I'm sick and tired of people putting arbitrary dollar valuations on abstract things. College is not a financial investment. You can not only look at your debt and your income to make this decision. It might make for a good, sensational news article, but it's almost immoral how backwards this viewpoint is.
The real value in college, like just about any other pursuit, is network building. Like several commenters have said, if all you wanted out of school was to learn something, you could go to the library. The fees for college are for the intangible aspects, and are worth far more than a direct dollars-to-dollars comparison will show.
Think of college as an IDE for personal development. It sets up a ready-made environment for you to explore new relationships, indulge in a variety of pursuits, and learn about the world. There are thousands of other people using the same IDE, creating a lively place for discussion of issues you'd never otherwise think of. People introduce you to new features or mechanics which you never considered before; you naturally begin to collaborate and contribute to large scale projects. You might even lead a few. Could you get all of these experience by piecing different activities together? Of course. Would it be nearly as productive, successful, and transformational? Of course not.
Like an IDE though, sometimes college can get a little bulky; you're naturally going to be paying for some features you don't want or use. But most of us keep paying anyway, because there's a few killer features which make it all worthwhile, ones that you wouldn't dare put a pricetag on. Attending university altered the entire trajectory of my life, starting from how I saw myself to what I want to accomplish. It redefined what I thought was possible for human endurance and achievement. It restored my faith in the ability of small groups to enact large positive change. It cost a pretty penny, but it has provided an unquantifiably large return on investment.
>The real value in college, like just about any other pursuit, is network building.
I was with you for the first para. I thought you were going to say the building of a base on which to expand the realm of human understanding, further the development of the human race, expand minds and horizons ...
I'm sorry but this simply sounds like you're searching for justification to yourself. I gained nearly no networking value from my time in post-secondary. I have gained far more from being capable of creating great interpersonal relationships and connections between people who could easily be perfect strangers only an hour ago.
No network is worth paying an administration and professor hundreds of thousands.
People are perfectly capable of having conversations outside of that setting, just look at this thread. We're not in a school, we're online, and all have different backgrounds and perspectives.
I have had more of a personal transformation over the past 8 years of my life with nearly none of that coming from my college experiences. Once upon a time I was as articulate as sum1 dat type lik diz yo. I learned about history, philosophy, religion, languages, cultures, foods, how to create inter-personal relationships, studying behaviour, some basic psychology, debate, frameworks of thought, and so much more. Did I learn any of this at post-secondary? Of course not.
So keep your IDE, I'll stick with EMACS and VIM.
Lastly, don't attribute success due to your own ambition to going to a school. Without your ambition you'd have a lovely job using a masters to deliver pizza, your success in school came along for the ride.
The real value in college, like just about any other pursuit, is network building. Like several commenters have said, if all you wanted out of school was to learn something, you could go to the library. The fees for college are for the intangible aspects, and are worth far more than a direct dollars-to-dollars comparison will show.
Think of college as an IDE for personal development. It sets up a ready-made environment for you to explore new relationships, indulge in a variety of pursuits, and learn about the world. There are thousands of other people using the same IDE, creating a lively place for discussion of issues you'd never otherwise think of. People introduce you to new features or mechanics which you never considered before; you naturally begin to collaborate and contribute to large scale projects. You might even lead a few. Could you get all of these experience by piecing different activities together? Of course. Would it be nearly as productive, successful, and transformational? Of course not.
Like an IDE though, sometimes college can get a little bulky; you're naturally going to be paying for some features you don't want or use. But most of us keep paying anyway, because there's a few killer features which make it all worthwhile, ones that you wouldn't dare put a pricetag on. Attending university altered the entire trajectory of my life, starting from how I saw myself to what I want to accomplish. It redefined what I thought was possible for human endurance and achievement. It restored my faith in the ability of small groups to enact large positive change. It cost a pretty penny, but it has provided an unquantifiably large return on investment.