Oreopoulos Philip, Petronijevic Uros
Future Child. 2013 Spring;23(1):41-65. doi: 10.1353/foc.2013.0001.
Despite a general rise in the return to college, likely due to technological change, the cost-benefit calculus facing prospective students can make the decision to invest in and attend college dauntingly complex. Philip Oreopoulos and Uros Petronijevic review research on the varying costs and benefits of higher education and explore in full the complexity of the decision to invest in and attend college. Optimal college attainment decisions are different for all prospective students, who diverge in terms of what they are likely to get out of higher education and what specific options might be best for them. Earnings of college graduates depend in important measure on the program of study and eventual occupation they choose. Students uninterested in or unable to complete a four-year college degree appear to benefit from completing a two-year degree. Prospective students may also face both financial constraints, which prohibit them from taking advantage of more education, and information problems and behavioral idiosyncrasies, such as reluctance to take on debt, which keep them from making optimal decisions about attending college. In their discussion of how student debt figures in the college investment, the authors note that some students borrow too little and, as a result, underinvest in their education. Carefully calculating the return on the college investment can help determine the "appropriate" amount of debt. Students are more likely to benefit from postsecondary education the more informed they are about the expenses associated with college and the potential options for financial aid, which can be extremely complex. To make the best college investment, Oreopoulos and Petronijevic stress, prospective students must give careful consideration to selecting the institution itself, the major to follow, and the eventual occupation to pursue. For any particular program at a particular school, anticipated future labor market earnings, the likelihood of completion, the costs, and the value of any student debt must all be factored into the assessment.
尽管由于技术变革，上大学的回报普遍有所提高，但未来学生面临的成本效益计算可能会使投资并进入大学的决定变得极其复杂。菲利普·奥雷奥普洛斯和乌罗斯·彼得罗尼耶维奇回顾了关于高等教育不同成本和收益的研究，并全面探讨了投资并进入大学这一决定的复杂性。对于所有未来学生来说，最优的大学入学决定都是不同的，他们在从高等教育中可能获得什么以及哪些具体选择可能最适合他们方面存在差异。大学毕业生的收入在很大程度上取决于他们选择的学习课程和最终职业。对四年制大学学位不感兴趣或无法完成的学生似乎能从获得两年制学位中受益。未来学生可能还会面临经济限制，这使他们无法利用更多教育机会，以及信息问题和行为特质，比如不愿承担债务，这使他们无法就上大学做出最优决定。在讨论学生债务在大学投资中如何体现时，作者指出一些学生借贷过少，结果在教育上投资不足。仔细计算大学投资的回报有助于确定“合适”的债务数额。学生对与大学相关的费用以及潜在的经济援助选择了解得越充分，就越有可能从高等教育中受益，而这些选择可能极其复杂。奥雷奥普洛斯和彼得罗尼耶维奇强调，为了做出最佳的大学投资，未来学生必须仔细考虑选择院校本身、所学专业以及最终要追求的职业。对于特定学校的任何特定课程，预期的未来劳动力市场收入、完成学业的可能性、成本以及任何学生债务的价值都必须纳入评估。
