I've played with this a bit since you posted it. This information, provided by U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (evidently courtesy of our taxes) is a great resource available to all without the assistance of a high school guidance counselor or professional college consultant. It may prove very helpful for starting a search early and keeping and eye on changes and possible trends.
All in all, the links are great, however the financial information could be more transparent and straightforward.
Several of the links deal with finances and affordability. For example, the graph
here, labeled "Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, unpublished tables, 2012." Unfortunately, this high-level summary graph seems to show a snapshot, not a trend over time nor by age of population. In removing the element of time from the depiction, the graph may provide a distorted and overly optimistic impression:
- The graph does not depict that the economy is changing, including the types of jobs, number of those jobs, and pay scale.
- Unemployment figures reflect the time during which a person may be eligible for government-funded unemployment benefits, typically after the loss of a job, NOT the total number of persons unemployed and/or underemployed, including those unable to find work in their field after college.
- The price of the various degrees, years to earn them, and average years to pay off college debt are not shown. Only comparative salaries are shown (a gross difference, not a net difference).
- The holder of a Master's Degree or Ph.D. may earn a larger wage not due solely to their advanced degrees, but also due in part to their additional years in age. While spending a part of these years in earning higher degrees, these individuals most likely gained valuable life experiences, possibly including work in the field during which contacts were developed.
- This has been mentioned on several other college-related threads: the specific areas of study are not shown, possibly giving a false impression that all Master's degrees (and all Ph.D. degrees) are worth a similar value to employers.
This link may be among the best of the financial information provided:
Why and How to Create a Budget. However it seems kids used to learn this information from their parents; Budgeting and saving for the future was role-modeled in most families and became an ingrained behavior, right along with brushing one's teeth after meals, and washing behind one's ears. N'est-ce pas?
