2018 Undergraduate Commencement

Some time ago, I received a direct Instagram message from a friend.  Given that there was no message only a picture, perhaps the more apt description might be to call my “friend” just someone who I follow and a person who follows me on Instagram.

In a future post, I think I’ll share how adults’ excessive use of social media apps is part of the reason this nation is growing increasingly uncivil and further explains why so many children and young adults suffer the ills from a lack of quality social skills.  However, for now, I’ll focus on the message – I mean picture because as I mentioned, there was no greeting, body, or closing.

JUST A PDF

The direct message was a pdf of an athletic scholarship offer letter.  As I perused the scholarship offer letter, I envisioned that if the parent hadn’t valued social media more than old-fashioned personal interaction, I could have shared several important things about the school and the scholarship offer.

Given that there was no evidence that they appreciated the Immutable Law of Reciprocity, I did not reply.  Nevertheless, if I had responded, I would have happily shared the following three things with my “friend,” the parent, the Instagram connection.

THREE IS A MAGIC NUMBER

1. The Number 9 – Nine is the number of full scholarships that this particular college allocates to baseball. Non-revenue generating sports (i.e., baseball, soccer, and track & field) commonly receive significantly fewer awards than available roster spots.

For example, on this university’s 2018 baseball roster, there were 45 players listed.  Assuming an equal awarding of scholarships, each player would have only gotten a portion of an award.  Nine scholarships divided by forty-five players equates to a twenty percent scholarship for each player.

If you have a child, who is considering becoming a student-athlete being able to understand and analyze scholarship offers is crucial.  Before you put the cart before the horse make sure that you have a keen grasp of the unwritten stuff such as an athletic program’s scholarship limits, the athletic expectations vs. the value of the scholarship offer, renewability of the award (year to year or guaranteed for a defined period) and more.

2. 4-Year Graduation Rate – Evaluating the four-year graduation rate is one of the most critical aspects of selecting a college. The higher the four-year graduation rate, the more likely that the college has quality programs and services that assist student learning and professional development, the more likely the college has an admission policy of only admitting students who are actually college-ready, and the more likely the majority of students are graduating with lower amounts of student loan debt than competitive universities.

In the case of the college offering an athletic scholarship to the child of my unnamed “friend,” the 4-year graduation rate is 36%.  That is to say; a thirty-six percent graduation rate means that for every 100 entering 1st-year students, sixty-four students regardless of the complexity or simplicity of their degree program will be in school more than four years.  Sixty-four students out of every one-hundred before taking their first class are on a course to incur educational expense at least twenty-five percent more than necessary.

I implore parents to think of 4-year graduation rates the very way you feel about your child’s test scores.  Scoring thirty-six percent on any test would be an F.  So athletic scholarship aside, be reluctant to send your child to a school with a 4-year graduation rate less than an acceptable test score like 80%.

3. 2 to 1 –We’ve been led to believe that education is priceless, but that’s not true.  A college education has a measurable value and many times it is way overpriced.  To paraphrase the great philosopher Kanye West, please resist choosing a major that “don’t make no money.”

With the average student loan debt amount being $37,172 and the average student loan payment being $393 per month, students and families must carefully weigh the average degree starting salary compared to the average total graduating indebtedness.  In today’s economy, choosing a college needs to make dollars and sense.

So before you gleefully encourage your child to follow their passion choosing a major that will undoubtedly require them to live at home with you and remain on your payroll for years to come; you had better make sure they are academically prepared to be admitted to a degree program where the starting alumni major salary is at least twice the average graduate student loan debt.

Continuing with the example of my “friend’s” child, the 2016 graduates of the school offering an athletic scholarship accrued $29,070 of student loan debt which means my Instagram connection’s child should seek a major where the starting salary is at least $58,140.  It’s worth noting that the college offering the athletic scholarship reports that the average alumni starting salary is $47,600 which is $10,540 below the 2:1 recommended minimum standard.

INSTAGRAM CONNECTION OR FRIEND

I could keep you posted on exact nature of the relationship I have with my “friend” moving forward.  However, I imagine whether we are “friends” or merely Instagram connections is of little consequence to you.

Instead what I hope you have gleaned from this post are a few of the many things you should study when considering the college to educate your child.  If we had more time, I could have shared many other factors that you should consider such as the list of Fortune 500 companies that most frequently hire a school’s graduates, the percentage of students whose total financial need is met, 1^st-year retention rates, and incoming major persistence rates.  Alas, we are out of time, and I need to go to my social media accounts so that I can unfollow and block a few more “friends.”

What’s the median starting salary of alumni for the college your child is considering?  Have you reviewed the 4-Year graduation rates of the college your child might attend?  Is the referenced parent a “friend” or just another Instagram connection?

Please share this post.  Plus check out my TEDx Talk, We Owe Generation Z an Apology Today, and discover why we need to stop blaming Generation Z for their faults and the failures of the Nation.  Also, enroll now in The Supa-Parenting Back to School Course.