When I look back at my college years, it often occurs to me that I probably should have tried graduating college early.
I’ve always been a bit of an over-achiever. When I was in high school, I took every AP class that I could manage, ending up with 8 AP classes over the course of my high school career. This resulted in me entering my freshman year of college with 30 credits – enough to technically make me a sophomore on my first day of class.
Entering college with all of those credits meant that I could have some really easy semesters. I remember one semester where I only took 3 classes for 12 total credits, the minimum number of credits I could take to still be considered a full-time student. My schedule was super easy also, as I only had classes on Tuesday and Thursday. This meant that every week was a 4-day weekend, not to mention the random day off I had in the middle of the week.
I wish I could say I was productive with all of that free time, but alas, I wasn’t. Instead, I spent all of that extra time goofing off, doing things like playing video games or sleeping. If the gig economy had existed back then, I probably would have been doing that kind of stuff. Or, if I had understood the scope of the internet more, I probably could have tried to start something online.
Towards the end of my sophomore year, I had more than enough credits that I definitely could have graduated a year early without having to do anything too crazy. My mom thought it’d be a good idea as well for me to graduate early, mainly because it would save her from having to pay for another year of tuition. Ultimately though, I decided to take the slow and easy route through college, taking a pretty light course load each semester and graduating in four years like everyone else.
I don’t regret taking my time to get through college – it was one of the formative events of my life and the experience of college and being away from home is something I wouldn’t trade for anything. With the benefit of a decade of hindsight, though, I think I probably could have benefited quite a bit from graduating early – not just from a financial standpoint, but from a personal development standpoint as well.
Why I Should Have Graduated College Early
Here are some reasons why I think I should have graduated from college early:
1. It would have saved me a lot of money. The most obvious benefit is that graduating from college early would have been a financially smarter thing to do. I went to a state school, so the tuition wasn’t that bad, but it still wasn’t cheap either. Back then, I think tuition was in the neighborhood of $9k to $10k per year. My rent was about $400 per month, so all together, a year of school was about $15k to $20k per year.
Admittedly, I was privileged enough to have parents that were able to pay my tuition and rent for me. That’s part of the reason why the money thing wasn’t really an important factor for me. I had a disconnect between school and what it actually cost to go to school. When I went off to law school, I had to pay the tuition myself, which made me work a lot harder.
Today, the financial benefits of graduating college early are obviously much more pronounced. Data shows that the average yearly tuition at a private school is a little over $41,000. For state schools, it’s a little less, about $11,000 for in-state tuition and $27,000 for out-of-state tuition (source: US News). That’s a lot of money you can save if you graduate early. And if I had graduated early back in 2008, I could have saved my parents $9k to $10k, which they’d probably have appreciated.
2. It would have helped me with personal development. I think one issue I had with college is that I was just a little too comfortable. I had my group of friends, lived in a house with all of them, and basically did the same thing every weekend. My issue looking back is that I never really stepped out of my comfort zone, which is probably why the idea of staying in school for the full 4 years appealed to me.
A year out of school might have forced me to grow more as a person – maybe learn new skills that I didn’t have or meet a group of people that I didn’t know. It would have definitely required me to get a job or do something to earn money, which would have been helpful on a personal development front.
Another benefit might have been to get a year to really think about what I wanted to do with my future. When I graduated from college in 2009, I felt like I was in a major rush to get my life started. If I had graduated early though, maybe that pressure would have been less intense. All of my friends would still have been in school and I could’ve taken the time to slow down a little bit. At a minimum, it would’ve given me an entire year to study for the LSAT or GRE or think about any other grad school program.
3. Maybe I would have learned about money sooner. One issue with my college years is that I really had no understanding of how money worked. My parents were paying for my tuition and rent, so I had a real disconnect with how much stuff cost and how to manage money. I suspect that a lot of college students have this same issue, especially when they have parents that are supporting them.
I point this out a lot, but when I was in law school, I never skipped any classes. In college, I skipped classes all the time. The difference is that I was paying for law school myself. Someone else was paying for college.
If I had graduated early, I probably would have had to get a job and start paying my own rent. I started to learn about money when I got my first job as a lawyer, mainly because I was making good money and I had bills and student loans to pay. Maybe some interaction with paying bills and living on my own would have gotten me into the money space earlier?
4. Maybe I would have traveled. For about 10 years, I really didn’t have much of a travel bug at all. It’s interesting because I did a lot of international travel when I was a kid, but for some reason, once we stopped going on family vacations, I just stopped traveling. My brother did the exact opposite, doing a study abroad program in China for a year, then living in China for 5 years after graduating from college.
It wasn’t until I learned about travel hacking that I started to get the travel bug again. These days, traveling is a little bit harder compared to what it would have been like as a 21-year old. But with a year off and no school, maybe I would have just picked up my bags and gone somewhere.
5. Maybe I would have expanded outside of my college bubble. One thing that happens when you’re in college is that you can get stuck in a sort of college bubble. When I graduated from college and moved back home, I ended up expanding to some different friend groups, mainly young, urban professionals that really changed how I viewed the world. When I think about some of the big developments in my house, that year that I was living at home between college and law school was really formative for me.
Would the same thing have happened if I had graduated early? I don’t know, but I suspect I probably would have started expanding outside of the college world sooner.
What I Should Have Done After Graduating
In retrospect, I could have had the best of all worlds by graduating a year early and simply getting a job on campus. On the financial front, it would have saved my parents $9k to $10k of tuition, which they would have definitely appreciated.
Graduating college early wouldn’t necessarily have meant that I would have to leave college. I could have easily stayed on campus and continued living with my roommates for their senior year. During that time, I probably could have snagged a job doing something (not a good job or anything, but I probably could have found something).
My rent was only about $400 per month and I probably didn’t spend more than $500 or $1,000 per month on anything else. It wouldn’t have been hard for me to get a job that could cover my bills.
Should You Consider Graduating College Early?
Whether you should graduate early is going to depend on a lot of circumstances that are personal to you. For me, with the benefit of hindsight, I think it would have made sense for me to graduate early.
Obviously, there are financial benefits to graduating early if you can do it. We know that a year of tuition is expensive in most places, so saving that year of tuition can be huge.
Graduating college early I think also has some personal development benefits that we don’t often think about. Just getting a little time to slow down and think about what you want to do is helpful. Again, this is going to be unique to everyone. For me, I think graduating early would have done a lot to help me discover who I am.
Yes, there’s value in the experience of being a student. But I think I could have still kept the student experience simply by graduating a year early and then staying on campus and finding a job. Things wouldn’t really wouldn’t have been that different other than that I wouldn’t be going to classes. And maybe it would have helped me to start thinking outside the box a little sooner.
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
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- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
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- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
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- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
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Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
If you graduate a semester or a year early, if you have any “private” scholarships from non-university sources, you could ask those scholarship providers if they would increase the scholarship amounts for your remaining semester(s)/year. They might say no but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Plus, if they say yes, then that’s another advantage to graduating early, i.e., a really cheap semester or academic year.
I graduated university in 3 years with a Bachelors degree and a double minor.
I specifically chose a high school where I grew up in NYC that had a tight relationship with a university. I took every AP class I could in high school and the university accepted all the classes for college credit with open arms. I loaded up my semesters and didn’t take it easy. I also worked about 30-40 hours a week at 2-3 jobs at any time, and belonged to several clubs on campus.
I wanted to graduate quickly. I had a full tuition scholarship, so you would think I would have took it easy. That is one aspect – saving tuition costs, one that you discuss. But another aspect to remember is opportunity cost. I wanted to get out into the workforce and start earning money! Every year that passed sitting in a classroom, I was missing out on greater earning potential and experience in my chosen field.
Thanks again for your blog – it is fantastic! I love your ideas and the different way you look at things.
Thanks Susan! Dang you were hustling hard. Good point about opportunity cost. Even if I just got myself some easy job like working at a golf course, I still could have made more than the few hundred bucks a month I made working a few hours a week. Not to mention the time I could have used to figure out something else – or at least try other things.
Hi Susan,
I agree with you about the opportunity cost! That’s what my daughter said when I suggested she continue on to a graduate school as she got her BS from UCBerkeley at 18. “Mom, school doesn’t PAY me enough to continue!”
Congrats on your achievement.
Hi Kevin,
Have been enjoying your blog for a while now.
This post hits home for me. My daughter graduated from UCBerkeley with a BS in Statistics when she was 18. She was very driven and had a job lined up before she graduated. I and my husband were sort of blindsided when she announced she was NOT following a safe path to a graduate school but going to work for a while. I thought it would be safer and easier to just move up the academic ladder. In retrospect, I think I was just being protective. I had a problem of letting go of my baby.
She has been very successful as an actuary for the past 3 and half years, and is quite happy with the decision. She still pushes herself hard to be the best. Her company had no idea she was only 18 when hired. Everyone was shocked, delighted and impressed when the HR alerted the CFO that something must be wrong with my daughter’s birthdate. My daughter was called into the office to verify the info, and she just told her CFO “That’s about right.”!!
I think anyone with ambition and a clear future plan should seriously consider graduating early. After all, many European countries and Canadian universities grant a BS of BA after 3 years.
Wow, graduating at 18 is crazy young! I assume she must’ve taken a bunch of college classes in high school too. How many years of college did she have to pay for then?
She didn’t pay for any. We footed the bill for 2 yrs. As she was too young at 16 to go far away from home for college, she lived at home and walked a mile uphill to UCBerkeley. Many—including me— wondered if she wasn’t missing out too much by graduating so early. But she said 1 year of posh private high school abroad was enough.
I guess we had a somewhat unconventional life; lots of traveling and a mix of traditional school and homeschool/charter school. My husband and I were both educators, so we were ready to teach her. Before she turned 19, she had been to 28 different countries, including a year Edinburgh.
I think there are many creative ways to approach education, and getting out early is definitely one way to do it.