大學(xué)學(xué)位到底值多少錢

　　本月，又有數(shù)百萬莘莘學(xué)子踏上了漫漫申請大學(xué)之路，他們以及他們的父母都得考慮為這個學(xué)位掏多少錢的問題。
　　As millions of students labor over college applications this month, they and their parents are pondering just how big a tuition bill they want to pay.
　　越來越多的學(xué)生開始質(zhì)疑大學(xué)學(xué)位的價值：弗吉尼亞賴斯頓市學(xué)生貸款市場協(xié)會一項針對800名大學(xué)生的調(diào)查顯示，愿意借錢上大學(xué)的學(xué)生比例從去年的67%降至如今的53%。
　　Students are increasingly skeptical about the value of a college degree; the proportion who are willing to borrow money for college if necessary has fallen to 53% from 67% in the past year, based on a survey of 800 college students by Sallie Mae, Reston, Va.
　　我在幾個月前開始撰文探討上大學(xué)的支出與回報問題，隨后電郵便源源而至，很多家長表示，如今在巨額學(xué)費支票上簽字時也得三思了。以下便是有關(guān)這個話題的一些觀點：
　　Parents are thinking harder, too, about why they sign big tuition checks, based on a steady stream of email I have received since writing about the college cost-to-value equation a few months ago. Here is a look at a few perspectives on the issue:　　　
　　大學(xué)學(xué)位是高薪工作的敲門磚：紐約大學(xué)理事會2007年的一份報告顯示，不管是單年的年薪還是一生的收入水平，通常說來，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生要比高中畢業(yè)生高出至少60%，而且這一差距還在持續(xù)加大。
　　A path to a better-paying job: College graduates in general earn at least 60% more than high-school grads on average, both annually and over their lifetimes, and the income gap has been growing over time, says a 2007 report by the College Board, New York.
　　除此之外，研究還顯示，科學(xué)或數(shù)學(xué)相關(guān)專業(yè)的學(xué)生剛畢業(yè)時的收入水平就會高于其他專業(yè)的學(xué)生。圣路易斯市的菲利浦•漢密爾頓是一位股票經(jīng)紀(jì)，他的兒子即將高中畢業(yè)。他認(rèn)為，比起名牌綜合性大學(xué)所能帶來的聲望和人脈，頂尖職業(yè)學(xué)校的高收入就業(yè)前景更值得看重。他打了個比方：你在一所所謂的能開啟機(jī)會之門的大學(xué)學(xué)什么社會學(xué)、英語或是傳播學(xué)，畢業(yè)了做的是卻園林景觀工作，你這個學(xué)位真的有用處嗎？他希望自己17歲的兒子選擇一所工程學(xué)、食品科學(xué)或是會計學(xué)特別強(qiáng)的學(xué)校，專業(yè)也就選擇這三者其中之一。他說，這樣的話，就算你剛畢業(yè)時去了家沖浪用品店上班，到27歲時想干點正經(jīng)事了，也還找得到工作。
　　Beyond that, students who major in science- or math-related fields tend to earn more right out of college, compared with other majors, research shows. Phillip Hamilton, a St. Louis stockbroker, values the earning potential of a degree from a top professional school for his son, a high-school junior, over any prestige or network a degree from an elite liberal arts college might confer. ’Is a degree in sociology, English or communications from a ’door-opening’ school really going to help with that landscaping job that awaits you?’ he asks rhetorically. He hopes his son, 17, chooses a college based on the quality of its engineering, food-science or accounting program, and majors in one of those subjects. ’Then if you decide to work at a surf shop after graduation, you can still snap out of it at 27 and get a real job,’ he says.
　　大學(xué)學(xué)位可以幫你過上豐富多彩的、有品味的生活。德克薩斯州德克薩卡納的梅根•德拉瑪•施羅德認(rèn)為，僅僅參照未來的收入水平來選擇大學(xué)會貶低大學(xué)生活的真正價值。她說，就像買房子或是昂貴的跑車一樣，一些無形的好處是無法通過短期的成本效益分析得到體現(xiàn)的。
　　Preparing for a rich, well-rounded life: To Megan DeLamar Schroeder, Texarkana, Texas, planning the college experience based entirely on future income demeans its true value. ’The intangible benefits . . . cannot be reduced to some kind of short-term cost benefit-analysis, as though one is purchasing a piece of property or an expensive sports car,’ she says.
　　上世紀(jì)80年代，她貸款4萬美元，去斯坦福大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)濟(jì)，畢業(yè)時只在一家銀行謀到了一份最底層的工作。她花了十年時間才付清了貸款，不過她說這些錢花得非常值。她說，在一個絕妙的環(huán)境中“浸淫”四年的經(jīng)歷讓她保持了終生學(xué)習(xí)的習(xí)慣，永葆求知欲。她說，等自己十歲的雙胞胎女兒選擇大學(xué)時，她會鼓勵她們秉承同樣的價值理念。
　　She borrowed $40,000 to earn an economics degree from Stanford University in the 1980s, which landed her only an entry-level job at a bank upon graduation. She spent 10 years paying off her student loans. But the experience was worth every penny, she says. The opportunity ’to ’marinate’ for four years in an amazing environment’ served as a ’springboard to lifelong learning and inquisitiveness,’ she says. She will encourage her 10-year-old twin daughters to hew to similar values when they start their college search, she says.
　　研究證實了施羅德的觀點。大學(xué)理事會的調(diào)研顯示，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生通常表現(xiàn)出更高的公民參與意識，投入志愿者活動及無償獻(xiàn)血的人數(shù)是高中畢業(yè)生的兩倍多，吸煙人數(shù)較后者少，堅持日常鍛煉的人數(shù)則更多。皮尤研究忠心2005年針對3,014名成年人的調(diào)查顯示，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生的幸福指數(shù)也更高，他們當(dāng)中有42%表示自己非常幸福，而那些高中及以下學(xué)歷者中這一比例只有30%。
　　Research supports Ms. Schroeder’s viewpoint. College grads generally show higher rates of civic participation, engaging in volunteer work and donating blood at more than twice the rate of high-school graduates, says the College Board study. They are less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise daily. College grads also have a much higher likelihood of being happy, says a 2005 survey of 3,014 adults by the Pew Research Center; 42% of college grads reported being very happy, compared with 30% of those who only finished high school or less.
　　大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)可以幫助你找到自己喜歡的工作：亞利桑那州阿帕奇強(qiáng)克遜的詹姆斯•蘭登說這是上大學(xué)的一個很好的理由，他認(rèn)為大的公立大學(xué)是開展這一調(diào)研最佳也是最經(jīng)濟(jì)省錢的地方。他有五個孩子，四個都上了大的公立大學(xué)。蘭登說，有兩個孩子剛?cè)雽W(xué)時并不知道自己以后想做什么，不過這樣的大學(xué)有著數(shù)量龐雜的課程、專業(yè)以及師資，幫助他們最終找到了自己的方向。一個孩子選了經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，如今是一位成功的房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)；另一個選擇了心理學(xué)及政治學(xué)，如今在研究生院負(fù)責(zé)外事工作。
　　Finding work you love: James Landon, Apache Junction, Ariz., says this is a good reason to attend college, and he sees big public universities as the best and most cost-effective place to conduct such a search. Four of his five children attended big public universities. Two of them had no idea as freshmen what they wanted to do, Mr. Landon says, and the universities’ broad offerings of programs, majors and facilities helped them figure it out. One wound up in finance and is a successful real-estate broker; the other majored in psychology and political science and is now pursuing a foreign-service career in graduate school.
　　大學(xué)學(xué)位有時還會以更微妙的方式引導(dǎo)學(xué)生選擇自身的職業(yè)�，F(xiàn)年24歲的詹森•沃特曼是紐約格雷特內(nèi)克Tailwaiters公司的創(chuàng)始人之一，這家新公司為客戶舉辦體育賽事及演奏會活動期間的車尾野餐會。他說，這是我自己的公司，是我自己的孩子。公司邁出的每一步，每一點一滴的發(fā)展，感覺都好極了。
　　College degrees can guide students’ career choices in subtler ways. Jason Wotman, 24, loves his work as a co-founder of Tailwaiters, a Great Neck, N.Y., startup that runs tailgate parties for clients at sporting events and concerts. ’It’s mine, it’s my baby. Every step, every ounce of progress, feels good,’ he says.
　　他說，在范德比爾特大學(xué)拿到的人力和組織發(fā)展專業(yè)的學(xué)位幫助自己成為了一名企業(yè)家。在市場營銷、人力資源管理以及領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力課程上習(xí)得的知識使得他能夠把握機(jī)遇、白手起家。他說，我覺得自己擁有了將創(chuàng)意轉(zhuǎn)化為現(xiàn)實的利器。
　　His degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University helped launch him as an entrepreneur, he says. His courses in marketing, human-resource management and leadership equipped him well to size up opportunities and run a startup. ’Taking it from an idea to an actual business, I felt like I had the tools,’ he says.
　　大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)幫你建立起廣泛的人脈：許多名校畢業(yè)生都表示，畢業(yè)之后大學(xué)校友的人脈資源為自己開啟了機(jī)會之門，當(dāng)初為了進(jìn)入這些大學(xué)所付出的艱辛和努力是完全值得的。不過全美經(jīng)濟(jì)研究局曾針對6,335名大學(xué)畢業(yè)生開展了一項長期的調(diào)研，他們于1999年發(fā)表的調(diào)研報告稱，在入學(xué)時學(xué)生SAT學(xué)術(shù)能力評估考試成績普遍很高──這表明這些學(xué)生出類拔萃──的學(xué)校，學(xué)生畢業(yè)后收入不一定就很高。
　　Gaining an influential network: Many graduates of elite colleges swear by the value of their network of campus buddies in opening doors after graduation, and say striving to gain admission to such schools is worth the effort. However, a long-term study of 6,335 college grads published in 1999 by the National Bureau of Economic Research found graduating from a college where entering students have higher SAT scores -- a sign of exclusivity -- didn’t pay off in higher post-graduation income.
　　對收入影響更大的似乎是學(xué)生的個人奮斗。有一個非常奇怪的現(xiàn)象，學(xué)生當(dāng)年申請卻遭拒的學(xué)校水平越高，這位學(xué)生今后就越有可能得到高收入。研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些申請過多所名校卻沒能上成的學(xué)生──十有八九是被拒了──今后的收入通常會高過那些得償所愿的學(xué)生。經(jīng)濟(jì)研究局在調(diào)研報告摘要中稱，顯然，相較學(xué)術(shù)能力，學(xué)生本人的動力、雄心以及求知欲對于今后的成功起到了更為重要的作用。
　　What matters more, it seems, is graduates’ personal drive. In a surprising twist, a stronger predictor of income is the caliber of the schools that reject you. Researchers found students who applied to several elite schools but didn’t attend them -- presumably because many were rejected -- are more likely to earn high incomes later than students who actually attended elite schools. In a summary of the findings, the Bureau says that ’evidently, students’ motivation, ambition and desire to learn have a much stronger effect on their subsequent success than average academic ability of their classmates.’

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