Is college still a good investment?

That’s the question Warren Buffett was asked in a recent interview on ABC News. His answer (and I’m paraphrasing here) “it’s always a good idea to invest in yourself because nobody can take that away from you. But college isn’t right for everybody.”

A college education that has always been a given for those who want to climb the corporate ladder. These tough economic times present several problems in pursuing a degree in the traditional way.

1. Colleges, without even a nod to the economic realities, continue to raise tuition and other costs out of the range of most people.
2. People have less money and less inclination to go into debt even when loan money is available.
3. While education costs more, the return on the investment is shrinking. Students graduating with $80-100,000 in debt are no longer guaranteed a decent job to help them pay off that debt.
4. The world of knowledge grows and changes faster and faster every day and colleges have a difficult time keeping up. In the cutting edge fields, such as social marketing, college lag woefully behind the real world.
5. The traditional education system occupies a shrinking portion of the total learning market. Many more options are available, including an explosion of online opportunities.

In case you were wondering, Warren Buffett holds a master’s degree in economics from Columbia University.

Tuition free colleges in USA

With all the talk about the high (and rising) cost of college, I was surprised to learn that a few colleges right here in the USA offer free tuition for a real, accredited education. Ranging from small liberal arts schools to highly specialized programs in engineering and music, these schools can be very competitive. They include the U.S. military academies, which trade a prestigious education for a subsequent stint in the military.

Other tuition-free colleges, such as Cooper Union in NYC, subsidizes students through large endowments. And some, like the College of the Ozarks, require students to participate in work-study programs to pay for their education.

For a complete list of these schools and their admissions requirements, see this slide show at Business Week.

Looking for free tuition? Go to Sweden.

One way to save money on a college degree is to attend college in Sweden. Why Sweden? The government is so eager to attract foreign students and create a multicultural student body that they fully subsidize tuition fees. That’s right—tuition is free.

Classes are held in English, including more than 600 master’s degree programs, and many are offered online. Sweden is known for academic excellence and innovation. Click here for more information.