Over the past few years, we have seen the price of college tuition continue to rise and the unemployment rate of recent graduates reach new highs. With college students and their parents paying more money for college to earn a potentially useless piece of paper, it’s hard not to ask — is a college degree still worth it?

Those who argue that a college degree isn’t worth it usually mention a few names of college dropouts who became billionaires, like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. However, these cases are outliers if you compare them to average college dropouts.

In my personal experience, paying for a college degree was worth it because it helped me land my dream job. Going to college helped me learn the skills and make the connections that gave me the opportunity to apply for my dream job, but that alone wasn’t enough. I wanted to work at arguably the top company in my field. Needless to say, thousands of other people did too. And so I was rejected the first time…and the second time…and the third time. That’s right — I applied four times (and spent a couple of extra years in grad school) before I finally got the job.

On the other hand, one of my coworkers told me the story of how he made it to the same place as me without going to college at all. In high school he was failing his classes, and his teachers told him he wouldn’t succeed. Tired of the negativity, he decided to drop out of school, but instead of giving up, he decided to prove his teachers wrong. He discovered something that he loved to do and learned how to do it on his own. He got good enough to get a job at a smaller company and gradually worked his way up to bigger companies until he finally made it to his dream job.

As you can see, there are many ways to achieve your goals whether or not you go to college. In the end I think the true worth of a college degree is what you make of it. For some people, college will help you figure out what you want to do and how to get there, but for other people, college will leave you just as confused as you were at the start (with a lot more debt).

Now it’s your turn to share. Do you think a college degree is worth the money?

Summer is here. It’s not quite as exciting when you’re not in college anymore. Unless you become a teacher or professor, you can say goodbye to three month summer vacations after you graduate. Once you get into the real world, summer just means the sun is still out when you leave work, and you can wear shorts if your workplace is casual.

There is one thing that doesn’t change after college though. In fact, no matter what stage of life you’re in, the sun seems to put everyone in a better mood.

The sunny weather finally got to me last week. I bought a grill and threw a barbecue over the weekend. The sun must have gotten to my friends too, because a bunch of them showed up. We enjoyed lots of food, music, drinks, and fun.

We were having so much fun that a couple of our neighbors came over to see what was going on. They’re both college students and just moved into one of the units in our complex. Talking to them about their summer jobs and internships made me feel like a young lad again and, of course, reminded me of what it was like when summer still meant vacation.

Because this first barbecue turned out to be such a success, a few of my friends mentioned making it a weekly event. The crazy thing is that it sounded like a good idea to me, and it still does now. I think my new goal for this summer is to throw as many barbecues as possible.

What are you doing this summer?

As I’ve gone through college, grad school, and now my first full time job, I’ve met people from all different backgrounds. Meeting people from such a wide variety of backgrounds is always exciting. Hearing about how other people have made it to where they are allows us to put our own situations in perspective.

When I think back to college, most freshmen show up with the cord still attached to their parents. College students are typically broke after all, and going to college is usually the first time we leave home. If you’re not calling home to ask for more money, then you’re probably calling because you’re homesick.

Of course, some people stay a little more attached than others. I know a few people whose parents completely covered the cost of college and grad school for them. I also know a few friends who had to talk to their parents at least once a day on the phone because they wanted to and/or their parents were checking up on them.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those parents that cut the cord immediately after high school. Once their kids go off to college, they’re completely on their own. There’s no help from Mom or Dad anymore. Sometimes it’s intentional, and sometimes it’s because the parents are in so much debt themselves that they can’t afford to help out.

What has my experience been? It definitely falls somewhere in between. While I’m fortunate enough to have parents who saved enough to help me cover the cost of my undergraduate years, the cord was cut when I went to grad school. (That’s why this blog exists!)

Now it’s your turn. When did your parents cut the cord?

I was hanging out with some friends yesterday, and after eating ourselves into a food coma, we were lounging around and watching a movie on Comedy Central. During one of the commercial breaks, one of those debt management commercials came on. At some point during the commercial, they mentioned being able to help even if you were tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.

One of my friends snidely remarked, “How do you even get into that much debt?”

The comment got me thinking and wondering — why do people fall into credit card debt?

Despite being a frequent user of credit cards, I’ve never carried a balance on a credit card. In fact, I’ve never even come close to carrying a balance on a credit card. I’m guessing my friend who made the comment has a pretty similar track record.

However, I do know that some of my other friends have been or are currently in credit card debt. Some have had better reasons than others. Med school applications, a new computer, video games, furniture, and car repairs are just a few of the stories I’ve heard. I’m sure there are many more that remain untold.

So how about you? Have you fallen into credit card debt? How did it happen?

The year is 2009, and I think it’s safe to say that practically everyone has a cell phone these days. They’re portable, relatively inexpensive, and do way cooler stuff than the phones our parents grew up using. So here’s a question from a Generation Y’er who has relied solely on a cell phone for the past seven years — why do people still have landlines?

Seven years ago, I got my first cell phone, and I’ve never looked back. Since then, I’ve never had a landline. Cell phones put home phones to shame nowadays. I saved up for an iPhone 3G at the end of last year, and it’s awesome. I use it as my phone, a navigation device, a portable media player, and a portable Internet device.

Cell phones do have some disadvantages though. I’ll never forget the time I tried to get pizza delivered to my apartment in college, but they refused to do it because I called from a cell phone number. I think that’s the only time I’ve wished that I still had a landline since deciding to live life landline-free.

It’s even more confusing for restaurants now because you can keep the same cell phone number. I know a lot of people, myself included, that keep the same number even after moving somewhere new, because it’s easier than having to update all of your accounts and letting all of your friends and family know about the new number.

While cell phone coverage has dramatically improved over the years, I still get bad reception and dropped calls every once in awhile. The most annoying part is that you always seem to get the worst reception at the places where you spend the most time, like your home or workplace. I get spotty reception in my bedroom at my current place, but it’s fine if I move into any of the other rooms.

So based on the points that I’ve covered, the only reasons why people still have landlines are to:

• Ensure that you can order delivery from restaurants
• Make it more confusing for friends and family to keep track of all of your phone numbers
• Be able to talk anywhere in your home without losing reception, including the basement

With an estimated 20% of American households without a landline, I’m definitely in the minority, but as a Generation Y’er, most of my friends live a cell-only life too. So, I’m curious. What do the 80% who still have a landline use it for?