I went to a community college 10 miles from home for the first 2 years, got an Associates Degree in Accounting, transferred the degree to a state university 2 hours from home, but maybe 20 miles from my dad’s sister’s family where we went often anyway, got my Bachelor’s in Accounting with a minor in Business Administration and an emphasis in CPA studies…I took the CPA exam right out of school and passed ¾ of it on the first try (only about 15% of test takers accomplish this). Basically, my classes cost 20 to 30 bucks a credit, let’s say $30 average over the course of the 4 years, I had 193 quarter credits, so add in books and the cost of a dorm the last 2 years, my entire education cost less than 10 grand from ‘89 to ‘93. Even though I’ve had a few extended periods of unemployment.
Looking at what I’ve made as a professional accountant since my first temp job about a year after finishing college vs. what would have happened if I went to work right after high school, I figure that I’m at least $150,000 ahead if I assume I would have started at $8 an hour and managed to get a 4% raise year after year and remain constantly employed doing something without a degree. So, I’d say that’s a pretty good investment.
Now, I think if I was a person who wanted to be at the top of my career, reach for the brass ring, climb the ladder, I could probably be a partner in a CPA firm, making high 6 figures with a 7 or 8 figure net worth by this point in my life, which if I were that kind of go getter, I could have gone to an Ivy League school, spent 10 to 20 times as much, but then instead of pretty much working 40 hours a week at most of my jobs, having a wife and child and never being a workaholic, I would have had to put in 80 to 100 hours a week and had no personal life. Yeah, the money would be nice, but not worth it. I think if all a person wants is an honest job that pays well, go get an education, any one is just as good as any other for that purpose, unless you want to really be a career oriented person, a power player in your field, any one college is just as good as any other.
My little state university gave me classes with about 20 students, and teachers whom you could speak with any time, and managed to attain some of the highest CPA exam scores in the nation. I never had any desire to go anywhere beyond what was necessary for me to learn a career, that’s what I did…and I just don’t see why you’d buy a Cadillac when a Geo will get you there.