During the President’s recent State of the Union address, he outlined America’s College Promise: a plan for offering the first two years of community college free for U.S. students. Two-year institutions across the nation are understandably excited about the Promise, but others are not so enthusiastic. As the cost of higher education rises along with corresponding public skepticism regarding the true value of a degree, the decision of whether or not to pursue this path continues to weigh heavily on the minds of students and parents alike.
Enter Benji Buddy, the self-proclaimed education debt genius. Starting with the end (career) in mind, this app lets students select future jobs and corresponding degrees. It’s deceptively simple: begin by selecting a potential career path (options are offered with Department of Labor data for starting salaries), choose a state, select a school (while viewing its graduation rates per IPEDS), calculate total potential debt (tuition, room, board and extras), and view your projected debt-to-income ratio upon graduation. Do this up to five times to compare side-by-side costs, and add a layer of objectivity to what has, until now, remained a very subjective process.
