Is College Worth It? Non-Grads Say Yes

(Photo: Will Folsom)

Notwithstanding the ongoing controversy over rising college tuition costs, there’s one group of people who think that college is worth the cost: people who haven’t gone. Catherine Rampell of Economix blogs about a new survey of recent high school graduates:

Seven in 10 of these recent graduates said they would need more education if they were to have a successful career. Despite their belief in the value of post-secondary education, though, only 38 per cent definitely planned to attend college to get more education in the next five years. Barriers included skyrocketing tuitions and family obligations.

Many of the respondents felt differently at the start of high school — 35 per cent thought they would “definitely” go to college and 28 percent believed they would “probably” go.  Minority students were even more optimistic at the start of high school:

Among blacks and Hispanics who were recent high school graduates without bachelor’s degrees, nearly half — 47 percent — said that when they began high school they had “definitely” expected to go to college eventually. Another 22 percent said they had thought they “probably” would enroll in college.