Placing a Value on Education

Someone asked on Quora.com just now: How affordable is Trinity College?  As a member of the class of 1977, I thought I’d give it a go:

That’s a good question, though it’s hard to answer.  I’m always amused when I read the articles in the Wall Street Journal that attempt to place a value on a college education; the author normally explores the difference in total lifetime paychecks (or their net present value) that graduates earn vs. those without a diploma.  Not to sound holier than thou, but that’s insanely shallow.  Here are a couple of things to consider:

What about the concept of enjoying one’s time here on Earth?  How much more enjoyment do educated people take from their lives, merely from their new-found abilities to appreciate more of the world around them: literature, art, philosophy, interesting people, music, history, a better understanding of the way the physical universe behaves, a deeper interest in “the human condition,” and so forth?  

Even more basically, how much are you going to enjoy your career, i.e., that thing that you’re going to be doing with about half of your waking hours for perhaps 50 years?  

Since people of character generally enjoy giving back to others, we also need to ask: Isn’t it likely that educated people are more capable of helping others along life’s road?  

According to a recent study Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, educated people live longer and healthier lives than their uneducated counterparts.  What price-tag would you put on that?  Sorry to joke about a serious matter, but it’s hard not to be reminded of what poet/musician Todd Snyder taught us:

You’re gonna take that ocean trip, No matter come what may.
You got your reservations, But you just can’t get away.
Next year, for sure, you’ll see the world, You’ll really get around;
But how far can you travel, When you’re six feet underground?

Obviously, these are tough, perhaps unanswerable questions, but I hope I’ve made my point: they’re much more germane than comparing bank accounts.