We all know the Steve Jobs story. You’ve read the biography, seen the Ashton Kutcher film or at the very least seen someone mention him on Twitter. It’s no secret that Apple founder Steve Jobs did not graduate from college. He began working with technology in high school and, although he did attend Reed College for a semester, decided that his focus was better spent elsewhere. Looking at the success Jobs achieved throughout his life would suggest that college is not a necessary step toward obtaining wealth.
Jobs is not alone. According to an article by Business Insider, other successful dropouts or non-attendees include Virgin Mobile founder Richard Branson; Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, Mark Zuckerberg and Ralph Lauren. This is only a small selection of many names. Obviously, a college degree is not the only way to obtain wealth in this world, but we must ask: Are the examples above the exception or the rule? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published a chart this year comparing both weekly incomes and unemployment across various levels of education. While a person with a doctorate degree averages $1,624 per week with an unemployment rate of 2.5, a person without a high school degree averages $471 a week and battles an unemployment rate of 12.4. You are almost certainly safer, in terms of wealth, going for a doctorate degree than not completing high school at all. Hopefully, as college students, we have already come to terms with that. As you evaluate without the extremes, however, the values move closer together. A college graduate with a bachelor’s degree may expect to make $1,066 per week while a college dropout might make $727. The unemployment rates for these two groups are 4.5 and 7.7, respectively.
Still, a college education is looking pretty sweet, but we must remember that the education costs, too. An article by CNN Money writer Blake Ellis reported that the country’s class of 2013 is graduating with an average of $32,000 in loans and necessary college-related credit card debt. This universally terrifying figure leaves 12 percent of those involved in this survey “regretting this decision [to attend college] entirely.” Seven percent reported that they expected to be paying off these loans for the rest of their lives, leaving a lot of time to regret later. If we divide the average debt given by CNN and the weekly income a person with a bachelor’s degree can expect, we get 33.02, meaning that if every cent of income went into paying off debt, it would take 33 weeks to be debt free. However, because most college graduates are learning to be financially independent and often moving to different locations, paying rent and possibly even starting families, it’s unlikely that a person would be able to give more than 10 percent of their income to paying off debt. If a person making $1,066 a week gives up 10 percent of their income, that’s $106. $106 per week paying off $32,000 would take 301 weeks, or about 6 years, and this is if the graduate can consistently give up 10 percent of their income. Let’s once again compare the two weekly incomes even when we take out the weekly debt pay off. We now have a college graduate that is making $960 and a college dropout making $727. For annual income, that is $50,000 versus $38,000. Personally, I would enjoy an extra $12,000.
I see the argument of a college education’s worth as comparable to the idea of rags to riches. According to the American Dream and everything else we have been taught, hard work and an incredible amount of luck can make a prince out of a pauper. We see the similar situation in education. Yes, big names such as Steve Jobs are proof that a college education is not the only path to success; perseverance and luck can lead to success with no degree, but mathematically, they do lead to an undeniably higher income. It’s not the difference of billionaire versus poverty status, but it may allow for a richer lifestyle. What needs to be changed is the idea that those who choose not to attend college are lazy and worthless. It comes down to a personal decision regarding how much one values money over time and often how much optimism and determination a person has.
No, not every college dropout will be the new Steve Jobs, and many will battle that unemployment rate of 12.5; however, not every college graduate will be a billionaire, and many, if not most of them, will struggle as well.
Kelli Crawford, Freshman
International Affairs Major
