What if you could pay for a bachelor’s degree in gumballs?
Many who attended college, as well as those who are thinking about pursuing a degree or are actively enrolled now, struggle with weighing the costs and benefits of higher education. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average four-year degree in the U.S. costs $38,270 per year.
To put that in perspective, you could buy 153,080 gumballs with the money spent on an average year of college, and 612,320 gumballs by graduation.
That’s a lot of gumballs.
This is assuming the retail price of a gumball is 25 cents — a gumball is one of the only things seemingly unaffected by inflation over the last several decades.
From a direct cost-benefit analysis, it can be hard to think that college is worth it — but what about the indirect advantages you get from a degree? What about social experiences? What about the opportunities for self-discovery and exploration?
In the United States, one of the biggest choices in a young adult’s life is what they should do when they leave high school. Some choose to enter the workforce. Some choose to go to trade school. Some take some time off. Some pursue a degree in higher education. Some don’t have a choice at all.
Regardless of that choice, the systems of higher education surround us in contemporary society. In the town of Flagstaff, Arizona, the local university — Northern Arizona University — affects everyone who lives there, not just the students, alumni and staff.
This is not just a look into the lives of those who went to college. This is proof that systems of higher education reach beyond their student base and have long-term effects on individuals, economies and communities that are often overlooked.
To gain a holistic perspective and in addition to the in-person interviews conducted for this piece, I designed an informal web survey of over 200 voluntary participants from around the country and across several demographics and age groups. Answers were completely anonymous unless the participant chose to self-identify. The questions consisted of both closed and open-ended questions, all in an attempt to evaluate whether or not the responder felt college is “worth it.” The results were fascinating.
About 82% of respondents attended and graduated college, but just over 57% said college was not worth the cost. Despite apparently answering the question of college’s worth, over 77% of participants said they would not be likely to change their decision to pursue higher education if given the opportunity to do it again.
This just goes to demonstrate how complex a question the worth of a higher education can be. It clearly goes deeper than a transactional pay-to-play structure.Regardless of educational status, almost everyone — and certainly everyone in Flagstaff — is affected by higher education in some way.
The life stories and lived experiences of these seven members of Flagstaff’s community demonstrate how far those effects can reach academically, economically and socially.
NAU's "Old Main," the building that used to house the entire university on present-day North Campus, built in 1899. Photo by Abi Seidenberg.