WSJ article “Weighing Price and Value When Picking a College”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203739404574288301760990542.html
Excellent July 16, 2009 WSJ article “Weighing Price and Value When Picking a College”

“In a May 2008 survey of 720 parents of college students by Gallup and Sallie Mae, a student-loan company, 46% said they had never, at any point, ruled out any colleges for their kids based on costs.” Is there any wonder that the cost of college has inflated so much faster than other costs? What would have happened to the cost of autos in the US if car buyers had had the same attitude? When few care about the price it is sure to increase to a point where someone finally does care.

This notion that you always get what you pay for is simply a fallacy. But one benefit of the recession is that families are looking at the cost of college much more pragmatically.

“The engines that have enabled college costs to soar—easy credit, home-equity loans and growth in savings—have stalled.” Not to mention the wealthier the society the higher average “sense of entitlement”. The shakier the economy the more obvious it is how challenging it is to n get a good paying job.

But what is even more important than how expensive your college is what do you study. Does anyone debate that an electrical engineering degree from San Jose State will offer more job prospects than a History degree from Stanford?