2014年，美国约有70%以上的大学生是负债毕业的，被称为“史上负债最多的一届学生”。预计，2015年美国大学毕业生的负债水平会比2014年更高。毕业时的高额债务，不景气的就业前景，让人不禁怀疑：上大学真的是最理想的选择吗？

Talking About College Education

谈谈大学教育

上大学不仅是年轻人的梦想，同时也寄托了父母的期望。有母亲哪怕付出一切也要让孩子上大学，也有来自贫困山区的大学生为了不辜负村民为自己筹集的学费，夜以继日地学习以求获得好成绩。近几年，国内的大学每年会招收四五百万名新生入学，全国每年有24%的高中毕业生进人大学。但是今天我们讨论的并非如何提高高考升学率，让更多年轻人实现上大学的梦想。相反，我想从另外一个角度谈谈大学教育。

To go to college has been a dream not only for young people but， if not more so， a dream for their parents. There are wrenching stories about how mothers would sacrifice everything for their children for a college education， and there are also stories about young college students from poverty stricken mountainous areas studying day and night to achieve good grades so as not to disappoint the villagers who contributed to his college tuition.

Now， colleges are more accessible than they were before. In recent years， Chinese colleges have been admitting anywhere from 4 to 5 million freshmen a year， while， in the United States， there are an estimated 18 million freshmen enrolled in colleges annually. An overall 24 percent of high school graduates in China and a little more than 62 percent of high school graduates in the US go on to get a college degree each year. We can， nevertheless， still talk about how to improve the college-going ratio so that all young people who want to go to college can fulfill that dream. But， we are not going to do that today. Instead， Id like to chat about college education from a different angleIs a college degree worth it anymore？

Does Graduation Equal to Unemployment？

毕业等于失业？

目前，美国有一個关于上大学的意义的热烈讨论。美国经济仍不见好转，对于许多大学生来说，毕业就意味着失业。这不是陈词滥调，而是当今数百万大学毕业生不得不面对的残酷现实。在大学勤奋学习了四年之后，经过很多考试，写过很多论文，为了按时完成项目熬过那么多不眠之夜，获得对口工作的机会却依然非常渺茫。2013年，美国只有42%的应届大学毕业生在半年之内找到了工作，其中绝大多数的年薪低于25000美元。其余的应届大学毕业生中，有40%多待业在家，50%多依靠父母生活，就是我们俗称的“啃老族”。

Currently， there is a heated discussion in this country on the meaning of going to college. With the economy dragging its feet in recovery， for many college students graduation means unemployment it is not so much as a cliche that people try to avoid using but a deadly true reality for millions of college graduates these days. After four yearshard work examines， papers， countless sleepless nights to get projects completed on time one graduating from college these days has very little chance to get the job he is trained for. Only about 42 percent of the college graduates in 2013 found a job in the first six months after graduating， and 41 percent of them worked for less than $25，000 a year. More than 40 and 50 percent of these grads， respectively， live at home and rely on their parents health insurance， becoming what we would call here in China Kenlaozu[啃老族] 。

Heavily in Debt with an Uncertain Prospect

負债累累，前景不明

大学教育成本昂贵。在美国，一般来说有两种大学，私立大学和公立大学。私立大学的费用要比公立大学高一些，因为后者有政府的税收支持。2013-2014学年，美国私立大学学费平均为3万美元，公立大学学费平均为9000美元。如果学生考入的大学不在自己居住的州，还需额外支付22000美元，留学生也要支付这笔费用。除了学费、生活费、书本费这些必需费用之外，其他像服装、娱乐、交通、旅行等费用，也占支出的一定比重。这样来看，无论是公立大学还是私立大学，每个学生每年需要支付3万左右美元，直到四年后毕业。这是一笔不小的支出，有些学生家长能够支付全部或者部分费用，然而很多学生需要打工或者贷款才能支付得起。近几年的数字统计显示，美国应届大学毕业生平均贷款额为25000美元。面对负债累累的经济状况、前途渺茫的就业前景，看看周围那些原先不如自己而选择职业技术学校的朋友，毕业后无论是测量员、网页开发员还是牙科保健员，年薪都至少是自己的两倍，大学毕业生们该何去何从？

A college education also comes with a big price tag. There are generally two types of colleges here in the States， private and public institutions. Private colleges are more expensive to attend than public colleges since the latter are supported by state government with tax monies. For tuition， the average cost between 2013 and 2014 was $30，000 per academic year at private colleges， but for public colleges the average tuition was about $9，000. If， however， a student goes college in a state other than his resident state， then his tuition would be more than $22，000， which is called the“out of state tuition.” A student from overseas will always pay the out of state tuition no matter which state he attends a public college in.

Tuition is not the only cost in college. Students must eat and have a place to live， which would cost about $10，000 a year depending ones life style. There are also books students have to buy for their classes， and those cost approximately $1，200 a year. Other costs， such as clothing， entertainment， transportation， and travel， may vary among students but should be budgeted for $2，000 to $3，000 a year.

It looks like whether attending public or private schools， a student must pay some $30，000 every year for four years to get his college degree. Some students have their parents to cover all or some of the costs but many students work and take loans to survive the college years. On average， a recent college graduate owes $25，000 in student loans， and the total cumulative student debt is reaching $1 trillion， surpassing the level of the national of credit card debt.

Four years later，  thousands of dollars in debt， and with little chance to land in a dream job， college graduates looked at those friends who had been considered not motivated or smart enough and shunned away from college to go to a trade or vocational school and found their high school buddies were making a solid living as surveyors for $55，000 a year; heating and refrigeration mechanics for $43，000 a year; web developers for $76，000 a year; dental hygienists for $68，000 a year…