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I stop the intro video on Slide 3 at 1:23, shortly after the “Mr. Wonderful” part.

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Weighing the Evidence

Robin Hood

WEIGH

EVIDENCE

THE

COLLEGE!

Stop at 1:23

Instructions

- Rate each of the following exhibits based on how well it supports the statement:

“College is usually worth the cost.”

-Each exhibit is rated from -2 (very against the statement) to + 2 (very supportive of the statement)

-A rating of 0 means the source is not useful or reliable.

-For each write one or two sentences defending your rating.

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Set up your paper into columns like this:

Exhibit

Rating

Why?

Z – Photograph

of forest

+1

Stories of bigfoot often say he lives in the forest. This is actually a forest so the stories are somewhat believable.

Not all evidence is equally important. Part of drawing a conclusion is determining how much weight you give to each bit of information.

-2

Heavily against

-1

Slightly against

0

No

value as a source

+1

Slightly for

+2

Heavily for

EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE

Exhibit A:

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Two Rich Dudes

(And one not)

“College is usually worth the cost.”

Bill Gates

Net Worth: $127 Billion

College degree: None

Known for: Co-founder, Microsoft

Mark Zuckerberg

Net Worth: $71 Billion

College degree: None

Known for: Co-founder, Facebook

Mr. Roughton, Net Worth: $500 thousand, College Degree; Economics

Exhibit B:

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Data Visualizations

“College is usually worth the cost.”

Exhibit c:

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“Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return on Investment Analysis”

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Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity

“College is usually worth the cost.”

Key Findings

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• This report estimates return on investment (ROI) — the increase in lifetime earnings minus the costs of college — for nearly 30,000 bachelor’s degrees.

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• For students who graduate on time, the median bachelor’s degree has a net ROI of $306,000. But some degrees are worth millions of dollars, while others have no net financial value at all.

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• After accounting for the risk of dropping out, ROI for the median bachelor’s degree drops to $129,000. Over a quarter of programs have negative ROI.

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• Four in five engineering programs have ROI above $500,000, but the same is true for just 1% of psychology programs.

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• Elite schools such as Caltech and Penn dominate the list of highest ROI programs. But attending an elite school is not a golden ticket; some Ivy League degrees have negative ROI.

Exhibit d:

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“Borrowed future” Trailer

Exhibit e:

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t-chart –

jobs with diploma vs not

“College is usually worth the cost.”

Pilot,

Barista,

Makeup artist,

Farmer,

Fry Cook,

Police Officer,

Sales Representative,

Model Maker,

Flight Attendant,

Electrician,

Plumber,

Postal Worker,

Athlete,

Firefighter,

Internet Celebrity

Actor

Office Assistant

Jobs with no Degree Requirement

Jobs Requiring At Least a 4 Year Degree

Teacher,

Doctor,

Lawyer,

Registered Nurse,

Nuclear Engineer,

School Counselor,

Psychologist,

Financial Advisor,

Sales Manager,

Economist,

Video Game Designer,

Software Developer,

Computer Security Analyst,

Veterinarian,

Statistician,

Speech Pathologist

Exhibit f:

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Student Loan debt chart New York Fed – Consumer Credit Panel

“College is usually worth the cost.”

Amount of Student Loan Debt Held by Age Group

Exhibit G:

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College Pics!

“College is usually worth the cost.”

Instructions

• Add up your rating numbers from the exhibits. If your rating is positive most of what we know is true. If it is negative, it is false.
• Write a Rundown answering: “Is college usually worth the cost?

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• Claim - College usually is / is not worth the cost.
• Evidence 1 – Exhibit ___ shows ...
• Explain 1 – This proves…
• Ev2
• Ex2
• Ev3
• Ex3