What about the high cost of a college education?

Hello fellow blogger. This is a very big issue and it will be very hard to fix. The cost of a traditional college education is out of control and we the people have no real say in the matter. Schools and colleges pay little attention to operational expense which drive costs up each year. Another interesting issue is the way the colleges get a good portion of their income. It comes from various government sponsored sources. The key to funding for most colleges is to get their hands on title IV funds. This allows students and their parents to borrow money to give to the schools. This type of funding has little to do with traditional credit standards, like credit ratings or the ability to repay. It is easy money for the colleges. This kills the competitive element for most of the colleges out there. So up goes tuition every year across the board. WOW this is a huge topic. We can talk about the FAFSA processes and the infamous expected family contribution, the two fifteen week semesters (a ton of money for 39 wks work), the work ethic of most professors (not all), the staffs and how they do their jobs (may be well done maybe not), the buildings and grounds the programs.

Then comes the real issue what is the ultimate pay back for the average student after paying anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 for their college education? First, four years out of the work force while they are in school. Second the college student gets into the industry they choose later than other students who choose alternative paths to a career. One such alternative path to a great career is to earn professional certifications. this kind of very focused education can be completed in as little as twelve weeks. With this kind of time table the student gets into a chosen field way before the traditional college grad. When the traditional college students gets out and starts their new job they will probably be working for the professionally certified student who now has four years experience on the job. The professional certification cost is about $6,000 which is so much less than the traditional college student spends. Because the professional certification student got the full time job while the college student was still in school, the money changed drastically. The student with the professional certification worked for four years earning a total of $160,000-$260,000. In that same time the traditional college student is spending up to $300,000 in tuition over the same four years. That is as much as a $560,000 swing. YIKES!

In the words of the hysterically funny Joan Rivers "can we talk"?