Making a success of college these days, graduating and scoring a well-paying, professional job, is difficult. Only three out of every ten students who matriculate cross the finish line. To make matters worse some of those college grads who needed student loans have messed up their finances so badly, they are going to have difficulty ever seeing a decent return on investment. 

When you are considering college, beware of these four red flags. 

Modest Academic Credentials 

Students tend to get all wound up over getting accepted at college. If your goal is to attend one of the highly selective schools (top 8%), that is understandable. The truth be told, most high school graduates are going to end up a one of the two thousand or so middle of the road colleges and universities. At these institutions, getting accepted is basically a bureaucratic exercise. It is a huge “pain in the butt,” but no big deal. 

Instead of freaking out about acceptance, worry more about whether or not you are “college material.” Too many high school students view college as buying a lottery ticket. You pay your money and cross your fingers, hoping for something good to happen. You should be approaching college as an investment. 

Your high school GPA is highly predictive. A high school grad with a 3.5 GPA has a 72% chance of graduating college. In my opinion, those are reasonable odds. The odds drop to 50-50 if your GPA is 3.0. I am not comfortable with those odds because if you do manage to graduate in something or other from college, you are going to have to compete with the “smart” graduates for a “college” job. 

I also like to see a standard test score at the 80th percentile or better. (SAT=1240, ACT=25) 

Lack of an Affordable, Four-year Financial Plan 

There are two keywords here, “affordable” and “four-year.” 

To address the “affordability” issue, I encourage you to read Frank Palmasani’s book, Right College, Right Price, as a family and adopt his protocol. 

“We’ll figure it out,” is not a financial plan. Most families don’t think beyond the cost of the first year of college. That is a big mistake. The number one reason college students drop out is finances. 

How to Prepare a Financial Plan for College 

https://www.iscollegereallytherightchoice.com/prepare-financial-plan-college/ 

A Need for Student Loans 

I’m not sure how many college graduates end up with student loans. The data is all over the place. For example, the latest College Board number is 50%. The Urban Institute number is 70%. 

However, I can’t say this loud enough, “Taking out student loans is extremely dangerous.” There is so much that go wrong, e.g. a simple academic planning faux pas could cost $50,000. 

Student loans: These are the Facts, Jack 

https://www.iscollegereallytherightchoice.com/student-loans-facts-jack/ 

Lack of a Career Plan  

Career Planning 101 

https://www.iscollegereallytherightchoice.com/career-planning-101/ 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has recently done a study of the wages of college graduates who only hold a bachelor’s degree. 

There were fourteen majors that had a mid-career (ages 35 to 45) median wage of at least $100,000 a year. Ten of those fourteen majors were STEM, Computer Science or some type of engineering. with Chemical Engineering topping the list at $133,000. The four non-STEM majors that came with the highest mid-career median wages were finance, economics, construction services, and business analytics. 

Many typical graduates with degrees such as Biology, Education, Communications, Theology, Criminal Justice, Hospitality, Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Fine Arts, and History barely made enough money to justify the investment in time and money. 

Conclusion 

My blog is eleven years old. I have done a lot of research, and I have the data. I try to lean heavily on the data. In this post, you are hearing more in the way of my opinions.  

In for a penny, in for a pound. Here are my weightings for these four red flags. 

• 30% Modest Academic Credentials 

• 20% Lack of an Affordable, Four-year Financial Plan 

• 35% A Need for Student Loans 

• 15% Lack of a Career Plan 

As a society we “crossed a bridge” some time ago. College is “cool.” College has been accepted as the norm—a rite of passage. It doesn’t matter whether Little Joanie is all that bright. By golly, she’s going to college. (It also doesn’t seem to matter whether she has to enter into indentured servitude.) 

However, an expensive four-year college degree is not the only path to a “breadwinner” job.

 

Congratulations, You Have Graduated from High School, Now What? 

https://www.iscollegereallytherightchoice.com/congratulations-graduated-high-school-now/