What’s the R.O.I. On $1.36 Trillion Taxpayer Dollars?

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Currently $1.36 trillion dollars in student loans are outstanding. Financed by US taxpayers. What’s the R.O.I. (Return on Investment) to those taxpayers?

Does that loan money come back in jobs created, new product innovation, or GDP (Gross Domestic Product) increases?

Or, do we have people with bachelor’s degrees working the counter at McDonald’s?

Investment Or Expense?

What’s the return on investment to the student? OK, so you’ve got a degree. That and a buck and a half will get you a cup of coffee.

Does that sheepskin have any actual, tangible value to anyone?

Will that degree give you a step or two up the income ladder or will you still start at the entry level along with the high school graduates?

The Value of S.T.E.M Courses

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math are STEM courses that will have the largest return on investment to the average college student and their employers.

These four vocations are always in demand. The better student you are the more opportunities that will be presented to you.

Vocational Schools

I’ve often wondered why more federal money is not allocated to vocational school programs. A good welder will make as much as an associate level attorney and in about 1/3 of the time.

If you can fix something you’ll always be in demand. If you’re in high school I would suggest robot repair as a future career choice.

Some Final Thoughts

Whether we’re getting our monies worth is pretty subjective. On the surface, looking at a $1.36 trillion dollar loan program makes me a little nervous.

For the past seven years we’ve had a GDP growth of less than 3 percent. It should be 4-5 percent for a healthy economy.

You would think that someone graduating within that time frame might have made some sort of economic impact. I guess you could say Mark Zuckerberg did OK.

I drive past MSU from time to time and see the mass of humanity walking the campus and I’m not sure if I should feel pride or panic.

I guess time will tell about my selective emotion. I sure hope this level of expense will have some kind of positive payoff soon. We all have a lot invested in the future.

We need more than one Mark.

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