# Are we heading for an education bubble? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 19, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095 "2009-11-19T00:19:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095/61 "2009-11-22T16:23:41Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > The old rule of thumb, was that your college education should not cost more than your first years salary after you graduate. > > I did it, it worked for me, and I still would not pay more than that. > > If people would hold to the guideline, then we would not have so many people in debt, so many people messed up, so many people who are college educated working at minimum wage. > > It just does not make any sense to pay more than that. But of course you need your degree to know what your earnings potential is. And that seems like kind of a messy way to do it. I know people who were making like $ 35,000 a year after college, but a few years later were making six figures. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095/62 "2009-11-23T18:45:22Z")
> [@hobscrk777](#): > > I was offering that as one possible answer to your query “But generally what does it mean that tuition price increases are occurring while wages are stagnating?”'t tackled the iss > > I haven’t tackled the issue of students being unable to pay their loans yet. This is gonna be a bit of a drive (and might even derail the thread) but I think people are becoming more and more aware that they are not merely competing with other Americans for jobs. They are competing with kids coming out of Xinhua University and the engineering schools in India. By global standards almost everyone in America is overpaid and the only thing that you can buy that offers any insulation from global equalization of pay is education. Things might have been different in the past but these days it is very hard to get very far without a college degree unless you own your own business. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095/63 "2009-11-23T18:55:09Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > This is gonna be a bit of a drive (and might even derail the thread) but I think people are becoming more and more aware that they are not merely competing with other Americans for jobs. They are competing with kids coming out of Xinhua University and the engineering schools in India. By global standards almost everyone in America is overpaid and the only thing that you can buy that offers any insulation from global equalization of pay is education. > > Things might have been different in the past but these days it is very hard to get very far without a college degree unless you own your own business. This true, as well as foreign students picking up the slack at American universities. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095/64 "2009-11-23T18:57:51Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > This is gonna be a bit of a drive (and might even derail the thread) but I think people are becoming more and more aware that they are not merely competing with other Americans for jobs. They are competing with kids coming out of Xinhua University and the engineering schools in India. By global standards almost everyone in America is overpaid and the only thing that you can buy that offers any insulation from global equalization of pay is education. Education that puts you in line for a job difficult to export. If you are studying to be a doctor or a lawyer, fine, but it might make more sense to study car repair than computer science. A programming job is easy to export, fixing a car not so much. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095/65 "2009-11-23T19:01:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Education that puts you in line for a job difficult to export. If you are studying to be a doctor or a lawyer, fine, but it might make more sense to study car repair than computer science. A programming job is easy to export, fixing a car not so much. One of the options I’ve thought about is going to learn some engineering and then just make crazy gadgets using a 3D printer to make molds. Being able to machine some discontinued part would be a handy skill. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095/66 "2009-11-24T13:27:57Z")
> [@stevebootlers](#): > > If you have degree in your field of interest then it becomes a bit easy to start up your career rather than just having experience in hand without any pro degree. [http://www.thedegreeexperts.com](http://www.thedegreeexperts.com) provides a platform for online degree seekers to get educated from accredited universities. This is the third time in five posts that you have made a point of citing your favorite website. You look very much like a viral spammer at this point. If you wish to continue posting, here, I suggest you back off. If you continue, you will be banned and your spam removed. If you are just an overeager supporter of the site, then consider that your actions are not supporting it. [/Mopderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-for-an-education-bubble/518095.md?page=3)