The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-09-03
By P. P. CLAYTON unfxersffr nf AIah.m.

Hundreds of boys and girls in Ala bama who should go to university, college or normal school this fall have not yet fully made up their minds to do 80. They fear to take the risk. They are not sure of the investment "Will 1t pay to take four years or even less for further study and preparation when I might be making beginning on my life work and earning money instead of spend ing it2 Neither nor my parents have the money. Can I borrow? If so. should l do it and begin life for myself with burden of debt? What does 1t cost anyway to go to college May I hope to pay any part of this while in school and before completing my course? Has this higher prepa- ration money value? Has it other values, life values, for which I can afford to pay moneyT
 Let me help you answer some of those questions. Yes, 1t will pay as nothing else pays; pay in money and in life values which money expended otherwise cannot buy. It will pay in money. According to the mortality tables young men and women of the kind who go through high school have at 20 years of age 40 years or more of life before them. Many SluultS SuOW that lnOSe WnOSc eQuCd- ton ends with the high school have little more than half the earning power of those who go through col lege, and that the earning power of those who have the full four years of college education continues to in- crease long after the earning power of those with only a high school education has reached its level. The question then is: Will 1t pay you finally to take four years out of 40, one out of ten, that the earning power of the remaining years, nine out of ten, may be doubled, and that it may continue to rise to higher lev els as you grow older? In answer ing this you should remember that these years in college are the very years in which you could earn least if you were to go immediately to work. Four years more of maturity will of itself have value in the mar kets. If you or your parents have the money, the answer then Is easy.
 If you haven't the money, borrow. Of course you can. There is no young man or woman in Alabama who Is prepared for college and who is worth while who cannot. Insure your life for a thousand or two dollars, which will prove a good investment anyway, find a relative or friend who mas 1altn Tn you ana VIII lndorSe your note. Your local bank or some man or woman In your community will lend you what you need now. No loans are safer than those made to young men and women for this pur- pose. They are seldom defaulted. Personally. I know of no instances in which they have been. Alabama men and women have sympathetic hearts and all have faith in vigorous, help full. purposeful youth. If you are honest and determined to repay your loan, you will do any man who has money to lend a favor by letting him help you in your preparation for life ing and for more effective service. and better service. Borrow only enough for the present need. Let next year and the next take care of themselves. Sufficient unto the need is the year thereof If you use your years in college well and wisely, you should find no difficulty in paying the debt for all your college expenses in two or three years after you grad uate. You then start even and have your education all to the good.
 It need not cost much. Attendance at Alabama schools is comparatively cheap. Living costs little more than at home. A little more for food and lodging probably, but less for clothes. The difference is not much. At the university, for instance, students in the dormitories pay for board and lodging less than s1 a day. In the fraternity houses only little more. For those. who must find room and board in the city. the cost may be