Is College a Good Investment During a Recession?

I was invited onto 'Tell Me More with Michel Martin' to discuss college and whether or not it makes sense to invest in college during an economic downturn such as this one. I have written extensively on the value of going to college, since I argue that education plays a huge part in determining whether you end up being a true player in life or just end up getting played. Black college students must really note the significant impact of attending college, since people of color benefit the most when we get ourselves educated.

Here are some thoughts regarding whether or not college is a good idea during a recession:

1) You must decide if college is a necessity or a luxury item for you. If you are a wealthy kid who can rack up $80,000 in debt to major in Philosophy and Theatre, then God bless you. But just make sure you are aware that the major you choose plays a huge role in your ability to manage debt after graduation. This is not a slap at those who choose majors that don't have a strong job market, it's just a reminder to make sure you know what you're stepping into. Personally, I majored in business, because college was not just my path toward educational enlightenment, it was my way to pay the bills when I got older.

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Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

They have fame, fortune and are blessed with ability to entertain. Acting and singing are part of their repertoires and they make outrageous sums of money... but how many of them have higher education?

BV has taken the liberty to highlight just a few celebrities who have hit the books at one point or another and some who even obtained college degrees. Welcome to Hollywood U!

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AFP

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Alicia Keys - Accepted to Columbia University
After graduating valedictorian of the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, a 16-year-old Keys was accepted to Columbia University in New York. However, the talented songstress decided to drop-out and forgo a college ed to pursue her musical career.

Sean Combs - Attended Howard University
Hip-hop music mogul Sean Combs briefly attended Howard University in 1987 with a major in business administration. Combs honed his chops promoting parties and meeting many of the producers who would go on to help him found Bad Boy Records. Combs dropped out of Howard in his second year to become of of the most successful and powerful individuals in music and fashion with an estimated net worth of $400 million.

David Banner - Attended Southern University and the University of Maryland (grad school)
No stranger to contradiction, southern rapper David Banner is as well-read as they come. He is one of the few rappers that can boast a college degree as well as an MS in business! His music can often be as polarized as his life as he integrates raunchy and violent themes with conscious fare on his albums.

Denzel Washington - Graduated from Fordham University
Dr. Washington? Believe it or not, everyone's favorite actor once aspired to be a doctor. But while at Fordham he caught the acting bug and switched his major to journalism. By the time he graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and Drama in 1977, Washington already had his sights set on acting. Nearly two decades later most would agree that that was a pretty smart decision.

Boris Kodjoe - Graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University
Before he was a film and television heartthrob, actor Boris Kodjoe was well on his way to being a tennis superstar. Kodjoe went to school at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he played for the Rams. After a back injury halted his sprorting aspirations, the poor guy had to settle for being a model... what a sad life.

Nicole Ari Parker - Graduated from New York University
Born in Baltimore Maryland, Nicole used to pretend that she was Willona from the TV show 'Good Times.' After being named the best actress in Maryland at a high school competition, it further solidified her desire to act. Parker was accepted New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with an acting degree in 1993.

Common - Attended Florida A&M University
This Chicago legend attended Florida A&M University to study business administration. It wasn't too long afterward though that Common was featured in the Unsigned Hype column of the 'Source Magazine' and dropped out of college to be a rapper.

Duane Martin - Graduated from New York University
The former 'All of Us' star played basketball for NYU's team and was even drafted into the NBA by the New York Knicks. While he may not be acting at the moment, Martin is currently the owner of both a sports agency and a real estate company so that college ed may be paying off after all.

Will Smith - Could have gone to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The biggest actor on the planet had a chance to go to one of the country's premiere colleges, but turned it down to pursue his music career. "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college," said Smith.

2) Figure out what you hope to get out of college. If you want to simply get a good education and are not worried about the job market very much, then you don't need an expensive school to do that. Education is what you make of it. I'd rather be a student at a state university who studies 7 hours a day than to be a frat boy at Yale living at the bottom of a beer bottle. The student who studies is going to learn; the one who doesn't study won't learn a thing. College is what you make of it. But if your goal is to use the name of your campus to open doors for great job opportunities, then this might justify the cost of an expensive university.

3) Parents, the debt is not all yours. You are getting ready for retirement, your children are young. Pretty soon, they will be earning more money than you. Does it make sense that you'll spend your golden years paying student loans for an able-bodied adult? Perhaps it's time for your children to learn how to take care of you. They will never learn to be financially independent if you don't teach them. Allowing your child to manage some of his/her student loan debt doesn't make you into a bad parent. You got them to age 18 in one piece. Some would say that you've done enough.

4) Grad school anyone? Some majors require additional education for you to be competitive in that particular market, some do not. Think through this carefully when deciding if you want to make the massive investment of going to graduate school. I believe that an MBA is usually worth the investment, while a masters in Anthropology may not always get you the job you're seeking. But outcomes can vary depending on the major, and you should do your homework.

5) Education gives you job security. One thing that many autoworkers learned during the recent economic downturn is that having a good job with little education makes you highly vulnerable to economic fluctuations. African Americans were the hardest hit during the recession, and many of us lost our jobs when the auto industry tanked. Even if you earn a lot of money, you should never stop believing that additional education doesn't have value for you. You don't want your financial future to be in the hands of someone else.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College." To have Dr. Boyce Commentary delivered to your email, please click here.