The obvious costs are the costs of tuition, fees, and textbooks. These costs do not include your typical living expenses, such as food costs or living space because these costs will be incurred no matter what you do – go to work or go to school. The biggest cost of going to college is forgone income. This is to say that going to college usually means sacrificing a full-time salary. In the case of a typical 18-year-old, the opportunity cost of going to college may be $15,000 to $20,000 per year. The cost to a pop country singer such as Taylor Swift would have been nearly $60 million this year. For Justin Bieber, it would have been $55 million. For the successful musician, actor, or model, the old saying "Get all the education you can get" doesn’t make much sense.
Opportunity cost has something to do with the decision by Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber not to attend college while they are under the age of 25. Between the ages of 17 or 18 and 25, the opportunity cost of going to college for stars in the popular music industry is very high.
What is the opportunity cost of leaving college early for student athletes who join professional teams prior to graduation? The opportunity cost of leaving college early is the forgone education. If at the end of a professional career the athlete does not have a degree, then his or her best income alternatives will usually be much lower than for an athlete who did get a degree.
