Is college worth the cost?

Simpson decided to enroll anyway. She recalled that consequential decision as one of five panelists discussing the value of higher education — and why so many Americans have lost faith in it — at an EdSource online roundtable Thursday. While acknowledging that long-standing concerns about college debt and newer fears about artificial intelligence deter some prospective college students, the panelists defended the benefits of college, financially and otherwise. 

But they said colleges and universities must do more to help students continue post-secondary education throughout their lives, communicate clear expectations about how much college costs after financial aid, and teach skills like critical thinking for graduates to remain adaptable in a changing economy. Panelists suggested work-based learning, credit for prior learning, California’s new Career Passport, and dual enrollment in high school as some of the efforts aimed at meeting students where they’re at.

Here are some more takeaways from the conversation moderated by EdSource Executive Editor Michelle Quinn. The hourlong session titled “Degrees of value: How changing attitudes toward college challenge higher education in California,” showed panelists confronting public ambivalence about college that might have been less evident a decade ago. 

Despite doubts, college usually pays off in the long run

Panelists were quick to cite research suggesting that most college degrees have a positive impact on student earnings in the long term.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, the group that represents most colleges and universities, said about 40% of students start college but never finish, sometimes taking on debt without reaping the higher earnings that would come with a degree. Those who do graduate, however, earn roughly $1.5 million more during their lifetime than people without a degree, he said. 

That makes college “a great investment” for most students, said Su Jin Jez, the CEO of California Competes. “It’s better than stocks or bonds. It’s better than gold. It’s a smart place to put money.”

But students also want a fast payoff

However, students — especially those living in poverty and needing an immediate way to improve their family’s economic circumstances — may not be able to wait years or decades for their college education to pay dividends, panelists said. 

Jez challenged her colleagues to consider how higher education could improve students’ lives right away and get them certificates or degrees faster. She ticked off several strategies — asynchronous online courses, competency-based education, or even campus housing for adult students with partners and children — that colleges might use to adapt to students’ needs. 

The challenge is for colleges to open doors to economic opportunities for prospective students from the moment they set foot on campus. For Simpson, a visit to Santa Monica College’s career services office before she had even enrolled helped her to secure a graphic design internship. That work experience allowed her to learn about the kind of work she hopes to pursue — and set her up to enroll in Santa Monica College classes later on.

Fears of debt remain a pain point

Uncertainty about how much a college education will cost — and whether students will be left paying off loans decades after graduation — continues to fuel the conversation about whether college is a good investment, the roundtable discussion showed.

For some families, a parent’s experience paying off student loans from a degree that isn’t relevant to their work has created doubt that college will benefit their children, said Morgan Nugent, the superintendent of Fall River Joint Unified School District.
Nugent suggested more opportunities for career exploration and dual enrollment in high school so that students “at least explore some of those things that they may be interested in, versus going ahead and going to college, and then taking a look at having that debt starting to compound on itself.” One too-frequent scenario is when students take a year or two off to work between high school and college, he said, and never go back to school. “We really need to help and communicate the bridge between what that high school experience looks like and then that transition into higher education.” 

Mitchell said colleges must do more to communicate to families that the true cost of college tuition is often discounted far below — often half on average — the advertised sticker price thanks to financial aid programs. “We haven’t figured out a way yet to really tell people how much college is going to cost,” he said. “That’s one of the things that we’ve done wrong. It’s one of the things we need to do better at.” 

One way colleges should add value, he said, would be to “double down on something like a universal transcript that allows students to take their learning, assign credit to it, and move it from institution to institution until they find the right moment and the right place to complete.”

Jez said California has made progress in that direction with the idea of a Career Passport, a kind of hybrid between a transcript and a resume aimed at bridging the link between colleges and employers.  

AI compounds anxiety about the value of college

Amy Tong, a senior counselor in the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, said that as a parent, she can see how the multitude of higher education and training options can create confusion and uncertainty for students. She hopes for a way to “simplify a lot of this,” so that students know how to shift from their initial choice and don’t feel like “I have to have one bite at the apple. I have to make the right decision.” She said she was not sure whether the education system is helping students and families make those decisions — and possibly different ones later on — about what major and career goals are right for them. 

Adding to the uncertainty, Tong noted, students are now weighing how their career paths may be impacted by the rise of artificial intelligence. She said students have “a lot of anxiety” about finding entry-level and internship opportunities that may be displaced by the technology.

That’s among the reasons why the college experience should be an opportunity for students to develop interpersonal skills, research capabilities, and critical thinking, she added. AI can do analysis, but “it still requires that human intelligence to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to, ‘how do you use this analysis that is being driven by AI?’” Tong said. 

Amy DiPierro covers higher education and the California State University system for EdSource, an independent nonprofit organization founded in 1977, is dedicated to providing analysis on key education issues facing the state and nation. Go to edsource.org to learn more.