Boston-Based Online Magazine, Her Campus, Explains Why College is Worth the Money

Posted by erik devaney

It’s no secret that the cost of attending college is continuing to increase at a meteoric rate. And as New England Post recently revealed, even state colleges and universities are becoming more and more difficult for residents to afford.

So for a high school grad facing the prospect of decades of student loan debt — debt that won’t disappear even after filing for personal bankruptcy — the most paramount question is as follows:

Is attending college worth the investment?

According to the founders of Her Campus, the country’s leading online magazine for college women (and 2011 MassChallenge winner), the answer is overwhelmingly, “Yes.”

Along with their team of students at 200+ schools across the country, President and Publisher Windsor Hanger; CEO and Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Kaplan; and CTO and Creative Director Annie Wang used statistics to prove that attending college yields the best long-term results for career advancement. Statistics show that this is especially true for women graduates.

Her Campus offered the following evidence in a recent press release:

• ROI: Researchers from the Brookings Institute claim that a college education is a better investment than the stock market. The study showed that a college degree granted a rate of return of 15.2 percent per year over your lifetime, double the rate of return in the stock market over the last 60 years, 6.8 percent.
• Value in any career: According to The New York Times, a dishwasher makes $34,000 with a college degree, but just $19,000 without one. Plumbers make, on average, $52,000 with a college degree and just $37,000 without one. Even cashiers benefit substantially by attending a college or university, making $29,000 with a degree, but far less without one.
• It’s a Women’s Workplace: For the first time in American history, more women hold jobs than men. Women dominate today’s college enrollment and will graduate on a 3:2 ratio compared to their male counterparts. Of the 15 job categories projected to grow the most over the next decade, all but two are occupied primarily by women.

“We’ve seen that many young women understand that their college experience is a launching point in their own careers,” Kaplan told New England Post. “Not only are more graduating than ever before, but they are entering the workforce. Hopefully, as they advance, more will hold leadership roles, become CEO’s, even become President.”

To maximize their return on investment (ROI), Her Campus advises prospective college students to have the “right approach.” This approach includes deciding which schools offer the best financial advantages and choosing majors that will translate into careers with high rates of growth.

For those looking for high-paying jobs right out of college, Her Camupus research shows that Information Sciences, Engineering, Nursing and Business are amongst the top majors that students can choose from.

Unfortunately for students interested in writing and reporting, Her Campus noted that a journalism major often leads to a poor starting salary. In the press release, Kaplan asked, “Given the poor starting salary in that industry (Journalism), would you rather spend $30,000 per year to attend a private institution, or a third of that at a public institution?”

This idea prompted New England Post to ask Her Campus the following: “Would you encourage Her Campus contributors who are also aspiring journalists to change their majors? Or, for aspiring journalists who are currently enrolled in expensive private schools, would you encourage them to make the switch to public schools (even if that means losing the ‘prestige factor’ that some private schools offer)?”

Kaplan’s response:

“As a media entity, it’s an odd thought, but something we’ve given thought to after publications like ‘The Daily Beast’ put journalism atop its list of ‘Useless College Majors’ citing starting salary and job growth. Journalism is an essential part of what we do, but also a field where internships and extracurriculars provide the best advantage for getting ahead. Students may have to wait a year, two, maybe even three years before jumping into their field of study. At Her Campus, we give aspiring writers a leg up by getting them involved in the branch process immediately. We have a number of students who write for student-run publications, or the school paper, and major in something completely different. Five of our top 10 ‘Most Newsworthy’ schools were public institutions, so values do exist in the major.”

The three founders of Her Campus, Kaplan, Hanger and Wang, met while attending Harvard. Given the nature of the topic — and the notoriously high cost of attending their alma mater –  New England Post asked the founders how they were able to afford their education.

Jake Duhaime, director of Her Campus publicity, offered this response:

“The issue of paying for college impacts everyone differently, including members of our own staff. We have individuals who have been fortunate enough to receive scholarship money, either through academics, awards, or athletics. Some of us have been lucky to have financial support within the family. We have had staff deal with the burden of going through the student loan process, and just last year, we had one of our co-founders (Annie Wang) opt to leave school to focus on the business she helped start. It was one of the toughest decisions of her entire life.”

Related posts:

1. Boston-based Online College and Career Planning Company, ConnectEDU, Brings in $10M in New Financing
2. Mass. Launches Online Portal to Help Students Plan for College and Beyond
3. 15 “Innovation Schools” Across Massachusetts Receive A Shared $660,000 In Grant Money
4. UConn Named 16th Most “Green” Campus
5. Princeton Review/Entrepreneur Magazine Rank Babson MBA #1 For Entrepreneurship

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