If you apply for a job at most corporations, you may not even be considered if you don’t have a college degree, especially one that relates to whatever it is the potential employer sells or how they do business. However, if you can get a job with a company that doesn’t care that much about college, or if you start your own company and it’s successful, then the question is: Is it worth all that money to get a degree from a four-year (or more) college? Perhaps not, according to the authors of Spend ‘til the End, published last year.

“The College Board claims that college pays by a lot,” the authors say, “with the median annual earnings of college grads exceeding those of high school grads by $22,600. But the board ignores the expenses associated with attending college—four years of tuition plus room and board and four years spent learning, not earning. It also ignores the relatively high interest rates charged on student loans...and the (higher taxes) on those with higher incomes.”

As an example, the authors use “18-year-old Rebecca, who is considering attending a four-year college at $40K per year....She’s looking to borrow all her college costs and start repaying the loans (perhaps totaling $183K with interest) once she graduates....Once she signs the loan documents, it potentially means a lifetime of loan payments with no ability to discharge the debts by declaring bankruptcy. This inability to default on student loans comes courtesy of Uncle Sam, who also actively helps loan collectors go after delinquents. The government even goes so far as garnishing Social Security checks to repay past-due student loans! So this is really very nasty business if things don’t work out as planned in terms of your future labor earnings.

“There’s more to college than just making money, of course (fun, making lifelong friends, etc.). But on pure economic grounds, going to an expensive college is far less beneficial than most people believe.”

Unless you can get a scholarship.