At the risk of plopping poo in the punch, I would guard against expecting that a college degree will be a guarantee of a particular income level, much less being "set for life."
Nor, sadly, can employment with a large company, even one with whom you feel there may be "opportunities for advancement" be counted on to take you happily and upwardly mobile-ly into retirement age the way General Motors took so many members of the Greatest Generation.
In some US population sectors, a university degree has effectively replaced the high school diploma, and while that does mean some changes in terms of how much purchasing power you can expect that it will purchase, it also means that with the obvious exception of certain fields, it is unlikely that you will ever be asked to present your diploma or sheepskin at the personnel office.
Now before anyone goes all ballistic and accuses me of encouraging people to lie about their education, that is not my intention. Rather I am pointing out that it is possible to find retail stores who will not hire sales clerks that do not have college degrees. Lower-level office jobs which formerly required only a high school diploma now also require a college degree. In neither case, however, is the employer going to expend resources obtaining your transcripts, because the job does not really require a college degree, and just as was the case when the job required a high school diploma, it is still a low-paying job, with an expected high turnover.
So statistics about high school versus college earnings today refer only to people who say on their job applications that they did not go to college.
Some people will even argue that the traditional bachelor's degree advantage has also upgraded - to graduate school - which gives young folks for whom money is an object some serious points to ponder - just how much debt do you wish to be in when you finally emerge from academia and enter the workforce?
Obviously, if academia itself is your career goal, the question is a different one, and for you, there will be more options in some ways. For instance, if you want to be a history professor, doing post-secondary work in history is not only practical, but recommended.
If, however, you are looking for a degree that will buy a paycheck with more purchasing power, it will be a better idea to study business, while history can be a rewarding hobby for leisure moments. And yes, those did used to be leisure hours. Changes and challenges!
Consider that it was not too long ago when one forty hour income - and I'm not just talking about doctors and lawyers and CEOs, but butchers and bakers and yes, sales clerks - was enough to support a family, albeit modestly.
Some things, however, haven't changed. Things like "it's whom you know, not what you know."
The other day, someone here, legaldiva, I think, said something very insightful about how easy it can be for people who have worked hard to become successful to forget about "opportunity."
That can be about whom you know, it can be about being in the right place at the right time - and having the opportunity to be there in the first place!
"Work hard and you'll get ahead" is a great ideal, just make sure you do the hard work at a job that pays enough to get ahead.
Now I realize that a lot of what I am saying will not be applicable, or even comprehensible, to many people here, and that's good, too.
Being realistic about one's opportunities is a good idea for everybody, whether you have lots of "golden" opportunities, or whether your opportunities just happen to be ones that have more to do with non-monetary things.
But for those to whom some of it might be - especially young people wrestling with hard choices about their future, about careers - if you think it is a lot more complicated than it was for your parents and grandparents, and WAY more complicated than you thought it would be - it's not you. The choices really are harder, and the situation really is more complicated.
Grandma and Grandpa, for example, did not have to decide whether they would rather start their work life in debt to the tune of roughly what THEIR parents earned in a year.
They did not have to decide whether they would rather have a home or your mom.
And even if Grandpa majored in art history in college, he could still count on being able to get a good job at the bank.
So to sum up, the best way to plan for your future - not the future you were promised, not the future you deserve, but the future that is going to actually occur - while there may not be any one size fits all answer, there is the multi-level shotgun approach!
If you feel college is important, and especially if you feel that way AND you have the money to pay for it, go!
And if you feel that the company you're with now is a good place to work, work hard there, and go for all the advancement you can.
And also learn a trade, one that is a good match with a service-oriented economy AND pays a high enough wage so that in case your college degree doesn't live up to expectations in terms of golden-tickethood, and so that when the great company gets bought, or downsizes and streamlines and your job - the one you worked so hard to get that finally pays what you consider good - gets given to somebody who makes about a fraction of that, because frankly, why should they pay you 80 grand a year when this desperate person is willing to do your work and theirs, too, and for no extra money, and remember, that person also went to college
- anyway, when all those things happen, your trade you learned will make it possible for you to stay in housing and pay at least the basic bills while you work out how you are going to pay for that MBA Degree and get that suit drycleaned for your next series of interviews!
Maybe you could have a job or an internship on the side to also gain experience?
(not to mention it sounds like sooo much fun!)
