Nevertheless, is a university degree always worth the huge commitment of time and money it demands?a While statistics indicate that university graduates earn higher salaries and suffer less unemployment than high school graduates, the book Planning Your College Education reminds us that these statistics are mere averages. Only a minority of university graduates actually receive sky-high salaries; the rest are paid wages that are far more down to earth. Besides, the high incomes attributed to university graduates may also result from such factors as “unusual abilities, motivation, area opportunities for employment, . . . special talents”​—not simply the amount of their education.

“A [university] degree no longer guarantees success in the job market,” says the U.S. Department of Labor. “The proportion [of university graduates] employed in professional, technical, and managerial occupations . . . declined because these occupations did not expand rapidly enough to absorb the growing supply of graduates. As a result, roughly 1 out of 5 [university] graduates who entered the labor market between 1970 and 1984 took a job not usually requiring a degree. This oversupply of graduates is likely to continue through the mid-1990’s.”

Further Facts to Ponder

A university degree may or may not improve your employment prospects. But one fact is indisputable: “The time left is reduced”! (1 Corinthians 7:29) For all its presumed benefits, would four years or more in a university be the best use of that remaining time?​—Ephesians 5:16.

Would a university education steer you toward or away from your spiritual goals? Remember, a high income is not a Christian priority. (1 Timothy 6:7, 8) Yet, a survey of U.S. university administrators described today’s students as ‘career-oriented, concerned with material success, concerned with self.’ One group of students said: “It seems like all we talk about is money.” How might being immersed in an atmosphere of intense competition and selfish materialism affect you?

Universities may no longer have the riotous scenes of the 1960’s. But a decrease in university bedlam hardly means the campus environment is wholesome. Concluded one study of campus life: “Students still have almost unlimited freedom in personal and social matters.” Drugs and alcohol are used freely, and promiscuity is the rule​—not the exception. If this is true of universities in your land, might living there thwart your efforts to remain morally clean?​—1 Corinthians 6:18.

Another concern is the well-documented association of exposure to higher education with decreased “adherence to core religious tenets.” (The Sacred in a Secular Age) The pressure to maintain high grades has caused some Christian youths to neglect spiritual activities and thus become vulnerable to the onslaught of secular thinking promoted by universities. Some have suffered shipwreck concerning their faith.​—Colossians 2:8.

Alternatives to University Education

In view of these facts, many Christian youths have decided against a university education.