Making Sound Economic Choices

Is College the right choice for you?

Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of going to college is sometimes frustrating. You probably know many of the benefits of  leaving home to become a full-time college student. But have you analyzed the costs as well?

Using this table as well as adding any other that you might think of  I want you to calculate the Costs and Benefits of going to college and share out in class.

* Assign each cost and benefit a score of 1-(not very important) to a 5 -(extremely important) for each cost section

* Add your scores in both columns. 

* What conclusions can you draw by comparing the results? 

Costs and Benefits of Going to College

Cost	Score	Benefit	Score
Cost of tuition, books, room and board, and travel to school		Greater lifetime earning with a college degree
Earnings lost buy not joining the work-force full time after high school		Better job opportunities once college is completed
Lost opportunity for on-the-job training and the development of workplace skills		More opportunity to develop thinking, writing, and professional skills
Less time to pursue nonacademic interests and hobbies		More time to pursue academic interests
Less opportunity to spend time with old friends from high schools		More opportunity to make new friends from different places
Less time for spending with family at home		More opportunity to make family proud.