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Research Center, only 58 percent of students who started college
in the fall semester of 2012 had earned any type of college degree
six years later. And it doesn’t note that, according to the Wash-
ington Post, fewer than 30 percent of college graduates end up
working in a field related to their college major.
Considering the Cost of
College
College cost and college debt, in particular, are factors that every
high school student today must consider when trying to decide
whether or not college is the right choice for them. In 2024, the
average cost of a full year of college was $27,146 for a public
four-year institution for an in-state student, $45,708 for a public
four-year institution for an out-of-state student, and $55,840 for
a private four-year institution. Even tuition for a local community
college can cost nearly $5,000 a year.
Most colleges increase their tuition rates incrementally each year.
In 2019, CNBC reported that costs at public colleges had jumped 55
percent over the course of the previous decade. Historically, tuition
goes up three to five percent per year.
Moreover, these numbers don’t even account for all the expenses
that attending college can entail. Room and board, books, dorm
room supplies, school supplies, and transportation can all add
significantly to the cost of attending college for even just the first
year—let alone for four years or longer.
It’s because of these high costs that many students have to take
out student loans in order to pay for college. According to the
Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities, only 42 percent
of students at four-year public universities finish college and earn
their bachelor’s degrees with $0 in debt.
More often, students graduate with significant debt. As of 2023,
the average student loan debt, among college graduates who