上不上大學(xué)？這是個(gè)問(wèn)題

2014年，美國(guó)約有70%以上的大學(xué)生是負(fù)債畢業(yè)的，被稱為“史上負(fù)債最多的一屆學(xué)生”。預(yù)計(jì)，2015年美國(guó)大學(xué)畢業(yè)生的負(fù)債水平會(huì)比2014年更高。畢業(yè)時(shí)的高額債務(wù)，不景氣的就業(yè)前景，讓人不禁懷疑：上大學(xué)真的是最理想的選擇嗎？

Talking About College Education

談?wù)劥髮W(xué)教育

上大學(xué)不僅是年輕人的夢(mèng)想，同時(shí)也寄托了父母的期望。有母親哪怕付出一切也要讓孩子上大學(xué)，也有來(lái)自貧困山區(qū)的大學(xué)生為了不辜負(fù)村民為自己籌集的學(xué)費(fèi)，夜以繼日地學(xué)習(xí)以求獲得好成績(jī)。近幾年，國(guó)內(nèi)的大學(xué)每年會(huì)招收四五百萬(wàn)名新生入學(xué)，全國(guó)每年有24%的高中畢業(yè)生進(jìn)人大學(xué)。但是今天我們討論的并非如何提高高考升學(xué)率，讓更多年輕人實(shí)現(xiàn)上大學(xué)的夢(mèng)想。相反，我想從另外一個(gè)角度談?wù)劥髮W(xué)教育。

To go to college has been a dream not only for young people but， if not more so， a dream for their parents. There are wrenching stories about how mothers would sacrifice everything for their children for a college education， and there are also stories about young college students from poverty stricken mountainous areas studying day and night to achieve good grades so as not to disappoint the villagers who contributed to his college tuition.

Now， colleges are more accessible than they were before. In recent years， Chinese colleges have been admitting anywhere from 4 to 5 million freshmen a year， while， in the United States， there are an estimated 18 million freshmen enrolled in colleges annually. An overall 24 percent of high school graduates in China and a little more than 62 percent of high school graduates in the US go on to get a college degree each year. We can， nevertheless， still talk about how to improve the college-going ratio so that all young people who want to go to college can fulfill that dream. But， we are not going to do that today. Instead， Id like to chat about college education from a different angleIs a college degree worth it anymore？

Does Graduation Equal to Unemployment？

畢業(yè)等于失業(yè)？

目前，美國(guó)有一個(gè)關(guān)于上大學(xué)的意義的熱烈討論。美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)仍不見(jiàn)好轉(zhuǎn)，對(duì)于許多大學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，畢業(yè)就意味著失業(yè)。這不是陳詞濫調(diào)，而是當(dāng)今數(shù)百萬(wàn)大學(xué)畢業(yè)生不得不面對(duì)的殘酷現(xiàn)實(shí)。在大學(xué)勤奮學(xué)習(xí)了四年之后，經(jīng)過(guò)很多考試，寫過(guò)很多論文，為了按時(shí)完成項(xiàng)目熬過(guò)那么多不眠之夜，獲得對(duì)口工作的機(jī)會(huì)卻依然非常渺茫。2013年，美國(guó)只有42%的應(yīng)屆大學(xué)畢業(yè)生在半年之內(nèi)找到了工作，其中絕大多數(shù)的年薪低于25000美元。其余的應(yīng)屆大學(xué)畢業(yè)生中，有40%多待業(yè)在家，50%多依靠父母生活，就是我們俗稱的“啃老族”。

Currently， there is a heated discussion in this country on the meaning of going to college. With the economy dragging its feet in recovery， for many college students graduation means unemployment it is not so much as a cliche that people try to avoid using but a deadly true reality for millions of college graduates these days. After four yearshard work examines， papers， countless sleepless nights to get projects completed on time one graduating from college these days has very little chance to get the job he is trained for. Only about 42 percent of the college graduates in 2013 found a job in the first six months after graduating， and 41 percent of them worked for less than $25，000 a year. More than 40 and 50 percent of these grads， respectively， live at home and rely on their parents health insurance， becoming what we would call here in China Kenlaozu[啃老族] 。

Heavily in Debt with an Uncertain Prospect

負(fù)債累累，前景不明

大學(xué)教育成本昂貴。在美國(guó)，一般來(lái)說(shuō)有兩種大學(xué)，私立大學(xué)和公立大學(xué)。私立大學(xué)的費(fèi)用要比公立大學(xué)高一些，因?yàn)楹笳哂姓亩愂罩С帧?013-2014學(xué)年，美國(guó)私立大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)平均為3萬(wàn)美元，公立大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)平均為9000美元。如果學(xué)生考入的大學(xué)不在自己居住的州，還需額外支付22000美元，留學(xué)生也要支付這筆費(fèi)用。除了學(xué)費(fèi)、生活費(fèi)、書本費(fèi)這些必需費(fèi)用之外，其他像服裝、娛樂(lè)、交通、旅行等費(fèi)用，也占支出的一定比重。這樣來(lái)看，無(wú)論是公立大學(xué)還是私立大學(xué)，每個(gè)學(xué)生每年需要支付3萬(wàn)左右美元，直到四年后畢業(yè)。這是一筆不小的支出，有些學(xué)生家長(zhǎng)能夠支付全部或者部分費(fèi)用，然而很多學(xué)生需要打工或者貸款才能支付得起。近幾年的數(shù)字統(tǒng)計(jì)顯示，美國(guó)應(yīng)屆大學(xué)畢業(yè)生平均貸款額為25000美元。面對(duì)負(fù)債累累的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況、前途渺茫的就業(yè)前景，看看周圍那些原先不如自己而選擇職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)校的朋友，畢業(yè)后無(wú)論是測(cè)量員、網(wǎng)頁(yè)開(kāi)發(fā)員還是牙科保健員，年薪都至少是自己的兩倍，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生們?cè)摵稳ズ螐模?/p>

A college education also comes with a big price tag. There are generally two types of colleges here in the States， private and public institutions. Private colleges are more expensive to attend than public colleges since the latter are supported by state government with tax monies. For tuition， the average cost between 2013 and 2014 was $30，000 per academic year at private colleges， but for public colleges the average tuition was about $9，000. If， however， a student goes college in a state other than his resident state， then his tuition would be more than $22，000， which is called the“out of state tuition.” A student from overseas will always pay the out of state tuition no matter which state he attends a public college in.

Tuition is not the only cost in college. Students must eat and have a place to live， which would cost about $10，000 a year depending ones life style. There are also books students have to buy for their classes， and those cost approximately $1，200 a year. Other costs， such as clothing， entertainment， transportation， and travel， may vary among students but should be budgeted for $2，000 to $3，000 a year.

It looks like whether attending public or private schools， a student must pay some $30，000 every year for four years to get his college degree. Some students have their parents to cover all or some of the costs but many students work and take loans to survive the college years. On average， a recent college graduate owes $25，000 in student loans， and the total cumulative student debt is reaching $1 trillion， surpassing the level of the national of credit card debt.

Four years later，? thousands of dollars in debt， and with little chance to land in a dream job， college graduates looked at those friends who had been considered not motivated or smart enough and shunned away from college to go to a trade or vocational school and found their high school buddies were making a solid living as surveyors for $55，000 a year; heating and refrigeration mechanics for $43，000 a year; web developers for $76，000 a year; dental hygienists for $68，000 a year…