A good value... If I asked you what a good value is when put into the context of a new pair of shoes, we would all understand that there are several factors that go into determining if a given pair of shoes is a good value. We would obviously put cost on the list of factors, though a cheap price will not always mean that we will be happy with a particular pair of shoes, especially if they lack durability and utility. We also want to feel as if those shoes meet other specifications like- were they well made (durable), were they built to perform well under the circumstances that I intend to use them in and do they meet my needs for fashion? When we get a shoe that fulfills these conditions AND come at a price that is at or below the fair amount, then we believe that we have gotten a "good deal."
If only it were this easy when shopping for a college education! There are factors that should, however, be taken into consideration when picking a college or university that will deem it a good value. One of the best factors is to look at the average amount of debt that a student graduates with against the average starting salary of a graduate from that institution (and even more specifically, what major a student would seek to earn as not all majors have the same earning potential). The lower the percentage of debt to salary ratio, the better the over all value. Other factors like graduation rates are important as well as we all send our students to a college to indeed graduate. A college education is a family decision, where the family uses many factors to decide which college to attend. So often, the decision is made by a student who is picking for reasons that do not take "value" into consideration (i.e.- who has a good football team, where are my friends going to college, etc.) It is an important bit of investigation that is sadly being left out of too many family discussions about college and thus is creating unnecessary debt-load that a family and a student will be sidled with for many years to come.
So now that we know what to look for, where can we find this type of information? I have put a link over on the right hand side of the blog page where you can look up any college in the United States to see these statistics and more. This link is under "What is the Return on Your Investment of a College Education at a Specific School?" This link is a great tool to help you with these decisions. As always, we are here to help you with all of these very important decisions.
