that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
Although it is not the only path to success, a college degree has long been a road to a better life for first-generation-to-college families like mine. Now some people now question the value and purpose of college altogether. This can lead some prospective college students to wonder, not which college to apply to, but whether they should apply at all.
The critics make four oft-repeated mistakes about higher education: it’s not worth it, it’s too elitist, it’s too expensive, and that it doesn’t prepare you for the real world.
College is worth it
First, both quantitatively and qualitatively, college is still one of the very best investments someone can make.
Quantitatively, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a four-year degree generates an annual return of 14% over a 40-year career. A college degree would yield about twice the return compared to diverting your college savings into an index fund, and five times greater than if you had invested it into bonds, gold, or real estate. Studies consistently show college graduates enjoy a bump in pay of over $1 million in their lifetime (on average) over those without a degree.
Qualitatively, numerous surveys show that college graduates poll significantly higher for indicators of happiness and fulfillment compared with their non-graduating peers. College graduates tend to be happier, enjoy longer life expectancy, have healthier lifestyles, lower probability of incarceration, higher philanthropic giving, and higher rates of community engagement.
Second, though some schools cater to wealthier populations, but colleges and education generally have long been the great equalizer in America. For many women, minorities, first-generation, and lower-income students, the path to a better life starts with a college education.
College-aid programs like PHEAA and Pell for lower-income students, and the GI Bill for veterans, have opened the doors to college to more first-generation-to-college students than ever.
The 90 independent nonprofit colleges and universities of Pennsylvania educate 45% of all lower-income, Pell-eligible students, 49% of all “adult” students, 54% of all minority students and the largest proportion of first-generation-to-college students in the state. National measuring sticks like the Economic Mobility Index and the WSJ’s Social Mobility Ranking demonstrate that schools like these change lives and empower lower-income students.
Third, the actual net cost of a degree at these independent nonprofit schools is much lower than that “sticker price” you saw. According to the US Department of Education, average net tuition and fees (what families actually pay after school aid and public grants) at independent nonprofit colleges in Pennsylvania is just under $13,000.
That’s less than it was 10 years ago (even before adjusting for inflation). A degree from these schools is actually becoming more affordable, not less.
Fourth, the average person entering the job market today will have 16 different jobs in 5 or 6 different fields, and the job they have 10 years from now might not even exist today. So how can you prepare for an unknown career in an uncertain future?
When jobs become more competitive, and new technology like A.I. structurally changes our economy, the case for college is enhanced, not diminished. “Learning how to learn” is the new essential skill in a knowledge-based economy, and higher education is the surest way to develop it.
Choosing to forgo college limits your options. There are still plenty of jobs available without a college degree, sure, but so many more opportunities are available with a college education. By 2031, 70% of all jobs will require at least some post-secondary education, a double-digit increase in just a decade.
Remember these facts when someone denies the value of a college education.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thomas P. Foley is president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.
The Mystery of the Lord’s Baptism
The Gospel tells us that the Lord went to the Jordan River to be baptized. At Christmas he was born a man; today he is reborn sacramentally. Then he was born from the Virgin; today he is born in mystery. When he was born a man, his mother Mary held him close to her heart .. The mother holds the child for the Magi to adore; the Father reveals that his Son is to be worshiped by all the nations.
Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water.
For when the Saviour is washed, all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after him with confidence.
From a sermon by St Maximus of Turin
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The Baptism of Jesus
Christ is bathed in light. Let us also be bathed in light.
Christ is baptized. Let us also go down with him and rise with him.
John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptized by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again.
Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honour to the body that is one with God.
He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray of its splendour, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
From a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen
On the feast of the Epiphany we read the passage from the Gospel of St Matthew which describes the arrival of some Magi from the East at Bethlehem: “Going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Mt 2:11-12).
Man meets God in the act of veneration, of worship, of cult. It is useful to note that the word “cult” (cultus) is closely related to the term “culture”. Admiration, veneration for what is divine, for what raises man on high, belongs to the very substance of human culture, of the various cultures.
Man gets to know God by meeting him, and vice versa he meets him in the act of getting to know him. He meets God when he opens up to him with the interior gift of his human “ego”, to accept God’s Gift and reciprocate it.
The Magi Kings open themselves up to him, with the interior gift of their own heart. And this is the real treasure they offer, of which the gold, incense and myrrh are only an exterior expression.
The day of the Epiphany is the feast of the universality of the Church, of her universal mission. Well, we read in the Council: “The one People of God is accordingly present in all the nations of the earth, since its citizens, who are taken from all nations, are of a kingdom whose nature is not earthly but heavenly. All the faithful scattered throughout the world are in communion with each other in the Holy Spirit”.
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“And the star… went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was” (Mt 2:9). The Magi reached Bethlehem because they had obediently allowed themselves to be guided by the star. Indeed, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Mt 2:10).
It is important, my dear friends, to learn to observe the signs with which God is calling us and guiding us. When we are conscious of being led by Him, our heart experiences authentic and deep joy as well as a powerful desire to meet Him and a persevering strength to follow Him obediently.
You too offer to the Lord the gold of your lives, namely, your freedom to follow Him out of love, responding faithfully to His call; let the incense of your fervent prayer rise up to him, in praise of His glory; offer Him your myrrh, that is your affection of total gratitude to Him, true Man, who loved us to the point of dying as a criminal on Golgotha.
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Hark! how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say
Throw cares away
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold