Biden administration warns grad school borrowing is cause for concern (cnbc.com)
The government finds the “earnings premium” for a Master’s degree has held steady for decades. Worse, “There is generally very little correspondence between the amounts students borrow … and their labor market returns”.
For several weeks I have been cross checking the names of reporters listed on news bios via their LinkedIn profile page. The overwhelming majority of them attended private colleges and universities to earn a BA in English, Creative Writing, History or Political Science, with many also then earning an MA in journalism. In almost all cases of those I looked up, they attended a private college or university (many also attended private high schools, or wealthy public schools) and did a study abroad. At many of these programs, the current list price for tuition, fees, housing and other costs is typically $250,000 to $300,000 for a 4-year degree. The list price for some of the MA programs are typically $60k to $130k. (These are current published price; actual price paid by students may be discounted, and the prices paid in past years would have been less). Very few attended public colleges or universities which cost much less.
These are a very elite class of individuals who have little in common with the rest of U.S. society.
I saw one student whose undergrad and grad degrees were at programs having a $480,000 combined list price. Incredible that anyone thought this made financial sense. That individual works at a content mill.
The median pay for someone with an MA in journalism is about $50,000/year and is considered one of the worst degrees for return on investment. Many studies find an MA in journalism does not pay off for most recipients.
This may account for why news reports favor having taxpayers pay off education loans – it is self interest from a community that made poor financial decisions.
