As the dog days of August wind down, September and school start to loom large on the horizon.
For kids, this time of year is always a mixture of emotions. New clothes, new school supplies and new possibilities are just around the corner. September is a chance to catch up with school friends and see your favourite teacher once again.
On the other hand, gone are the days of freedom with no expectations. Sleeping in is out of the question as are days playing video games or building a tree fort.
School doesn't take up a whole day but it takes up enough.
Elementary and high school kids aren't the only ones returning to classes. Both UNBC and CNC seem to spring back to life with the arrival of students. Eager first year students embarking on the next stage of their education crowd the halls and jostle with the much more worldly fourth year students heading to graduation.
Of course, there is one huge and fundamental difference between the K-12 system and university - tuition. Students need to pay for their classes at university and colleges. The taxpayer isn't shouldering the entire burden anymore.
With the increased costs of tuition - it is now around $5,000 per year for a typical humanities or science student - and the additional costs for books, fees, and other necessities of life, going to university or college is an expensive proposition.
Most students are no longer able to make enough money during the summer to cover the costs. Scholarships and bursaries can only go so far. After that, it is student loans - either from the Bank of Mom and Dad or through the provincial program.
As debt loads rise the question becomes: is a university or college education worth it? Especially if, after getting a degree, you are going to end up working as a barista anyways?
There are a number of ways to answer this question.
As UNBC president Daniel Weeks pointed out earlier this week, a university education isn't just about getting job training. It is about becoming a better informed citizen. An education is about empowering a generation of leaders who are "observant, reflecting, and sensible." From a societal point of view, universities provide a vital component necessary for our continued prosperity.
However, being a well-informed citizen doesn't really pay the bills.
What about salaries? Does it really pay to get an arts degree?
If we consider salaries over the first six years after graduation, a new analysis released by the Education Policy Research Initiative would argue yes. Their project, working in conjunction with Statistics Canada and funded by Employment and Social Development Canada, linked the data from students at 14 post-secondary institutions to track tax records for students from 2005 to 2013.
Although the study only considered universities, to some extent the results are predictable. For students finishing university in 2005, they earned an average of $56,400 in their first year. Eight years later, they were averaging $99,600 or up 77 per cent. Not bad and certainly more than the average barista. But those numbers include graduates in high-paying professions, such as engineering and health.
What about those with social science degrees? How did they fare? The average first year earnings was $36,300 growing to $62,000 eight years later.
For the humanities, the numbers were $32,800 in the first year and $57,000 after eight years. In both cases certainly a lot better than minimum wage or the typical salary of a barista.
From the prospective of lifetime earnings, there is little doubt that post-secondary education confers a significant advantage.
Over a 20 year period, an average male high school graduate will have total earnings of $882,300 according to Statistics Canada. For a male engineer, the number is $1,845,000 or more than twice as much. For the humanities, total salary is $1,144,600 or a 30 per cent bonus.
College graduates generally fair better than high school graduates as well. The big difference is considering the lifetime income for women versus men, but that is a different discussion.
Does a university or college degree pay off? The answer is simply yes and that is a good reason to stay in school.
-- Todd Whitcombe, chair of chemistry, environmental science and environmental
engineering at UNBC
