by Charly Mann

Getting an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina is very expensive. Today that cost ranges from $120 to $168 thousand dollars for a student who graduates in four years. This includes the yearly tuition which is $5,613 for in state residents and $20,543 for out of state students, as well as fees, food, lodging, books, health insurance, and personal expenses. Since the average student takes 4 1/2 years to graduate from Carolina these costs are probably going to be about 12% higher than this.

Wilson Library opened in 1929, and was the main UNC Library until 1984. Now it is used to hold the University of North Carolina's massive collection of rare books, documents, and photographs.

In 1795 when the University of North Carolina first opened it doors the estimated total cost to get a four year degree was $424. This included a yearly tuition of $20, boarding, food, candles, fire wood, and servant costs.

The price of going to UNC has far outpaced inflation over the last two hundred years, and the question one might ask is:  Is it worth it?

It used to be very few people finished high school, much less attended college, now it is almost a rite of passage. In fact a bachelor's degree today is equivalent in economic value to a high school diploma 50 years ago.

This is New East the home of UNC's most acclaimed school, the Department of City and Regional Planning.  It was originaly a men's dorm and was built in 1861.

Over the last six months I have asked many current UNC undergrads and recent graduates if they thought the money spent to send them to Carolina was worth it. By and large most said it was the intangibles more than the education that made going to UNC valuable to them. Many said it helped them become more mature and well-rounded. They also stated that it was not a priority for them to absorb the information they were being taught, but to simply get good grades. Most of them said they thought the majority of things they were asked to learn would be useless to them in the real world.

It is a fact that many jobs ask prospective employees to provide their level of education, and some even require you to have a college degree. Having a degree from UNC is certainly a positive when applying for certain jobs. At the same time many UNC students I have communicated with told me that little to none of actual education they received in college actually helped them with their job. This was especially true of UNC students with degrees in liberal arts.

Gerrard Hall was built in 1837 as the student chapel. It seats 380 and is now used for speeches and presentations. It was featured in the 1998 Robin Williams movie Patch Adams. 

Recent UNC grads say they believe the current recession has made it difficult for them to find jobs that pay more than $30,000 a year, and many are having difficulty paying their student loans which average about $50,000 among the people I talked to. Two former UNC students even said they wish they had used the money they spent on college to learn a trade like plumbing or becoming a electrician, where they say the pay is more lucrative, and jobs are more secure. Several parents of perspective students have told me they do not believe a liberal arts degree at Carolina is worth the investment. They say in today's job market they will insist their kids get a degree in a field where there are jobs. A career counselor told me that the majority of recruiters that are now coming to campus are looking for students with specialized and technical degrees. Starting salaries for specialized graduates are increasing each year at UNC, while general majors are finding it more difficult to find a job and often have difficulty paying back their student loans. Among the jobs I found among graduates with liberal arts majors were dishwasher, sales clerk, and waitress.

Two UNC coeds trying to get the most from their education, studying in the yard in front of Craig Dorm.

There are now some who say that the next bubble to burst in our fragile economy is the education bubble. They say colleges are no different than many other businesses that have expanded too rapidly, and care more about keeping enrollments high to cover their expenses than providing the best educational preparation for their students. One indication of this are popular majors like psychology. One business recruiter told me an undergraduate degree in that field is not recognized by most employers as something that conveys occupational skills. For someone to be considered occupationally qualified in psychology, he said one must have a minimum of a masters degree. Becoming job qualified in many liberal arts fields means three or four more years of college, often doubling the cost of an education to over $350,000 for a job that will often start at about $40,000 a year. On the other hand, graduates with a four year degree in specialized business and computer science majors often command starting salaries above $50,000, and are making twice that within eight years.

Entrance to the Playmakers Theater at UNC Chapel Hill

I personally believe a UNC education is usually a good thing even if it does no more than advance a student's socialization skills and independence. If it teaches young adults to think smarter and live on their own, then it seems to me the cost is worth it.

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