As college admissions counselors, we’ve all sat across from anxious families fixating on one number: the cost of a college degree. In a recent study, we found that traditional undergraduate students are substantially more concerned about student debt than other students. In a separate study of parents, we found that rising tuition and high student debt are the two biggest factors undermining their trust in higher education.
With the average undergraduate student graduating with around $29,000 in debt, counselors face a real challenge: how do we address legitimate financial concerns while helping families see their educational investment in the proper context? Two simple reframing strategies can help families understand what this number really means and how it compares to other financial decisions they’ll make.
Strategy 1: The Car Loan Comparison
The average loan for a new car in the United States is approximately $42,000, nearly $13,000 more than the average student debt load at graduation.
And this borrowing is considered normal, even routine. Parents co-sign car loans for their teenagers without losing sleep. Young professionals finance SUVs and trucks without a second thought. Yet that same $42,000 buys something that loses value the moment it leaves the lot and continues declining every year after.
In contrast, that $29,000 in student loans purchases something fundamentally different: a college degree that increases lifetime earning potential by over $1 million on average.
The conversation with families might sound like this:
“Earning your degree is a substantial investment, there’s no getting around it. But I’d like to offer a way to think about it that could put it in perspective. You will very likely finance a vehicle at some point. Maybe even multiple vehicles over the years. Right now, the average new car loan is around $42,000. That loan buys transportation, which we all need, but that car will be worth half its original value within a few years. Your student’s education loan is quite a bit smaller and buys significantly higher earning power throughout their entire career.”
The idea here isn’t that car loans are bad, after all, transportation is necessary. The insight is that we’ve normalized borrowing significant sums for depreciating assets while treating smaller loans for appreciating assets as crisis-level debt. When families understand this comparison, the college investment often feels more manageable and logical.
Strategy 2: Appreciating vs. Depreciating Assets
This brings us to our second reframing strategy: helping families understand the fundamental difference between appreciating and depreciating assets.
A new car is a classic depreciating asset. It loses approximately 20% of its value in the first year and continues to depreciate by roughly 15% annually for the next several years. After a decade, it’s worth a fraction of the original purchase price, if it’s still running at all. Eventually, it ends up in a junkyard.
A college degree works in exactly the opposite direction. The earning premium associated with a bachelor’s degree tends to increase over the course of a career. Entry-level positions show a modest wage premium for college graduates, but as professionals advance into mid-career and senior roles, that gap widens substantially. The degree that seemed expensive at 18 becomes one of the best investments a person ever made by age 35.
Moreover, unlike physical assets, a degree cannot be repossessed, totaled in an accident, or stolen. It doesn’t rust, break down, or require maintenance. It’s a permanent credential that students can leverage repeatedly throughout a lifetime without diminishing in value. In fact, as graduates build experience and expertise on that educational foundation, their human capital continues to appreciate.
The conversation might go like this:
“Let’s talk about the nature of this investment. When you buy things like cars, furniture, and phones, you’re paying money for things that become less valuable over time. Every payment you make on a phone or a car is for something that’s already worth less than when you bought it. Education works in the opposite direction. The degree you earn at 22 will be more valuable at 35, and even more valuable at 50, because you can use it to access better and better opportunities throughout your career.”
Strategy 3: Treating Higher Education as a True Investment
Once families begin thinking about college as an appreciating asset, we can have a more sophisticated conversation: what does it mean to treat higher education as a proper investment?
Serious investors always have a plan. They ask questions like:
- What are my goals?
- How does this investment actually work?
- What kind of risks does this entail?
- What can I truly afford to invest?
- How can I give myself the greatest odds of success?
This is where counselors can have a candid, valuable conversation that helps prospective students see college isn’t a passive experience but an active investment requiring thoughtful management. After all, a college degree’s value depends significantly on how the student approaches their education. Students who select majors with limited labor market demand, who fail to engage with their education, or who don’t take advantage of the significant resources and opportunities the institution offers may struggle to convert their degree into meaningful career advancement. The investment can underperform, and families should understand the factors that influence outcomes.
Key talking points:
- “The statistics I’ve shared are just averages. The value you get out of your time here will depend quite a bit on how much you put into it. The students who show up with clear goals, take advantage of opportunities to build their professional networks, and graduate with in-demand skills almost always do the best over the long run.”
- “This isn’t just about showing up to class. It’s about actively building your career foundation while you’re here. Students who graduate with internship experience, strong faculty relationships, and a clear career direction consistently outperform those who simply go to class and collect a diploma at the end. We provide many resources to help you succeed. Your job is to get everything you can out of them.”
Putting It Into Practice
The next time you sit down with a family concerned about college costs, try opening with these comparisons early in the conversation. Don’t wait until you’re defending against objections.
When families understand that they’re not just taking on debt but investing in an appreciating asset with proven returns the entire conversation can shift. The question changes from “Can we afford this?” to “How do we make this work?” And that’s a conversation every admissions counselor wants to have.
