What Paying $128,830 Taught Me as A Former Student Looking Back

Today, we hear how expensive college is. Taking into account inflation increases, as compared to 2000, when I graduated Rider University with a double major in marketing and advertising, college tuition has gone up significantly to say it bluntly. I'd like to take you threw something that may be a losing battle right now for today's young person that will be followed by a second piece in a week... For now, let's have a little discussion below.

INTANGIBLE COSTS VS. REAL COSTS

Yes, college tuition has gone up significantly. B. U. T. What they don't tell you is the cost of switching fields. The cost of being confused. The cost of not working in High School today. What is the cost of not working because you are going for that scholarship and have been supported financially up until now? What is the cost of guessing a field and not validating the related industry before you dive in? We heard from parents, students, advisors, and numbers don't lie. In the state of NJ alone 16-19 year olds in 2011 in a high majority, 81.6% were unemployed, not working a job with taxes coming out. Another day, another article, for now.... what is the value of earning a dollar today for a young person?

Well the average course in a 4 year schools costs *2250 per course (source: Dept of Education Statistics and also CollegeFactual.com) and if you take 6-8 courses that no longer become relevant just tack on 16,000 (2250 x approx 7 courses) to that end tuition amount as waste due to uncertainty/guessing. How about 4 semesters worth aka 2 years and or 20 courses (60 credits)? That costs is around 45,000 wasted not including room and board. What causes this? Just being young getting started out or something far greater missed by key people around students today, in today's digital era? Is this uncertainty normal...Or is it something more direct happening today that can be clearly averted and quickly?

THE VALUE OF A DOLLAR TODAY

Today, as we look at the value of a dollar, it's a question of what do you have to pay for on your own and how does it make you feel doing it? How a dollar is earned today by someone 16-25 years of age, we can see things have changed. The cell phone bill. The car payment. The car insurance. The gas bill. The ramen noodles. Who pays for this today? How about the cost of tuition, loans, or balanced owed each semester where a check has to be written? Who is paying for it? Is it free? Is it matched by someone? Is it all the student? All loans? Scholarship? In any of those, what is the effect it is having on a young person's perception of the value of that dollar through their high school or college experience, their education, and the value of being setup or not setup for their future success through that institution of higher learning?

If efforts are little in preparing for their future on behalf of the student, because they know it's free, what is the outcome or effect it will have on them long term? What is their earn? The stats above did not lie. The confusion is not a lie. And the poor advice and direction they are getting or not getting is the biggest lie of all. Students want real world. They want to know what it takes and that is what $128,830 taught me about what it takes today and why we are building a brand, mission, and message around it to change things and flip the table over. I'm sick of the poor or lack of advice students are getting. The lack of empathy and inspiration to them because people don't take the time to hear them, put themselves REALLY in their shoes and come up with solutions that motivate and inspire like prior role models did for me. This is the future of our country and they need to be inspired, driven, and focused to discover first, and know HOW.

TIME SPENT ELSEWHERE

Let's look at a last point of time spent in places directed toward growth or monetary earn vs. enjoyment. We have seen, and don't need 40 different stats to tell us more time is being spent on devices, social entertainment as we can call it, and leisure activities like gaming more than ever before. A generation of 3 screens prior is now 5 screens hyperconnected, super motivated to be leaders and change the world, with a road that is unclear for them depending on how they approach a key next life chapter ahead. For some that chapter is the key bridge from high school to college, maybe from from college to a field of interest (first internship), from field of interest to a network of people that can get them hired (a few semesters before graduation). Where is the time going with 168 hours in a week and dollars to be made? A question every parent, student, and advisor has to be asking today looking ahead.

When *54.6% of 50,000 students surveyed in 2015, 9 months after college graduation, were unemployed or underemployed, is there a correlation between NOT working in HS/College (source: Dept of Education on NYC/NJ Major Metro Area 94th out of 100 stating that: 81.6% of 16-19 year olds in 2011 that were unemployed in the New York Metro Area) and now finding it hard to get a job right out of college in that 54.6% statistic in 2015 above? We don't need to be a NASA data scientist to figure that one out. Time spent meeting people, discovering, navigating and balancing school with life preparation (not career, life) with real early work experience is the solution much more then high academic achievement will ever yield today; and being able to rebalance life with a plan of how to.

$128,830.00 - IT WASN'T THE DOLLAR AMOUNT BUT RATHER THE JOURNEY TO FINISH IT...

$128,830 is the amount I self funded my own education at a private school. While yes, it taught me the value of a dollar. More importantly it taught me the earn. The burn. And the race I had to run to get it done. It was nearly impossible. Some luck was involved. I always worked, had stress and overwhelm as a late teen-early 20's, and realized it came down to I MUST GRADUATE, I MUST GET A JOB, AND I MUST USE MY 168 hours a week wisely, early, and often. I had no choice. It's a mindset, if presented to today's new generation, can be used to win and work early! Plan ahead, control their path a bit more, and always always always surround themselves with people and experts to guide them, hire them, and inspire them.

17 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION AND 21 YEARS OF MENTORING STUDENTS:

Now, 17 years later, having grown up in a different era during the dot.com bubble burst, I was able to build an understanding of devices, social media, technology, and how to use the power of human connection from a different perspective of balance. That balance was dictated simply by the time I became of age and just following college graduation.

All the effort put in early, paying for an education, taught me vision, mission, to set and achieve, to focus and have faith, that failure is ok only to a point if you are learning quickly from it, and NOW it took me 17+ years to discover my life's flair, what is exciting, and the action that I took early on in college, which made it much more relevant today circa 17 years later. That all centers back to the early value of a dollar, earn, and that no one is going to hand me anything, I must go take it and not be afraid of failure. Instead, focus on the time it takes to be successful along with how I define what a student success is. I am a new student in a new game and the controller only has 2 buttons, on and up.

THE JOURNEY AHEAD:

In closing, self funding my own tuition/education (disclaimer: ***with the 1st semester help of my late g-ma; thanks Nanny for matching me $8,800; love you in heaven!) really helped ground me today.

When young people say "the struggle is real" today not many can empathize more than me wholeheartedly with what they mean...Let's face it, it's truly helped us build a brand around it in StudentSuccessU. A real world story of empathy mixed with relevance and real world experience to help them get ahead, NOW. It's time to grab entitlement by the throat and choke slam it through a table. Smash it with creativity, accountability, and clear initiatives that build young leaders through incentive and inspiration equally.

As we go out there to be a student of the game of life, maybe your own version of a student success, OR maybe the mentor/coach to help a student be successful, today's generation needs more than ever to see the positive through the realities of today. They need to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They need for empathy by adults/advisors in what young people's eyes see through the 2018 lens vs. what we have seen in prior lenses which are innately different but also in some ways the same based on how you grew up and what you went through. Make no mistake it takes effort. It takes building real human connections. It takes early validation of life path based on no's and yes'. Most importantly the ability to see/live the value of a dollar, earning it, and feeling good about current progress made. Through it all balancing studies, real work experience, maybe a new side hustle, and having a real social life. There are 168 hours in a week and plenty of time for all of it, plenty! Check Us out below and for coaching, inquire within.

For more information on real world student success you can inquire about 1:1 or group coaching and also listen to us on The Student Success Podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcast (icon on phone) to see the key topics young people today are engaging with and seeing real world success from.