Question

When experts and journalists spend so much time talking about the limitations of education, they almost certainly are discouraging some teenagers from going to college and some adults from going back to earn degrees. (Those same experts and journalists are sending their own children to college and often obsessing over which one.) The decision not to attend college for fear that it’s a bad deal is among the most economically irrational decisions anybody could make in 2014.

The much-discussed cost of college doesn’t change this fact. According to a paper by Mr. Autor published Thursday in the journal Science, the true cost of a college degree is about negative $500,000. That’s right: Over the long run, college is cheaper than free. Not going to college will cost you about half a million dollars.

–“Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say,”
The New York Times

According to the text, why is the choice not to attend college often a poor decision?

The immediate cost of attending college is cheaper than most people think.
Without a college education, workers will actually lose money in the long run.
College ultimately costs a lot of money, but a worker cannot survive without a degree.
People who chose not to go to college are often the type to make irrational decisions.

Answer 1

Without a college education, workers will actually lose money in the long run. The passage says a degree’s “true cost” is about −$500,000, meaning not attending costs you roughly half a million dollars over time.