One of the recurring themes of the post-recession media and cultural dialogue around college education is cost. Concern over college sticker prices, earnings and employment of recent college graduates, and what actually happens on college campuses and in college classrooms has led some to speculate that college education is simply a credential to be earned in order to gain legitimacy in the job and graduate school marketplace.

Some commentators will even tell you that college is a cost that should be minimized as much as possible and that all college degrees are basically equal in value, with a spread based on college major (i.e. Graduates with Engineering degrees earn more on average than Women’s Studies majors, but a UT-Austin degree vs a TCU degree vs a University of Houston degree are of near equal value in the marketplace). Some will go further and say that college is a waste of money.  They are all wrong.

Why might you be misjudging your child’s prospective college choices?

Financial and economic evaluation of college degrees and institutions absolutely has some value. A family should be thinking about what they can afford and how their child’s college education will lead to prosperous and satisfying careers. What is of dubious worth is the devaluation of college education and the classification of college degrees and institutions on purely statistical and financial variables. Here’s why:

1. Most data about college students is unverified, self-reported, and not scientifically validated Much of what you read about colleges and their graduates is simply the results of surveys and cannot be assumed to be true, especially when reported by the college itself.
2. The college cost and college debt crisis is a complete media fabrication  2/3rds of college students graduate with $10,000 debt or less.  43% do not borrow at all. Only 15% borrow more than $20,000 to pay for their college degree. Furthermore, the average discount at American private colleges was 46% in 2014. The average sticker price at private colleges and universities in the US is $42,419, according to the College Board. So taking average price and average discount as a ballpark number ($42,419 – 46% discount), one arrives at an average net price of $22,906.26 .   That’s less than the in-state resident cost of UT-Austin for middle class families (Texas resident total costs $25,862 – 27,254 , from UT’s website), which gives no aid to middle and upper middle class families.  To sum up, there is no cost or debt crisis for undergrads and families.
3. College is not a commodity- a college education is not a widget like a TV or mobile phone So much of the college education one receives is a result of the efforts and energies one puts into studies, activities, and social life. One does not simply walk on campus and receive a college education like one would receive a TV after purchasing from the local Walmart (HT- wapo.st/1SlPayp).  Instead, a college education is the variable sum of the experiences, in and out of class learning, and interaction with peers, faculty, and advisers.  Some colleges offer more value than others in terms of professor, adviser, and alumni guidance, challenging and interesting coursework, and the availability of easily accessible extra-curricular, study abroad, and internship activities.  Yet, in the end, a student can choose to take advantage of the resources and opportunities available or do the bare minimum and spend 4 years isolated in the dorm while playing video games for hours on end.

If you are thinking of the college value equation exclusively in terms of media coverage and reported salaries, sticker prices, and cost minimization, then you are wrong-headed.  College education is not a widget.