For which of the following individuals would the opportunity cost of going to college be highest?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When considering opportunity cost, we focus on what you give up by choosing college over immediate earnings or other alternatives.
Option a: 'A famous, highly paid actor who wants to take time away from show business to finish college and earn a degree' represents a very high foregone income. If this actor stops work to study, they are giving up a substantial ongoing salary and endorsements, making the opportunity cost enormous in dollar terms. This makes sense as the highest potential earnings are being sacrificed.
Option b: 'A promising young mathematician who will command a high salary once they earn their college degree' also has a high potential future payoff, but their current earnings are typically lower while they are still students or early in their career. The immediate foregone salary is not as large as for a currently high-earning actor, so the opportunity cost is usually smaller than in option a.
Option c: 'A student who is the best player on their college basketball team, but who lacks the skills necessary to play professional basketball' implies some potential earnings from college-level play, but if they cannot go pro, their current earnings are limited and the foregone earnings from not playing professionally are minimal. Thus, the opportunity cost of attending college is not as high as for someone who is already earning a high income.
Option d: 'A student with average grades who has never held a job' likely has little to no current earnings to forgo, so their opportunity cost of attending college is relatively low compared with someone already earning a substantial income.
Overall, the option that yields the greatest foregone earnings by choosing college over staying in a high-paying job is the famous, highly paid actor in option a, making it the correct choice when evaluating opportunity cost in this context.

For which of the following individuals would the opportunity cost of going to college be highest?Single choice

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