The Firstborn Is Going to College
By Neil Rose, CFA
Is College Still Worth It, Part 1
There must be some language with a suitable word for the trip one gets leading up to his eldest child leaving for college.
In it are elements of surprise even though I’ve always known the day would come. I’ve always known exactly when. I’ve seen others go through it. I went to college. And yet, I’m asking myself stupid questions—How is it he’s turning 18 this month? In these moments I’m an old cliché machine.
There are also parts of joy, sadness, pride, regret, and nostalgia. Cue Don Draper and the Kodak pitch scene in Mad Men:
Nostalgia—it’s delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek nostalgia literally means, “The pain from an old wound.” It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship; it’s a time machine. It goes backwards and forwards… it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the Wheel, it’s called the Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels—around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know we are loved.
Then there’s a realization that it’s out of my control, that I’m just a passenger, which is somehow humbling yet calming. It tastes like hope. I have moments when I feel warmly embraced by life’s promises for the boy.
In December, he worried about choosing the right college, disappointed in the ones he didn’t get into or got waitlisted at. Then came the forms. One thing that’s changed over the years is colleges’ insistence on having kids—and they are still kids—indicate what major they’ll pursue. Do colleges really expect students to declare majors before enrolling? It seems anticipated majors have become a bigger admissions factor at some schools.
The majors applicants put on forms aren’t binding, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s harder to get into many schools today indicating computer science or business instead of, say, East Asian Studies or Philosophy. (I’ll give a defense of the liberal arts later, something I would not have done five years ago.)
My son is very Gen Z: fortunate but it’s not clear he knows that, smart but sometimes shockingly naïve and ignorant of certain basics. Lately, he was surprised to learn using Apple Pay was a form of borrowing—as in from a credit card—and such borrowings must be paid back. (Nice job, finance Dad.)
What’s on his mind today is picking the right school. I keep telling him, “Don’t worry, college doesn’t matter anymore.”
Obviously, I’m doing him a disservice, and it’s not even good advice, especially at face value.
So, Henry, let me explain what I was clumsily getting at. I did the same thing I see in all the thousands of articles with titles like, “Does College Even Matter Anymore,” and “Is College Still Worth It?”
I reduced to almost nothing the complex subject of the value of college today when it costs more than ever, even as the internet has made education free while squashing the need for name-brand credentialing.
When talking about college, context is everything. That is why I can tell you my Harvard diploma is valuable to me and almost worthless at the same time.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice.
About the Author
Neil Rose, CFA, is the founder and CEO of Regency Capital Management.
