Oh, I'm just nailing my most valuable possession to the wall.

哦，我只是在把我最珍貴的東西釘到牆上。

Jazzy Bear?

Jazzy Bear 嗎？

No, not the dog⏤my college diploma.

不，不是狗，是我的大學文憑。

Oh, right.

哦，對。

Yep. This little piece of paper cost me about $320 per square inch.

沒錯，這一小張紙每一平方英寸就花了我約 320 美元。

Wow. That's almost as much as a Manhattan apartment.

哇，那幾乎要和曼哈頓的公寓一樣貴了。

It does kind of make you wonder...

這真發人省思⋯⋯

I mean, would I have been happier if I'd chosen another major or gone to trade school instead?

我當初如果選擇別的專業或是去上職業學校，是否會更快樂呢？

At least you'd know you can't hammer a screw into a wall.

至少你會知道鐵鎚是沒辦法把螺絲敲進牆裡的。

Huh! I just thought it was fancy nail.

哼，我還以為那只是個花俏的釘子。

It's not exactly a news flash that college is expensive.

大學學費昂貴不算是個新聞。

Graduates our age have an average of $37,172 in student loan debt, and they have to start thinking about their own kids' college.

我們這個年齡的畢業生平均有 37,172 美元的學生貸款債務，而且他們還得開始考慮自己孩子的大學學費。

If Philip and I had a baby this year, at around 4% inflation per year, in-state tuition would run us about $162,000.

如果 Philip 和我今年有孩子，按照每年約 4% 的通膨率來計算，州內大學學費將花我們大約 162,000 美元。

Now, there isn't one explanation why tuitions are inflating like a microwaved peep, but there are some strong theories.

學費像微波爐加熱的棉花糖一樣膨脹並沒有單一解釋，但有一些強力的理論。

Supply and demand.

供需關係。

Over the last 40 years, having an undergraduate degree went from being considered an option to a necessity,

在過去的 40 年裡，本科學位從一個選擇變成了必需品，

and the more people want something, the more the people selling it can charge.

而越多的人想要某樣東西，賣家就能收更高的價錢。

Another theory puts the blame on student loans.

另一種理論將責任歸咎於學生貸款。

Wait, how does that make sense?

等等，那怎麼說得通？

Well, they're scary easy to get.

嗯，學生貸款非常容易獲得。

Colleges have no incentive to control costs because they know the federal government and other loan agencies will keep fronting the money.

大學沒有控制成本的動機，因為他們知道聯邦政府和其它貸款機構會繼續提供資金。

And, finally, administration costs have ballooned as much as 60% in the last 25 years.

最後，行政費用在過去 25 年裡增長了多達 60%。

A lot of that gets blamed on perks that colleges are adding to attract customers⏤I mean, students.

很多費用被歸咎於大學為了吸引顧客——我是說，學生——而增加的各種福利。

Davidson College offers free laundry service.

Davidson College 提供免費洗衣服務。

Michigan Tech has an on-campus ski resort.

密歇根理工大學有一個校內滑雪度假村。

Of course, education is about more than just dollars and cents, but there's no denying⏤college is a financial investment.

當然，教育不僅僅是金錢的問題，但無可否認的是大學是一項財務投資。

You're paying all this money now in the hopes that you'll be able to make it back later.

你現在花這麼多錢，希望以後能賺回來。

So... will you?

那麼……可能嗎？

For most people, yes.

對大多數人來說，是的。

The question is how long it will take, and that depends on your degree.

問題是需要多長時間，而這取決於你的學位。

So, which majors pay for themselves the fastest?

那麼，哪些專業能最快回本呢？

Let's run the numbers.

讓我們來看看數據。

We'll start with the median income for somebody with only a high-school diploma.

我們從只有高中畢業文憑的中位數收入開始。

Compare that with a college graduate with, say, a communications degree.

將這個數據與擁有大學學位的畢業生進行比較，例如傳播學位。

That's an extra $15,000 per year!

那每年就多出 15,000 美元！

Not bad, but how much did it cost?

不錯，但那花了多少錢？

The average cost of tuition, room, and board at an in-state university is $80,360.

在州立大學就讀的上學、住宿和伙食平均費用是 80,360 美元。

So, our communications major will break even on their investment in about 5.3 years.

所以傳播專業畢業生大約會在 5.3 年內收回投資。

A psychology major will take 11 years to break even, an arts major will take 8.8,

心理學專業需要 11 年才能回本、藝術專業需要8.8年、

business, the most popular major, will break even in 3.2,

而最受歡迎的商業專業的回本時間為 3.2 年，

and the most lucrative undergraduate major of all, engineering, will pay for itself in just 2 years.

而最有利可圖的工程專業僅需 2 年就能回本。

OK, but what about graduate school?

好，那研究所呢？

While it's true that some post-graduate degrees can push your income into the next tax bracket, these percentages don't tell the whole story.

雖然某些研究生學位確實可以將你的收入推向更高的稅級，但這些百分比並不能說明全部情況。

Take law school.

拿法學院來說。

The average law student graduates with somewhere between $85,000 and $125,000 in extra debt on top of their undergraduate loans.

法學院學生在本科貸款之外，平均還會額外負擔 85,000 到 125,000 美元的債務。

While the top students at the most prestigious universities can pull down big bucks right away, they're in the minority.

雖然最頂尖大學的優秀學生可以馬上賺大錢，但他們只是少數。

Almost half of law grads earn a median starting salary of only $65,000 a year.

幾乎有一半的法律專業畢業生的起薪中位數僅為每年 65,000 美元。

That's just a $15,000 pay bump for an extra $100,000 of debt.

這只是額外 10 萬美元債務換來的每年 15,000 美元的薪水增幅。

OK, how about med school?

那醫學院呢？

That's gotta pay off big time, right?

這肯定能賺大錢吧？

Well, the median salary for a general practitioner is $175,000 a year, but the average cost of medical school at a public university is around $200,000.

嗯，全科醫生的年薪中位數為 175,000 美元，但在公立大學讀醫學院的平均成本約為 200,000 美元。

When you factor in your undergraduate loans and the interest that debt is racking up while you're in residency,

考慮到你的本科貸款以及你在住院醫師階段累積的利息，

it's very common for doctors to end up paying almost half a million dollars over 25 years for those two letters behind their name.

醫生們通常要為那個放在名字後的「醫學博士」付出接近50萬美元的代價，這筆貸款可能需要 25 年才能還清。

If all this is sounding scary or discouraging, just remember that statistically, it does pay to go to college in the long run, whatever your major.

如果這一切聽起來讓人感到害怕或沮喪，請記住，從長遠來看，不管你選什麼專業，讀大學在統計上都是值得的。

And there are things that you can do early on that will ease the debt burden down the road.

而且你可以在早期採取一些措施，以減輕未來的債務負擔。

Shop around.

貨比三家。

Most universities can supply you with information about how much their alumni make in the workforce.

大多數大學可以為你提供他們的校友在職場上的收入資訊。

They might even connect you with graduates of your same major who can answer your specific questions.

他們甚至可能會幫你聯繫到同專業的畢業生，讓他們回答你的具體問題。

And, when comparing prices, make sure you factor in the cost of living.

在比較學費時，一定要把生活成本考慮進去。

Some cities are so expensive to live in it can double the amount you'll have to borrow.

有些城市的生活成本太高，可能會使你需要借貸的金額增加一倍。

Consider community college.

考慮社區大學。

There's a stigma that it's only for people who can't get into "real" college, but it's actually a pretty smart decision.

有一種偏見認為社區大學只是為那些無法進入「真正」大學的人設立的，但實際上，這是一個相當聰明的選擇。

You can slash your undergraduate debt in half and not get locked into a lifelong financial commitment at the wise old age of 18.

你可以將你的本科債務減半，而不會在 18 歲的時候就陷入終身的財務承諾。

That's what Philip did.

這就是 Philip 的選擇。

And today, we have the exact same diploma from the same university, but mine cost more than twice as much.

今日，我們擁有完全相同的大學文憑，但我的花費是他的兩倍多。

And lastly, look into alternative financing.

最後，考慮替代性的資金來源。

There are companies and colleges that are trying out a new-fangled approach called Income Share Agreements in which the student agrees to pay a fixed percentage of their salary for a fixed period of time.

有些公司和大學正在嘗試一種叫做收入分成協議的新方法，學生同意在一段固定的時間內支付固定比例的薪水。

Unlike a loan, which relentlessly accrues interest through good times and bad, ISAs don't punish the borrower for making less money than they hoped.

與那些在好壞時期都不斷累積利息的貸款不同，ISA 不會因為你賺的錢比預期少而懲罰你。

They're basically betting on you to do well and sharing some of the risk if you don't.

他們基本上是在賭你會成功，如果你不成功，他們會承擔一些風險。

Now, most people don't choose their major for purely economic reasons.

當然，大多數人選擇專業並不是純粹出於經濟原因。

People wanna do what they love and what they're good at, and no PowerPoint presentation is gonna change their minds.

人們想做他們喜歡的和擅長的事情，沒有任何簡報能改變他們的想法。

And there are benefits to college that you can't quantify, like broadening your horizons or meeting your future husband.

而且大學還有一些無法量化的好處，比如開闊你的視野，或遇見你的未來丈夫。

Being money smart doesn't mean basing your life around money.

聰明的理財並不意味著你的人生要圍繞著金錢轉。

It just means taking simple precautions early on so you can chase your dreams without weights around your ankles.

它只是意味著在早期採取簡單的預防措施，這樣你就可以在追逐夢想的同時，不會有束縛在腳踝上的重物。

- And that's our two cents. - And that's our two cents.

- 以上是本集 Two Cents 內容。 - 以上是本集 Two Cents 內容。