A generation was led to believe that a college degree was mandatory to be successful in life. While College graduates on average make $1.2 million more over their lifetime, not all degrees or college graduates achieve those stats. The obsession of getting into the highest rank school or getting any degree has created a $1.7 Trillion student debt crisis.

Here’s an example that is plaguing America:

Congratulations, you got into Harvard! As a history buff, you want to study Anthropology.

Harvard costs $57K a year in tuition and fees alone. Your parents didn’t save and you only were awarded a few scholarships. You will have to take out student loans of $40K a year. But it’s Harvard, that degree will take you anywhere in life, right?

Wrong.

Anthropology majors earn on average $40K a year (Source).

The RoEDU for this decision is awful and your future is already in jeopardy as the weight of student loans will crush your professional earnings.

If you really want to study Anthropology, our RoEDU suggests you should go [School] as you will minimize the costs and therefore maximize your RoEDU. Given your academic achievements (You did get into Harvard after all), you will likely receive more scholarships and further reduce your costs, which produces the greatest future outcome for your anthropology passion.  

Is passing on Harvard the best decision? From a financial perspective, yes. But we understand the emotional attachment and pedigree that might sway your decision. That is okay!

Our goal is to not make the decision for you, but to help you understand the implications of certain tradeoffs that could impact your future. The decision is ultimately yours.

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