Is college worth it?

My niece is graduating from high school this year and will begin college life this fall. We had a discussion this past weekend about her selecting University of Minnesota- Duluth as her choice for higher education. As many of you know, I am a graduate of North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. During our conversation, I asked about rising tuition costs- as it's been almost 10 years since I graduated. I was shocked to hear that UMD is nearly $15,000 per year.

This got me thinking.

I have always been an advocate of higher education. Like many, I concluded that it teaches kids how to "grow up", "finish something they started" and "learn how to learn". However, I also realize that it takes many students 5 years to finish an undergraduate degree. A $75,000 price tag to "grow up" is a pretty hard lesson. I know this place called the United States ARMY that will do it for free and can achieve the same results in record time.

So, at what point is a college degree no longer worth the hefty price tag? For me, we'd be getting close to that threshold. Years ago, you went to college so that you could land that dream job at a huge company. I don't know about you, but the idea of working for a large company with no pension, forced early retirement, and the daily threat of being outsourced to India isn't that appealing anymore. It's these large companies that require all the degrees to "climb the corporate latter". Most small companies care less about a degree and more about what you already know. In my industry, there are some extremely smart high school kids that can write PHP, Ruby, and ASP code with the best of 'em. Will a $75,000 college degree really jump start their career?

Even if these kids do choose college, new graduates are still better off working for a small company. If you're just another number (on your way to the top, of course) you're much more likely to find yourself being replaced with someone in New Delhi. Smaller companies allow you to become vital to the daily business operations. In the end, if you are a vital part of any business, you will be compensated well.