My University Degree is My Best Financial Investment — Despite the Debt
I borrowed $50,000 for a social sciences degree and I don’t regret it financially
--
First of all, I would just like to say that I don’t think university or college is for everyone and I do not think it should be used as society’s measure of success.
I know plenty of amazing individuals who did not go to university who are happy and successful. I also know plenty of individuals who are still struggling to find their definition of happiness and success who did end up going to university.
In my opinion, it’s all about perspective and that’s what I’m hoping to provide — a bit of perspective.
In recent years, I’ve seen countless of articles and videos on the internet that are slamming post-secondary degrees for their outrageous costs and the financial burdens they cause. For good reason.
According to Statistics Canada, undergraduate tuition for a standard full-time course load was $4,400 in 2006/2007. The preliminary number for the 2020/2021 price is $6,580. This is just an average among all fields of study, however, if we take a look at law, for example, the tuition price jumped from $7,155 to $12,813 between 2006–2020.
I’m rubbish at math but that’s a significant increase from tuition prices 15 years ago. And it’s expected to rise even more. Furthermore, this is a Canadian example, in the States, I’m sure that the increase is even greater since the average tuition price for the year at a 4-year program at a public institution in 2006/2007 was $13,433 vs. in 2017/2018 is $20,050.
Just to reiterate, I am glad that we are talking about this because university and college shouldn't be an end-all, be-all reality.
However, as someone who has borrowed lots of money to attend post-secondary, it is sometimes discouraging when I keep seeing and hearing things like:
“University degrees are useless nowadays”
“A university degree is a bad financial investment”
“It’s a waste of money and time”
I do understand why people would have this view — it is outrageous how much money we spend on a piece of paper, however, as someone who’s already invested so much into my education, I can’t have this view, or it would just set me off on a downward spiral.
If you’re like me and already have invested the money and time into your education, here’s a fresh perspective as to why a university degree can still be your best financial decision — even when you have debt.
Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Poverty
Probably the biggest reason as to why I consider my degree to be my biggest investment is because I am the first person in my family to pursue post-secondary.
My parents were refugees who immigrated to Canada in their late teens, therefore, they did not have the chance to even consider pursuing any post-secondary education. They were focused on making sure they had the basic necessities in life.
I grew up in a low-income household my whole life and my parents focused all of their attention on my brother and I, in order to make sure that we could pursue post-secondary education — something that they weren’t able to do.
Despite all their hard work over the years and some bad financial mistakes, by the time I was applying to universities, it was clear I wouldn’t be able to go unless I took out student loans. Even though it was a difficult pill to swallow that I was going to be entering a lot of debt, I always kept in mind that taking out a loan in itself was a privilege.
Especially on family visits back to Vietnam, my privilege hit me like a truck. I would often get remarks such as how lucky I am that my parents aren’t trying to marry me off or that I can have some way of funding my education. It really put things into perspective for me.
I have family members in Vietnam who would kill to have the opportunity to attend university in general. However, with no mechanisms in place to allow them to fund even a fraction of it, I knew that I couldn’t waste the privilege I was born into, in hopes that one day I can ensure that I can not only re-pay my parents for their sacrifices but also potentially fund one of my cousin’s education one day.
Although I don’t believe that university is the only way to break cycles of intergenerational poverty, I am living proof that it can provide an avenue for a better life, since I am breaking the cycles that plagued my parents and grandparents before me.
Exposure to Different Career Opportunities
I’ve got to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I have the personality to make it “big” without a degree. In the sense that I do not have an entrepreneurial spirit, I have no interest in freelancing (at the moment, this could change in the future) and I’m actually quite happy with my 9–5 jobs.
I credit this partly to the fact that I was able to explore different career paths during university. I found that focusing only on your grades is not the way to go about your 4–6 years in university.
When I took a year off to do cooperative (co-op) learning, I used that time to do paid internships with my university and the federal government.
This was such a pivotal decision because it actually showed me that I didn’t want to pursue diplomacy, which is why I originally did international relations for my bachelor’s degree. However, doing the co-op jobs showed me that I actually wanted to pursue a career in the environment and sustainability.
I would have never found this out if I didn’t co-op in university. Sure, it delayed my graduation for a year but I really do credit my work experience from that year to why I was able to find a job right away after graduating from the pandemic. My interdisciplinary social sciences degree equipped me with lots of different skill sets which worked to my advantage.
Building Better Connections and Relationships
I hate to admit it (since I hate formal networking), but networking is such an important aspect of advancing your social and professional status in life. On average, most people spend 4–6 years in undergraduate studies. That is 4–6 years that can be spent on building academic and professional networks.
I honestly think that attending university allowed me to build sustainable connections and relationships with professors, peers, faculty, and researchers that have benefitted my career.
For example, when I emailed one of my previous professors about being interested in marine policy work, he immediately shared some of his contacts with me to get in touch with and told me that he would vouch for me as a reference with any jobs or future educational applications I may pursue.
He held true to that promise. Since I was curious about my applications to jobs and my future potential schools, when I had asked for feedback and/or how they assessed my applications, I received many comments about how this particular individual gave me a stellar recommendation. Here’s an excerpt from an email I received from a school I applied to for my Master’s:
“Thank you for contacting ______ for further information about your 2021–2022 admissions application to _____. When accessing your application against the ____ we have received, the admissions committee was thoroughly impressed with your exceptional application.
Comments were made on your well-written statement of purpose as well as your clear commitment to innovative research. The committee was also immensely impressed with the references provided, specifically _____ who noted that
“Angela is an outstanding individual whose existing contributions to rigorous academic praxis embodies social responsibility, which is a rare combination to find nowadays. I could not recommend her enough not only for her academic achievements but also for her incredible work ethic, poise, and positivity she brings to any project and task. She is one of the best students I’ve ever had in my 30 years of teaching and I expect she will do great things in her bright future.”
I was absolutely floored when I received this back, as I had no idea my previous professor had said this about me. This is a powerful connection I would have never made if I had not enrolled in one of his courses and kept in contact.
I am not the only one, as I have friends who have also had amazing connections from their university days vouch for their abilities and potential, that have helped them with their future endeavours.
These connections I have made during university will open doors for me so that I can pursue higher-paying jobs that match my aspirations and skill set.
University and college aren’t for everyone, and many of us go through a series of emotions on whether or not it was the right choice.
Now that I’m about a year out from graduating, there are definitely times where I really do get discouraged from the debt and doubt whether I should have done something differently or not. However, this mindset is not helpful when I’ve already done it.
For me, thinking about all the positive aspects of my degree helps me remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. I most likely won’t have my loans paid off anytime soon (primarily because I am going back to school), but that’s okay.
It’s all the more motivation to make sure that I don’t waste my opportunities when they come to me.
I hope that those of you who did go through the process of post-secondary, like myself, can still see the financial value of a degree — even if it isn’t evident right now.
