This is a guest post and infographic. Check out my comments at the end and leave a comment of your own.

Education costs are already climbing near record setting levels, but according to a new review by Credit Sesame, millennials aren’t going to be searching for other options, demonstrating the reward down the line is worth the cost.

While the price of university has long been going through the roof, the millennials, who were born between 1981 and 2004, are still looking towards going to college and believe it produces more value than in the past, an opinion that the Gen X did not agree with back in the day. The key distinction between the millennials and Gen X is how carefully the new undergrads are picking their degree to study and exactly how much it will help them establish a secure career future.

The outcomes in summary are down below on what we discovered after the survey:

• Earnings: We found out that over 10 per. of millennial parents made over $150k a year, while only 3% of Generation-X parents met that very same bracket. Next up, over 25 per. of millennial families earned $110k annually while only 4 per. of Generation-X met that bracket. On the other spectrum you’ll find merely 16 per. of millennial families within the $32k per segment or less, whereas one-third of Generation-X parents produced that income.

• The Payout: When we arrived at paying for school the results revealed that nearly 25% of millennials were required to pay out a minimum of $25k, however only 6% of Gen X happened to be paying a similar price. Alternatively we get 50% of Gen X spending $10k or less, while on the millennials side it happened to be 27%.

• The Pay for Knowledge: Our data even showed the value of income when it came to choosing which major to join, and it was substantially different for the pair of generations. When it came to millennials an astounding 33% said that their income had a large impact on their selection, however only 14% of Gen-X agreed that income was a primary decider.

• How Do You Really Feel About That?: When questioned if university is really worth the price tag, 76 percent of millennials agreed it does, although only 68 percent of Gen X agreed.
Edvisors recently published that the graduating class of 2015 racked up by far the most debt in US history. But, millennials will continue to hold a college degree in high regard and its ability to give you a better future financially. The data submitted by the Labor Department in 2013 confirms, showing that people in the US with a college degree on average earn 98% more per hour compared to those who didn’t complete college. But, this doesn’t change the fact that rapidly rising price of university has been out of hand and paying off school loans has been harder and harder each year.
The great news is student loans do not need to control your life. Here are some of the ways you could take control over your current student loan debt:

• Direction – Handling your student loans is a great approach to ensure that you are structured and capable to make a change in places you get the possibility. There are plenty of short-term choices you could make that could have sustaining impact on your long-term financial situation, for one you can start by getting a part-time job, sell some of your old things around the room that you no longer use, or study extra hard to earn yearly scholarships for excellent performance

• Ask Specialists – Creating an assessment on your credit rating and getting custom repayment opportunities can be achieved with companies such as Credit Sesame

• Alert: Interest Rates Ahead – This could sound obvious, but trying to pay back more than your per month bare minimum is the best technique to reduce the financial debt that you have to pay over the long haul. Not surprisingly, not many take the initiative to do so, usually choosing to spend their own extra cash elsewhere

• Consult Your Lender – If you are having troubles repaying those student loans then one of the best options would be to consult with your loan company to find out whether you can either defer some of the installments or even minimizing them if it is possible

We will need to understand that the 4 year degree brought much less appeal to Gen X, the cost mirrored that importance by being substantially more affordable previously. Now millennials prefer degrees that will produce higher earnings and also are usually in demand from employers, not only in present time, but in the longer term as well. Despite the fact that for many students loans are incredibly widespread and departing college with a huge amount of debt is a lot more common, that doesn’t mean that it will continue to be so for a long time. There are many solutions available that can guide you on a tailored plan to begin paying back that debt within a much shorter period.
TL;DR

My comments:

Millennials have the most student loans of any other generation. Having the financial burden of student loan debt affects millennials’ ability to buy a house and to start a family. It is one of the biggest problems facing, not only millennials, but the economy. Nevertheless, this study by Credit Sesame finds that millennials are undeterred and still feel like a college degree is worth the cost. College degrees are pretty much a requirement in today’s job market. A college degree is an equivalent of a high school degree a generation ago. So while I do agree that a college degree is worth it, I wouldn’t go deep into debt getting one. I don’t think that a more expensive school will always give you better job prospects upon graduation.

Another interesting finding in the study was that millennials are more pragmatic in choosing majors which will have higher salaries. When it comes to this topic, there are two camps. One camp argues that you should major in what you are passionate about because you will excel at it, thereby enhancing your career options. The other camp argues that you have to be practical and find a STEM major because that’s where you find the jobs and the higher salaries. As with many topics, I think there is a middle ground. I don’t think someone should be compelled to pursue a STEM major solely to find a high-paying job. If I forced to major in engineering or physics, there is a possibility I wouldn’t have graduated college or would have had a very rough time, plus low GPA. I also wouldn’t be naive and think I could major in English literature or Art History and expect to have no problems finding a job and paying student loan debt. As for me, I majored in Business Management partly because I was interested in it, but also because it was a major that was more likely to get me a job. I minored, but eventually double majored in Political Science because I found it interesting. I think minoring in a topic you are interested in is a great option. Plus, there are always electives to choose for courses that you are more passionate about.

Do you think what major you choose matters? Did you go the pragmatic route or did you choose your passion? Is a college degree worth it no matter the cost?