上不上大學？這是個問題

2014年，美國約有70%以上的大學生是負債畢業的，被稱為“史上負債最多的一屆學生”。預計，2015年美國大學畢業生的負債水平會比2014年更高。畢業時的高額債務，不景氣的就業前景，讓人不禁懷疑：上大學真的是最理想的選擇嗎？

Talking About College Education

談談大學教育

上大學不僅是年輕人的夢想，同時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，也有來自貧困山區的大學生為了不辜負村民為自己籌集的學費，夜以繼日地學習以求獲得好成績。近幾年，國內的大學每年會招收四五百萬名新生入學，全國每年有24%的高中畢業生進人大學。但是今天我們討論的并非如何提高高考升學率，讓更多年輕人實現上大學的夢想。相反，我想從另外一個角度談談大學教育。

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？

畢業等于失業？

目前，美國有一個關于上大學的意義的熱烈討論。美國經濟仍不見好轉，對于許多大學生來說，畢業就意味著失業。這不是陳詞濫調，而是當今數百萬大學畢業生不得不面對的殘酷現實。在大學勤奮學習了四年之后，經過很多考試，寫過很多論文，為了按時完成項目熬過那么多不眠之夜，獲得對口工作的機會卻依然非常渺茫。2013年，美國只有42%的應屆大學畢業生在半年之內找到了工作，其中絕大多數的年薪低于25000美元。其余的應屆大學畢業生中，有40%多待業在家，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

負債累累，前景不明

大學教育成本昂貴。在美國，一般來說有兩種大學，私立大學和公立大學。私立大學的費用要比公立大學高一些，因為后者有政府的稅收支持。2013-2014學年，美國私立大學學費平均為3萬美元，公立大學學費平均為9000美元。如果學生考入的大學不在自己居住的州，還需額外支付22000美元，留學生也要支付這筆費用。除了學費、生活費、書本費這些必需費用之外，其他像服裝、娛樂、交通、旅行等費用，也占支出的一定比重。這樣來看，無論是公立大學還是私立大學，每個學生每年需要支付3萬左右美元，直到四年后畢業。這是一筆不小的支出，有些學生家長能夠支付全部或者部分費用，然而很多學生需要打工或者貸款才能支付得起。近幾年的數字統計顯示，美國應屆大學畢業生平均貸款額為25000美元。面對負債累累的經濟狀況、前途渺茫的就業前景，看看周圍那些原先不如自己而選擇職業技術學校的朋友，畢業后無論是測量員、網頁開發員還是牙科保健員，年薪都至少是自己的兩倍，大學畢業生們該何去何從？

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…