本月，又有數百萬莘莘學子踏上了漫漫申請大學之路，他們以及他們的父母都得考慮為這個學位掏多少錢的問題。
As millions of students labor over college applications this month, they and their parents are pondering just how big a tuition bill they want to pay.
越來越多的學生開始質疑大學學位的價值：弗吉尼亞賴斯頓市學生貸款市場協會一項針對800名大學生的調查顯示，願意借錢上大學的學生比例從去年的67%降至如今的53%。
Students are increasingly skeptical about the value of a college degree; the proportion who are willing to borrow money for college if necessary has fallen to 53% from 67% in the past year, based on a survey of 800 college students by Sallie Mae, Reston, Va.
我在幾個月前開始撰文探討上大學的支出與回報問題，隨後電郵便源源而至，很多家長表示，如今在鉅額學費支票上簽字時也得三思了。以下便是有關這個話題的一些觀點：
Parents are thinking harder, too, about why they sign big tuition checks, based on a steady stream of email I have received since writing about the college cost-to-value equation a few months ago. Here is a look at a few perspectives on the issue:
大學學位是高薪工作的敲門磚：紐約大學理事會2007年的一份報告顯示，不管是單年的年薪還是一生的收入水平，通常說來，大學畢業生要比高中畢業生高出至少60%，而且這一差距還在持續加大。
A path to a better-paying job: College graduates in general earn at least 60% more than high-school grads on average, both annually and over their lifetimes, and the income gap has been growing over time, says a 2007 report by the College Board, New York.
除此之外，研究還顯示，科學或數學相關專業的學生剛畢業時的收入水平就會高於其他專業的學生。聖路易斯市的菲利浦•漢密爾頓是一位股票經紀，他的兒子即將高中畢業。他認為，比起名牌綜合性大學所能帶來的聲望和人脈，頂尖職業學校的高收入就業前景更值得看重。他打了個比方：你在一所所謂的能開啟機會之門的大學學什麼社會學、英語或是傳播學，畢業了做的是卻園林景觀工作，你這個學位真的有用處嗎？他希望自己17歲的兒子選擇一所工程學、食品科學或是會計學特別強的學校，專業也就選擇這三者其中之一。他說，這樣的話，就算你剛畢業時去了家衝浪用品店上班，到27歲時想幹點正經事了，也還找得到工作。
Beyond that, students who major in science- or math-related fields tend to earn more right out of college, compared with other majors, research shows. Phillip Hamilton, a St. Louis stockbroker, values the earning potential of a degree from a top professional school for his son, a high-school junior, over any prestige or network a degree from an elite liberal arts college might confer. ’Is a degree in sociology, English or communications from a ’door-opening’ school really going to help with that landscaping job that awaits you?’ he asks rhetorically. He hopes his son, 17, chooses a college based on the quality of its engineering, food-science or accounting program, and majors in one of those subjects. ’Then if you decide to work at a surf shop after graduation, you can still snap out of it at 27 and get a real job,’ he says.
大學學位可以幫你過上豐富多彩的、有品味的生活。德克薩斯州德克薩卡納的梅根•德拉瑪•施羅德認為，僅僅參照未來的收入水平來選擇大學會貶低大學生活的真正價值。她說，就像買房子或是昂貴的跑車一樣，一些無形的好處是無法通過短期的成本效益分析得到體現的。
Preparing for a rich, well-rounded life: To Megan DeLamar Schroeder, Texarkana, Texas, planning the college experience based entirely on future income demeans its true value. ’The intangible benefits . . . cannot be reduced to some kind of short-term cost benefit-analysis, as though one is purchasing a piece of property or an expensive sports car,’ she says.
上世紀80年代，她貸款4萬美元，去斯坦福大學學習經濟，畢業時只在一家銀行謀到了一份最底層的工作。她花了十年時間才付清了貸款，不過她說這些錢花得非常值。她說，在一個絕妙的環境中“浸淫”四年的經歷讓她保持了終生學習的習慣，永葆求知慾。她說，等自己十歲的雙胞胎女兒選擇大學時，她會鼓勵她們秉承同樣的價值理念。
She borrowed $40,000 to earn an economics degree from Stanford University in the 1980s, which landed her only an entry-level job at a bank upon graduation. She spent 10 years paying off her student loans. But the experience was worth every penny, she says. The opportunity ’to ’marinate’ for four years in an amazing environment’ served as a ’springboard to lifelong learning and inquisitiveness,’ she says. She will encourage her 10-year-old twin daughters to hew to similar values when they start their college search, she says.
研究證實了施羅德的觀點。大學理事會的調研顯示，大學畢業生通常表現出更高的公民參與意識，投入志願者活動及無償獻血的人數是高中畢業生的兩倍多，吸菸人數較後者少，堅持日常鍛鍊的`人數則更多。皮尤研究忠心2005年針對3,014名成年人的調查顯示，大學畢業生的幸福指數也更高，他們當中有42%表示自己非常幸福，而那些高中及以下學歷者中這一比例只有30%。
Research supports Ms. Schroeder’s viewpoint. College grads generally show higher rates of civic participation, engaging in volunteer work and donating blood at more than twice the rate of high-school graduates, says the College Board study. They are less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise daily. College grads also have a much higher likelihood of being happy, says a 2005 survey of 3,014 adults by the Pew Research Center; 42% of college grads reported being very happy, compared with 30% of those who only finished high school or less.
大學學習可以幫助你找到自己喜歡的工作：亞利桑那州阿帕奇強克遜的詹姆斯•蘭登說這是上大學的一個很好的理由，他認為大的公立大學是開展這一調研最佳也是最經濟省錢的地方。他有五個孩子，四個都上了大的公立大學。蘭登說，有兩個孩子剛入學時並不知道自己以後想做什麼，不過這樣的大學有著數量龐雜的課程、專業以及師資，幫助他們最終找到了自己的方向。一個孩子選了經濟學，如今是一位成功的房地產經紀；另一個選擇了心理學及政治學，如今在研究生院負責外事工作。
Finding work you love: James Landon, Apache Junction, Ariz., says this is a good reason to attend college, and he sees big public universities as the best and most cost-effective place to conduct such a search. Four of his five children attended big public universities. Two of them had no idea as freshmen what they wanted to do, Mr. Landon says, and the universities’ broad offerings of programs, majors and facilities helped them figure it out. One wound up in finance and is a successful real-estate broker; the other majored in psychology and political science and is now pursuing a foreign-service career in graduate school.
大學學位有時還會以更微妙的方式引導學生選擇自身的職業。現年24歲的詹森•沃特曼是紐約格雷特內克Tailwaiters公司的創始人之一，這家新公司為客戶舉辦體育賽事及演奏會活動期間的車尾野餐會。他說，這是我自己的公司，是我自己的孩子。公司邁出的每一步，每一點一滴的發展，感覺都好極了。
College degrees can guide students’ career choices in subtler ways. Jason Wotman, 24, loves his work as a co-founder of Tailwaiters, a Great Neck, N.Y., startup that runs tailgate parties for clients at sporting events and concerts. ’It’s mine, it’s my baby. Every step, every ounce of progress, feels good,’ he says.
他說，在範德比爾特大學拿到的人力和組織發展專業的學位幫助自己成為了一名企業家。在市場行銷、人力資源管理以及領導力課程上習得的知識使得他能夠把握機遇、白手起家。他說，我覺得自己擁有了將創意轉化為現實的利器。
His degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University helped launch him as an entrepreneur, he says. His courses in marketing, human-resource management and leadership equipped him well to size up opportunities and run a startup. ’Taking it from an idea to an actual business, I felt like I had the tools,’ he says.
大學學習幫你建立起廣泛的人脈：許多名校畢業生都表示，畢業之後大學校友的人脈資源為自己開啟了機會之門，當初為了進入這些大學所付出的艱辛和努力是完全值得的。不過全美經濟研究局曾針對6,335名大學畢業生開展了一項長期的調研，他們於1999年發表的調研報告稱，在入學時學生SAT學術能力評估考試成績普遍很高──這表明這些學生出類拔萃──的學校，學生畢業後收入不一定就很高。
Gaining an influential network: Many graduates of elite colleges swear by the value of their network of campus buddies in opening doors after graduation, and say striving to gain admission to such schools is worth the effort. However, a long-term study of 6,335 college grads published in 1999 by the National Bureau of Economic Research found graduating from a college where entering students have higher SAT scores -- a sign of exclusivity -- didn’t pay off in higher post-graduation income.
對收入影響更大的似乎是學生的個人奮鬥。有一個非常奇怪的現象，學生當年申請卻遭拒的學校水平越高，這位學生今後就越有可能得到高收入。研究者發現，那些申請過多所名校卻沒能上成的學生──十有八九是被拒了──今後的收入通常會高過那些得償所願的學生。經濟研究局在調研報告摘要中稱，顯然，相較學術能力，學生本人的動力、雄心以及求知慾對於今後的成功起到了更為重要的作用。
What matters more, it seems, is graduates’ personal drive. In a surprising twist, a stronger predictor of income is the caliber of the schools that reject you. Researchers found students who applied to several elite schools but didn’t attend them -- presumably because many were rejected -- are more likely to earn high incomes later than students who actually attended elite schools. In a summary of the findings, the Bureau says that ’evidently, students’ motivation, ambition and desire to learn have a much stronger effect on their subsequent success than average academic ability of their classmates.’
