Is a Four-Year Degree Worth It?

Yes

This seems to be focused on non technical degrees at elite institutions.

Cant imagine hiring a Dartmouth graduate in Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies... ever.

Or for that fact, anything in their interdisciplinary majors.

Those little meat bags of entitlement must not be getting jobs...

I'll second the sentiment of lshuge. The value of a college degree is highly dependent upon what course of study that degree entails. A degree in architecture, engineering, pre-med/med, veterinary sciences, computer science, etc. are all very much worth the effort and financial investment. A degree in political science, recreation, or the all encompassing degree for people who just want to "college experience" known as General Studies are generally not worth the time.

To be brief: A Bachelor of Science degree beats out a Bachelor of the Arts degree every single time. Unless you plan to teach or go in to the legal profession, a BA isn't worth much more than the parchment it's printed on.

Agree that the ROI for most is asinine

The student loan scam is why this question is even being asked

Most degrees are useless.
This is why you have a nation full of baristas with 100k in student debt.

I agree that colleges need to make some changes. They keep trying to balance being a for-profit organization, an institution of research and higher learning, and a white collar job training program.

They need to pick one and run with it. If it’s about jobs and ROI? Cut the intellectual programs. Research and higher ed? Lower costs and only accept those who can engage in higher forms of academic and intellectual inquiry. Fail those that can’t. For profit? Switch to all online so education can be cheap and people can work while they earn a degree.

It’s absolutely not worth spending $100k-$200k to earn a degree that gets you no closer to a job than a high school diploma. Most degrees—even some of the STEM ones—will never lead to high salaries without some form of grad school or luck.

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Depends on the degree. Most degrees today are useless.

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Maybe not most, but far too many. Which speaks to the
OP's contention

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Institutions should be held accountable for student outcomes: Are our graduates getting jobs, pursuing meaningful work, and contributing to their communities?

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They forgot to mention that anything you ever need or want to learn can be done from a device in your pocket. The entire school model is antiquated.

I have a 4 year BSEE. Would I recommend anyone pay what colleges are charging today for the same degree? Hell NO. Sadly there isn't much that has changed in the degree program from when I got my BSEE in 1996 to today, but the cost has skyrocketed. I got out of school with $15K in student loan debt and was able to pay it off. Took a lot longer than what they sell to you, but I got it done. Today's student loan debt for the same degree at the same college would be > $10K per year. That's more than $50K for the same degree (if you can get a BSEE and work 40 hours a week in 4 years, I commend you, but it took my 5 so I base my calculations off that). That's close to 4x for the SAME DEGREE. Yeah starting salaries might be more, but so is housing, food, insurance, utilities etc. The Risk vs Reward isn't there. Go to a junior college or Vocational Tech school and keep your expenses down and start out at the same salary! Welders, mechanics, and electricians make damn good money and don't have the overhead of student loans breathing down their necks. Plus those schools help students find jobs better than some colleges do.