Is College Worth It? Ric Edelman Says Only If You Rethink Everything You Thought You Knew

For generations, the answer to the question “Is college worth it?” felt like an automatic yes. College was the next step. It was the key to better jobs, higher pay, and a stable financial future. Maybe you took on student loans, maybe you didn’t, but the promise was always the same: Get the degree, get the life.

But today, that equation is looking a whole lot different.

In this episode of the HerMoney Podcast, Jean Chatzky sits down with financial advisor and bestselling author Ric Edelman, who argues it’s time to challenge everything we think we know about college. In his new book, The Truth About College, Edelman explores how skyrocketing tuition, rising dropout rates, and a shifting job market have made the decision to attend college far more complicated and far more personal.

So, is college worth it? Ric Edelman says: Yes—but only for the right student, under the right circumstances, with the right plan.

College Can Be a Golden Ticket—But Only for the Right Student

Jean Chatzky: Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert in student lending and student debt, has a rule of thumb that you should borrow no more for all four years of college than you expect to earn in that first year out of school. Is that a rule of thumb that you agree with, or do you think that’s too low or too high? 

Ric Edelman: I like the fact that he’s putting a very low limit on the amount of indebtedness. However, my personal preference is that your goal really should be to emerge from college with zero debt. The goal should be to graduate in four years debt-free, on the dean’s list, ready to enter a career. 

And many people say there’s no way I can do that. My answer is then the child shouldn’t go to college. They should choose alternative paths. And the cool thing is that today there are so many ways to get a college degree for free. So I’m not saying no to education. I’m saying no to the old school antiquated approach of college, which is out of date and obsolete.

A Degree Doesn’t Equal a Career Anymore

Jean Chatzky: As you read the tea leaves, what careers are the most future-proof?

Ric Edelman: So it’s not a question of career, it’s a question of ability. And there are four skills, four traits that are going to be prized by employers into the future. They’re prized right, and this will grow. They are: thinking, creating, managing, and communicating.

Automation is wonderful, but we need to tell the robot what we want it to do. AI is great, but we need to instill the prompts to get the output we’re seeking. So you gotta think about what you’re trying to accomplish. Then you need to create. To turn it into reality. Then you need to be able to manage that process, which often involves managing people as well as machines. And fourth, you need to be able to communicate that. 

Technology isn’t going to undo that. Instead, we’re discovering it’s the liberal arts that teach you to think, create, manage, and communicate that are going to be prized by employers in the future. 

So…Is College Worth It?

Jean Chatzky: If you don’t know exactly what you want and how do you approach the choice of college in an intelligent way? 

Ric Edelman: The key is to recognize that college immediately out of high school is no longer the only path. It’s no longer necessarily the best path. It’s okay to pause. It’s okay for the child to tour the country, tour the world for a year or two, get to know themselves, and see what the world is like. It’s okay for the child to monitor college classes while still in high school.

Number two is the social stigma. Parents want to brag. They don’t want to say to their friends at the country club, my kids go to community college. High school guidance counselors are rewarded in their careers by how many high school grads go on to college. So for a high school student to say, I’m not going, or I’m going to community college, or I chose the military, there’s a social stigma attached to that, and that isn’t helpful; it’s not healthy for anybody. 

MORE ON HERMONEY:

• 3 Steps To Finding Jobs Without A College Degree
• 9 Personal Finance Hacks I Wish I’d Learned in College
• The Single-Mom Challenge of Saving for Retirement and Paying for College

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