What do you think?
Rate this book
Making College Pay: An Economist Explains How to Make a Smart Bet on Higher Education
A leading economist makes the case that college is still a smart investment, and reveals how to increase the odds of your degree paying off.
“Full of easy-to-understand advice grounded in deep expertise and research.”—Martin West, William Henry Bloomberg Professor of Education, Harvard University
The cost of college makes for frightening headlines. The outstanding balance of student loans is more than $1.5 trillion nationally, while tuitions continue to rise. And on the heels of a pandemic that nearly dismantled the traditional college experience, we have to Is college really worth it?
From a financial perspective, says economist Beth Akers, the answer is yes. It’s true that college is expensive, but once we see higher education for what it is—an investment in future opportunities, job security, and earnings—a different picture The average college graduate earns an additionalmillion dollars over their career (compared to those who stopped their education after high school), and on average, two- and four-year schools deliver a 15 percent return on investment—double that of the stock market.
Yet these outcomes are not guaranteed. Rather, they hinge upon where and how you opt to invest your tuition dollars. Simply put, the real problem with college isn’t the cost—it’s the risk that your investment might not pay off.
In Making College Pay, Akers shows how to improve your odds by making smart choices about where to enroll, what to study, and how to pay for it. You’ll learn
• why choosing the right major can matter more than where you enroll
• the best criteria for picking a school ( not price, selectivity or ranking)
• why working part-time while enrolled might set you back financially
• why it’s often best to borrow, even if you don’t have to
• the pros and cons of innovative alternatives to traditional college
• how to take advantage of new, low-risk financing tools
Full of practical advice for students and parents, Making College Pay reminds us that higher education remains an engine for opportunity, upward mobility, and prosperity.
“Full of easy-to-understand advice grounded in deep expertise and research.”—Martin West, William Henry Bloomberg Professor of Education, Harvard University
The cost of college makes for frightening headlines. The outstanding balance of student loans is more than $1.5 trillion nationally, while tuitions continue to rise. And on the heels of a pandemic that nearly dismantled the traditional college experience, we have to Is college really worth it?
From a financial perspective, says economist Beth Akers, the answer is yes. It’s true that college is expensive, but once we see higher education for what it is—an investment in future opportunities, job security, and earnings—a different picture The average college graduate earns an additionalmillion dollars over their career (compared to those who stopped their education after high school), and on average, two- and four-year schools deliver a 15 percent return on investment—double that of the stock market.
Yet these outcomes are not guaranteed. Rather, they hinge upon where and how you opt to invest your tuition dollars. Simply put, the real problem with college isn’t the cost—it’s the risk that your investment might not pay off.
In Making College Pay, Akers shows how to improve your odds by making smart choices about where to enroll, what to study, and how to pay for it. You’ll learn
• why choosing the right major can matter more than where you enroll
• the best criteria for picking a school ( not price, selectivity or ranking)
• why working part-time while enrolled might set you back financially
• why it’s often best to borrow, even if you don’t have to
• the pros and cons of innovative alternatives to traditional college
• how to take advantage of new, low-risk financing tools
Full of practical advice for students and parents, Making College Pay reminds us that higher education remains an engine for opportunity, upward mobility, and prosperity.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published May 18, 2021
1 person is currently reading
758 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 30, 2021
One of the more recently published books on the value of a college degree. It’s an interesting read for parents and recently high school grads. It has answers about:
1) Does a college degree still worth its cost? Short answer- yes.
2) How to pay for college-the author also clarified some misinformation about the student debt crisis.
3) Why choosing a college should not be solely based on cost, campus, prestige, or ranking.
4) What are some newer researches on the links between college and job/pay/life potential.
5) Why our perception of higher education is deceived by our society and marketing.
6) How we can make sure college degree has a high return, in terms of the time/money we invested in.
7) What will a wrong school/ major/timing cost a recent college grad?
The book was easy to read and sometimes quite humorous. The author is an economist and served as a staff economist under President George W. Bush.
1) Does a college degree still worth its cost? Short answer- yes.
2) How to pay for college-the author also clarified some misinformation about the student debt crisis.
3) Why choosing a college should not be solely based on cost, campus, prestige, or ranking.
4) What are some newer researches on the links between college and job/pay/life potential.
5) Why our perception of higher education is deceived by our society and marketing.
6) How we can make sure college degree has a high return, in terms of the time/money we invested in.
7) What will a wrong school/ major/timing cost a recent college grad?
The book was easy to read and sometimes quite humorous. The author is an economist and served as a staff economist under President George W. Bush.
May 28, 2021
This is a short interesting book on how families and students should think about making a choice on college. It presents some very sound principles to analyze college options. The initial premise is that the value of a college degree is worth about $1 million over a career. (Roughly $25,000 a year in nominal terms). She then analyzes how to maximize the net value of that amount. In my thinking she is a bit more supportive of using loans to help finance one's education, than I would be.
As I have thought about it one needs to offer model for judging the value of college degree that is a bit more nuanced. Start with the gross number of $1,000,000 over a lifetime. But about 40% of all students never graduate - so one need immediately reduce the gross amount by 40%. One also has to discount the opportunity costs of attending college (at least 4 years of foregone income of perhaps $25,000 per year). For those students who take more than four years the opportunity costs increase by about $50,000 for each extra year. In my mind one also has to evaluate the costs of borrowing money versus other options. Finally there are the potential costs and benefits of choice of majors. Choose a major with the term "studies" in it and you can expect to not do as well as other fields but all majors even those with low income potential have the chance for wide variation.
What is most valuable about Akers' book is the establishment of a set of frameworks to make a wise choice of both college and major. What Akers also does, is to offer a set of web based resources to evaluate choices which a student can use in thinking about choices. This book will not give you an answer about how you or your kids can choose a college but it will give you the capability to make a sound set of judgments.
As I have thought about it one needs to offer model for judging the value of college degree that is a bit more nuanced. Start with the gross number of $1,000,000 over a lifetime. But about 40% of all students never graduate - so one need immediately reduce the gross amount by 40%. One also has to discount the opportunity costs of attending college (at least 4 years of foregone income of perhaps $25,000 per year). For those students who take more than four years the opportunity costs increase by about $50,000 for each extra year. In my mind one also has to evaluate the costs of borrowing money versus other options. Finally there are the potential costs and benefits of choice of majors. Choose a major with the term "studies" in it and you can expect to not do as well as other fields but all majors even those with low income potential have the chance for wide variation.
What is most valuable about Akers' book is the establishment of a set of frameworks to make a wise choice of both college and major. What Akers also does, is to offer a set of web based resources to evaluate choices which a student can use in thinking about choices. This book will not give you an answer about how you or your kids can choose a college but it will give you the capability to make a sound set of judgments.
January 14, 2024
A short, concisely explained guide to ensure that your college degree is paying off. This book was strictly financial advice, and was helpful for me as I begin my college search journey. There were a few online resources in here that I didn’t know about before and am eager to check out. There’s also an extremely thorough table in the back of the book that lists every major and the average bachelor degree holder’s salary in the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile. This is where I learned that studio art majors make on average $40,000 a year (50th percentile) 😀. Good thing I’m not majoring in it anymore! Ugh
Anyway, I will definitely be remembering this book when considering college’s ROIs and the risk involved. I’m glad I read this because it gave me new perspectives and elements to consider. However, the last chapter or two didn’t really apply to me as I’m not looking to enroll in non traditional colleges like skills boot camps or CBE.
☞ 3 stars (liked it)
Anyway, I will definitely be remembering this book when considering college’s ROIs and the risk involved. I’m glad I read this because it gave me new perspectives and elements to consider. However, the last chapter or two didn’t really apply to me as I’m not looking to enroll in non traditional colleges like skills boot camps or CBE.
☞ 3 stars (liked it)
May 5, 2021
Deciding on college is the biggest decision of a young person's life: social, intellectual, economic, and financial. Yet it is also a decision that is based on some the shakiest of foundations--where/whether parents went to college, beloved sports teams, cool colors, traditions.
Beth Akers brings a sober economist's eye to the college application process, minimizing the differences between private and public universities while maintaining a strong focus on the significance of choosing a major that will make a college investment pay off for the student and her/his family.
Later chapters discuss the types of loans available and offer advice on debt (key idea: have in mind a career that will help you pay them back). Drawing on her own experience as a first-year art student at a tony private college who transferred to a public university to major in economics, she provides key appendices with resources that compare colleges and which illustrate the true value of variety of college majors.
At a length that families, students and guidance counselors will find useful, this book is an ideal resource for those who are thinking big--trying to match big dreams with financial fears.
I don't think that Akers (or any economist, guidance counselor, or parent) will ever take the emotion, the pride, the ambition, or the many other emotions out of choosing college. But her book informs and enlightens. It will make a difference for those who read.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Beth Akers brings a sober economist's eye to the college application process, minimizing the differences between private and public universities while maintaining a strong focus on the significance of choosing a major that will make a college investment pay off for the student and her/his family.
Later chapters discuss the types of loans available and offer advice on debt (key idea: have in mind a career that will help you pay them back). Drawing on her own experience as a first-year art student at a tony private college who transferred to a public university to major in economics, she provides key appendices with resources that compare colleges and which illustrate the true value of variety of college majors.
At a length that families, students and guidance counselors will find useful, this book is an ideal resource for those who are thinking big--trying to match big dreams with financial fears.
I don't think that Akers (or any economist, guidance counselor, or parent) will ever take the emotion, the pride, the ambition, or the many other emotions out of choosing college. But her book informs and enlightens. It will make a difference for those who read.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
February 21, 2023
This is one of those books that is tough to judge based not necessarily on what it seeks to do but my reaction to it. It is a useful corrective to the freak out about student debt in that it attempts to look at paying for college through a sensible risk-reward perspective and urges the reader to do their research and make decisions based on circumstances and their comfort with risk. Good advice.
What it doesn't help with, what it really can't help with, is anyone who makes too much money to get enough need based aid to significantly cover the cost of college but doesn't make enough to pay for college out of pocket. At a certain income level, and even with a very successful student, even attending a state university is prohibitively expensive. Are parents really supposed to borrow $15,000 a year to send their kids to college (this in addition to their kids borrowing $5,000 themselves)?
This rant aside, Akers book is a useful one for most students and parents. There is nothing groundbreaking here but a lot of the information presented is too often ignored when making these decisions and offers a useful perspective change.
What it doesn't help with, what it really can't help with, is anyone who makes too much money to get enough need based aid to significantly cover the cost of college but doesn't make enough to pay for college out of pocket. At a certain income level, and even with a very successful student, even attending a state university is prohibitively expensive. Are parents really supposed to borrow $15,000 a year to send their kids to college (this in addition to their kids borrowing $5,000 themselves)?
This rant aside, Akers book is a useful one for most students and parents. There is nothing groundbreaking here but a lot of the information presented is too often ignored when making these decisions and offers a useful perspective change.
September 27, 2024
Some good advise echoed by many, but I hated that she’s all rah rah about student loans being cheap money and that is NOT the case right now. She has some good info about college selection and degree selection, but much of her book, or the parts I was most interested in, is out of touch. It was written in 2021 in a short time span when student loan interest rates were low, but rates haven’t been low like that since and weren’t even low like that for decades prior.
August 27, 2021
A good quick read with some interesting, and unusual, ideas about paying for college and determining what school/major, etc., are worth the investment.
For parents like me trying to figure out the college financial path, definitely worth the time to read.
For parents like me trying to figure out the college financial path, definitely worth the time to read.
June 15, 2021
I liked that this book provides an alternate viewpoint on the discussion of student loan forgiveness. I didn't find the closing chapters as interesting as the rest of the book.
dnf
March 6, 2023On the first page she says that college must be worth it or people wouldn’t spend so much money promoting it, and I don’t have time for anything this dumb.
September 6, 2025
Insightful. Recommended reading for 10th-12th grade students and parents.
I'd love to see a new article by the author with any recent data/trends since the time of the writing (2021).
I'd love to see a new article by the author with any recent data/trends since the time of the writing (2021).
December 31, 2021
An interesting book that aims to be a way to think like an economist in picking colleges or universities.
It fails in two respects. First, it sells using public data sets like the College Scorecard, and there is no appreciable evidence that this is used by the general consumer (and seems more of interest to policy winks and researchers who are hungry for data to analyze and opine on). Further, the author doesn’t show how to use such resources or point to online resources that do so.
Second, the author is enamored on income share agreements, a controversial concept in some circles.
However, the author does argue that student loans are not the dark enemy they are made to be in today’s discourse, and that matching career aims with realistic expectations of future earnings is important to mitigate irresponsible over borrowing, which is the real problem at hand.
It fails in two respects. First, it sells using public data sets like the College Scorecard, and there is no appreciable evidence that this is used by the general consumer (and seems more of interest to policy winks and researchers who are hungry for data to analyze and opine on). Further, the author doesn’t show how to use such resources or point to online resources that do so.
Second, the author is enamored on income share agreements, a controversial concept in some circles.
However, the author does argue that student loans are not the dark enemy they are made to be in today’s discourse, and that matching career aims with realistic expectations of future earnings is important to mitigate irresponsible over borrowing, which is the real problem at hand.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews