大学学位价值几何?

本月，又有数百万莘莘学子踏上了漫漫申请大学之路，他们以及他们的父母都得考虑为这个学位掏多少钱的问题。
As millions of students labor over college applications this month, they and their parents are pondering just how big a tuition bill they want to pay.
　　
越来越多的学生开始质疑大学学位的价值：弗吉尼亚赖斯顿市学生贷款市场协会一项针对800名大学生的调查显示，愿意借钱上大学的学生比例从去年的67%降至如今的53%。
Students are increasingly skeptical about the value of a college degree; the proportion who are willing to borrow money for college if necessary has fallen to 53% from 67% in the past year, based on a survey of 800 college students by Sallie Mae, Reston, Va.
　　
我在几个月前开始撰文探讨上大学的支出与回报问题，随后电邮便源源而至，很多家长表示，如今在巨额学费支票上签字时也得三思了。以下便是有关这个话题的一些观点：
Parents are thinking harder, too, about why they sign big tuition checks, based on a steady stream of email I have received since writing about the college cost-to-value equation a few months ago. Here is a look at a few perspectives on the issue:
　
大学学位是高薪工作的敲门砖：纽约大学理事会2007年的一份报告显示，不管是单年的年薪还是一生的收入水平，通常说来，大学毕业生要比高中毕业生高出至少60%，而且这一差距还在持续加大。
A path to a better-paying job: College graduates in general earn at least 60% more than high-school grads on average, both annually and over their lifetimes, and the income gap has been growing over time, says a 2007 report by the College Board, New York.
　　
除此之外，研究还显示，科学或数学相关专业的学生刚毕业时的收入水平就会高于其他专业的学生。圣路易斯市的菲利浦．汉密尔顿是一位股票经纪，他的儿子即将高中毕业。他认为，比起名牌综合性大学所能带来的声望和人脉，顶尖职业学校的高收入就业前景更值得看重。他打了个比方：你在一所所谓的能开启机会之门的大学学什么社会学、英语或是传播学，毕业了做的是却园林景观工作，你这个学位真的有用处吗？他希望自己17岁的儿子选择一所工程学、食品科学或是会计学特别强的学校，专业也就选择这三者其中之一。他说，这样的话，就算你刚毕业时去了家冲浪用品店上班，到27岁时想干点正经事了，也还找得到工作。
Beyond that, students who major in science- or math-related fields tend to earn more right out of college, compared with other majors, research shows. Phillip Hamilton, a St. Louis stockbroker, values the earning potential of a degree from a top professional school for his son, a high-school junior, over any prestige or network a degree from an elite liberal arts college might confer. 'Is a degree in sociology, English or communications from a 'door-opening' school really going to help with that landscaping job that awaits you?' he asks rhetorically. He hopes his son, 17, chooses a college based on the quality of its engineering, food-science or accounting program, and majors in one of those subjects. 'Then if you decide to work at a surf shop after graduation, you can still snap out of it at 27 and get a real job,' he says.