Welcome to CollegeValue!

CollegeValue started with a simple idea: colleges and majors aren't all the same.

You'd be surprised how contentious this idea is. Every time I say this to a friend I get a look. "A bachelor's degree is a bachelors degree," they say. "Yours is in Computer Engineering and mine is in (Citizenship Activities or Forest Engineering or Rural Sociology). But we both have A Degree." Usually I get this line from my Business major or Elementary Education major friends.

All those majors are real by the way. And awesome. The question is not whether you'll learn a lot. The question here is how we should define value. Especially for college.

A college education has become a required credential and an expectation for most jobs. At the same time, costs have ballooned and we hear stories of crippling debt lasting for decades. It's time to start evaluating what you get from college. And there's no better way to measure that than good old-fashioned dollars.

That's what we're going to do here: measure value by dollars. We can do this with colleges and majors alike. It's not enough to go to UCLA. You could come out with a Computer Science degree with only $28,000 in debt expecting to make $117,000 a year. Or you could get a degree in Drama/Theater Arts, expecting to have $52,000 in debt and only make $25,000.

Why the difference? We probably expect the earnings difference, but what about the debt load? And is this even a fair comparison? What's wrong with theatre? How much inspiration does the world gain from live performance? The answer is: a lot. But at what cost to you? And does the tradeoff make sense for your life?

Here's a better comparison: you get into UCLA and really like engineering. You like computers but you also like building things, so you're choosing between Computer Science and Mechanical Engineer. Ok, here's the stats for those majors at UCLA:

• Computer Science - Debt: $28,000 - Earnings: $117,000

• Mechanical Engineering - Debt: $40,000 - Earnings: $69,000

That's a big spread. If you like engineering and you're going to UCLA and you think MechE is better for you, there should be a good reason why.

This is NOT the last word on value. Not everyone should be an engineer, and there are civic needs, environmental needs, and societal needs that supersede dollars and cents. But you should know what you're getting into and how it will impact the opportunities and options you have in your life.

CollegeValue starts with the dollars and cents so that you can have more information on the cost/benefit ratios of the options in front of you.

Next time, we'll dive more into the differences between debt and earnings. Let's Go!