Half Of Parents Nowadays Don't Want Their Kids Doing Something That Was Once A Non-Negotiable
Pablo Merchan from Studio Colombia | Canva Pro Hannah Maruyama is one-half of the "Degree Free" duo, working alongside Ryan Maruyama to teach people about alternatives to the "traditional path" of attending a 4-year college or university right after graduating high school.
According to recent studies, the growing costs of obtaining a college degree and increased competition in the job market have made Americans less confident in the higher education system, and Hannah does the math to explain how.
A Bachelor’s degree can cost upwards of $500,000 total on average.
Thanks to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), we know that the average cost of tuition per year, per student, is around $36,000. "Which is cute, right?" Hannah asked sarcastically. "$104,000 for four years, except for there’s one problem with that."
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The problem is that most students aren’t graduating from a 4-year college in four years. Data from the NCES also shows that only 45% of students graduate in four years. Most graduate in five-and-a-half or six years, and according to the math done by Hannah, this equates to nearly $200,000.
But wait, there's more. When you take into account the amount of wages lost due to time spent in college and student loan interest over time, the average Bachelor's degree in 2026 will cost over $500,000. Half a million dollars!
A Wall Street Journal-NORC survey published in March 2023 revealed that 56% of Americans think that paying for a 4-year degree is a "bad bet." Hannah also believes that "buying a college degree" is incredibly high risk.
However, kids in school are brought up to believe that the normal career track is going to college right out of high school. Student counselors and teachers are constantly prepping kids to think about college, what they’re going to continue studying, and the degree they want to earn.
Hannah wants people to understand that college isn't always worth it, and there are other paths that kids can take.
"It's a hard pill to swallow that that's an irresponsible purchase because they have been marketing to us that one: it's a necessary purchase, and that two: we deserve to purchase it," she claimed. Hannah equates the way people are brought up to view college as marketing tactics for people to purchase a product; that product being a college degree.
Colleges and universities peddle the “higher education” experience as being the only way to achieve an education, when the reality is that there are so many ways to gain an education outside of that.
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"You can purchase education everywhere, so when people talk about education being inaccessible, no. Not even higher education is [inaccessible] to people; that is not true," Hannah argued. "College is inaccessible to people because colleges are greedy businesses." They're raising the price of the education they offer and telling kids they must purchase their "debt product," as she called it.
As college tuition continues to rise and the value of a degree is increasingly questioned, alternatives to the traditional path are becoming more common. Parents are increasingly searching for alternatives for their children so they don’t end up owing half a million dollars after all is said and done.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and relationships.
