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It costs students an average of $20,000 per year in tuition, room, and board to attend a private, four-year college in the United States, and $8,000 year for a public four-year college. Harvard charges $31,000. College tuition costs have increased twice as fast as inflation during the past two decades. The cost of higher education includes not only the direct outlay for tuition, room, and board (minus financial aid received) but also the lost opportunity to earn income during those four years and to start a career at a time of energetic, impressionable youth. In cold financial terms, the $80,000 that a student, parents, or other benefactor puts towards education at a private four-year college could provide a comfortable endowment for purchasing a house, starting a business, or weathering the inevitable job changes during a career. On the benefit side, the student who graduates from college has instant credibility with employers. In a highly competitive job environment, academic degrees may be demanded for any career position with growth potential. All too often, however, one hears of college graduates who cannot find suitable jobs despite the investment which they made in their educations. Persons with Ph.D.s are driving taxi cabs or working as file clerks. The education process comes, of course, with no guarantees.
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