Is College a Lousy Investment?: Negotiating the Hidden Cost of Higher
Education discusses many of the economic misconceptions about earning a
college degree. While it is widely believed that attending college
guarantees wealth and success, students, concerned parents, and higher
education professionals have neglected calculating the full-range of
short-term and long-terms costs. Our work illustrates how the promotion
of education merely as a commodity come at a high price for the
individual and society. We argue how the idea of 'investment' can be
expanded from a short-sighted view to engage a broader, more holistic
rationale for higher education from which students can expect a full
return on investment.