Is College Worth the Cost? That Depends

Here are two money quotes of a a report for the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (WSJ, Nov. 2021).

1. Though students often obsess over where they get in, their majors have the most sway over their future earnings. Programs in engineering, computer science, economics and nursing all yield a high return, often increasing their students’ net lifetime earnings by $500,000 or more (emphasis added).
2. Besides major, another important factor behind negative return for some programs is low completion rates. If a student graduates in four years, the increase in his earnings is usually enough to justify the costs of college across majors and schools. That’s true less often if he takes five or six years to graduate.