One of the most important decisions you will make is deciding on a career. Once you decide, it may take many years to prepare for your chosen career. Many times preparing for a career involves earning a college education. Perhaps one of the best reasons to go to a two-year or four-year college is that this will give you more career options. There have been many studies about whether college graduates earn more money than their counterparts. While there might be some debate about how much more money a they will earn, there is widespread agreement that college graduates have more options than their contemporaries.
Anyone interested in a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, or mathematics (STEM) will almost certainly need a college degree, and quite possibly even more advanced training like a Master's or PhD. Many other higher-paying careers require a college education, or an associate two-year degree from a community or junior college. One advantage of going to a junior college is that this will let you try it out, and it provides a convenient stopping point after two years if you decide you don’t want to continue. And if you do decide to continue, then you may transfer to a 4-year college and receive credit for your first two years at the junior college. However, there can be problems making this transfer as well, since some of your courses taken at the junior college might not match the requirements of the degree program at the 4-year college.
As reported by payscale.com, the top 5 highest-paying annual salaries for bachelor’s degrees for new graduates in 2019 were:
- Petroleum Engineering: $94,500
- Physician Assistant: $91,100
- Electrical Engineering & Computer Science: $88,000
- Pharmacy: $79,600
- Metallurgical Engineering: $78,100
Note that the figures above are industry averages, and your personal annual salary may be lower or higher than the industry average. Also notice that all the careers above require a strong background in mathematics and science.
The table below shows the average annual cost of attending college, from 2018. On average, for a public school, an education at a two-year college will cost $10,281 and at a four-year state college will cost $20,050 per year. Your net price reflects the fact that most students obtain scholarships, grants, and financial aid to help pay for college. The net cost is what you and your family need to pay on average, assuming that you can obtain scholarships and other financial aid to cover the rest of the cost.
| Period | Public 2-year | Public 4-year | Private 4-year |
|---|---|---|---|
Average annual total tuition, fees, room, and board
|
$10,281
|
$20,050
|
$43,139
|
The figures in the table above are from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Saving for College
It’s not too early to make a savings plan to save the money needed for at least the first year of college. Because the amount of scholarships and financial aid available is unknown, you should plan to save $20,050 - an amount necessary to attend the first year of some four-year public colleges. This assumes that the costs of college will not rise over the next few years, which is probably wishful thinking.
The savings plan will involve you (or your parents) making monthly payments into a savings account. It is hard to find a savings account that pays a high interest rate, but let’s assume that you can find an account that pays an interest rate of 1.11% compounded monthly.
Farther Off in the Future
Just as small amounts of money invested monthly amount to significant savings for college, the same is true of a retirement plan. Investing or paying into an account at regular intervals, establishes an annuity or tax-free savings account.