where it comes from, e.g. academic research vs mass media vs another blog. I’ll be happy to update based on any new information I receive. I’m open to changing my mind and if you have well-intentioned critiques please do provide them.
The only relative benefits I’ve found from going to a “good” school are networking effects and a marginal improvement in the quality of lectures. In my opinion, more often than not the premium you pay for that is not worth it.
I graduated high school with effectively zero resources for paying for school and little idea about the direction I wanted to take in life. As with many teenagers, I did not perform to my full potential and had no prospects when it came to grants, scholarships, or other forms of non-loan financial aid. My family would be considered middle class for financial aid purposes and I would have been granted a negligible amount of need-based aid at the time. I chose to enlist for four years, attend Washington State University for a bachelor in economics and the University of Texas at Austin for a graduate degree in economics.