Cornell Blog: An unofficial blog about Cornell University

If you’re a math major you might appreciate a Math is PIMP T-shirt:

Actually, any kind of person can appreciate this shirt!

A new Cornell study finds that Teen do stupid things because, well, teens are just stupid.

Michael Robertson writes in The Biggest Gamble of Your Life that in 2005 “young people (ages 18-25) in the US gambled $67 billion,” on College and University. He determined that given the $151,835 investment in a four year private college you would earn $322,000 more than a high school graduate for an effective return on investment of 1.9%. Given that a decent mutual fund will earn a minimum of say 15% return, you’d be about 7 times better putting your money into traditional investments.

What this doesn’t take into account, though, is the personal benefit and satisfaction going to a private college gives you. It’s obviously true that Americans with college degrees are more sophisticated, intelligent members of society, even if they don’t make much more than their less-educated counterparts. After all, since it’s the human mind that makes us more than animals, I feel we have an obligation to develop it at all costs.

Still, the evidence isn’t conclusive. Certainly, the College Board thinks it pays off ultimately. However, the exponentially rising costs of private colleges may make the investment not look so promising.