Would You Pay $75,000 For A Minivan?
Would you pay $75,000 for a minivan?
Unless you know something I don’t, paying that much for a minivan is ridiculous. You pay $75,000 for a Maserati, but not for a Honda Odyssey.
There’s absolutely nothing shameful about a minivan, but it just isn’t worth the price of a Maserati. You wouldn’t pay luxury prices for a non-luxury item.
That’s a principle that seems to have been thrown to the wayside when it comes to college though. Students pay $20,000 per year on the low end (often much more) to attend college classes so they can get a degree.
And yet, a college degree isn’t exactly a “luxury item” anymore like it was decades ago.
In fact, to carry on the car analogy, a college degree, far from being a “Maserati” has become a clunky lemon that does little more than get us from point A to point B. It’s become the bare minimum requirement for many white-collar jobs (and some blue-collar jobs too).
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If a college degree is now just enough to get our foot in the door (if that), why do thousands of young people burden themselves with debt to get it?
Our culture has pretty much assumed that college is an essential ingredient to a successful American-dream life. And that’s one big reason why thousands of people pay thousands of dollars for something that won’t really make them stand out from the crowd. Luxury is about exclusivity. The whole point of a Maserati is that not everyone has one. It’s elite. That’s why there’s more perceived value.
A Luxury Higher Education
If you’re going to get something that almost everyone else in your competitive job market has, it doesn’t make sense to pay an arm and a leg for it. Affordable education alternatives like community college, trade schools, and online learning have stepped up in place of traditional secular colleges.
That’s good because students don’t have to pay a luxury price for a non-luxury item anymore. But that only goes so far. Because students are still receiving a non-luxury item!
Ascend by Unbound offers students a real luxury education. Not because we insist on drinking from champagne flutes or rolling around in expensive cars. Ascend is a luxury education because of the exclusive benefits it provides.
Students in the Ascend program will earn college credit. But they will also learn how to make wise decisions through a Christian worldview, how to lead and communicate well, how to build and sustain community, and how to take a real project from ideation to completion.
Ascend students stand out from the crowd of job applicants. Because, in addition to their academic education, they have real world experience building something real in the real world. (Did we mention it’s real?)
Stand Out From the Crowd
Don’t pay Maserati prices for a minivan.
College is now accessible to the masses and that’s a good thing. But it means that universities charging exclusive luxury prices have a huge value gap.
If you want your student to stand out from the crowd when starting their career and adult life, it’s time to take the road less traveled.
Ascend equips your student with the skills and real-world experience they need to stand out and live with impact, without sacrificing college credits along the way. Apply today.
Jace Bower is a Copywriter for Unbound. An Unbound alumnus, he has experienced firsthand the powerful advantages of doing college differently and participating in an intentional community. Jace graduated with his bachelor’s degree in History in 2016 and has worked in restaurant management and marketing since then. He also served on the Unbound Student Cabinet in 2019.
The author of two books and a semi-regular blogger, Jace can often be found doing something with words. When he’s not, chances are he’s reading about theology, listening to music, or playing pool or tennis with his wife Shannon in their Virginia home.
