I caught an HPU advertisement on the radio this evening in which one presumably high school-age guy is talking to a friend, who is already in college.

“What are you doing this summer?” College-Age Guy asks High School Guy.

“I’m going to be at HPU, with you,” High School Guy replies. “I really want to get a head start on college classes.”

Good for High School Guy. He’s probably the ambitious type; maybe he’s getting a jump start on his education so he can finish in two or three years and go on to get a J.D. or a M.D. (In which case, he’ll become either Very Eligible Lawyer Guy or Very Eligible Doctor Guy.)

I assumed that the ad was a message to those about to enter college that taking summer school can be a good way to finish college in less than four years. And indeed, with the rising cost of education, more and more students are opting for that route.

Others, like this questioner, might do it because graduating earlier from college would mean graduating earlier from law school, a master’s program or medical school. A female friend, whom I had lunch with last week and is currently at JABSOM, said she purposely chose to go right into med school after college rather than taking a year off because of concerns about how soon she could do other things — like start a family — after earning her M.D. Although she did her undergrad in four years, I imagine there are many other med students out there who are willing to blitz through their college years for an earlier graduation from med school.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, there are those who take five, seven, even 10 years to go through what would normally be a four-year undergrad program. These career students belong to the Facebook group called “Graduating College in 4 Years is Like Leaving the Party at 9 p.m” (UHM Chapter). For many, reasons beyond their control dictate this extended undergrad experience — money, having to split work time and class time, being able to get into the right classes to finish your degree.

Or maybe, as freshmen, they want to major in Economics, then as sophomores, they want to major in Hawaiian Studies or Old English Poetry; then, they graduate with a a double major in Greek Philosophy and Communications, and a minor in Food and Restaurant Management.

But for others, maybe it even comes down to this: College is fun!

I grad from college in four years, and even that felt short. So, I guess it’s hard for me to understand why, in the absence of things like real money or time concerns, students would want to finish college early.

My dad often tells me that he can’t understand why college students wildly celebrate graduation, when they will leave the best years of their lives behind. I’m not sure if I’d call my college years the best of my life, but considering they were filled with meeting tons of great people my age, making lasting friendships, never waking up before 9 a.m., taking fascinating classes with incredible professors, having a party option every weekend, exploring New York and Boston and actually having spring, summer and Christmas vacations … yes, I’d say college was pretty darn awesome.

But maybe that’s just me. I wouldn’t want to stay out ’till 4 a.m., but I’d hate to leave a party when it’s just getting started.

There is quite an interesting discussion that has been growing since yesterday in the forum for this USA Today article on rising college tuition — and whether the costs translate into results.

A report by the Delta Cost Project, a Washington-based non-profit, says even as colleges and universities receive more revenue from tuition, that may not mean more is being spent on classroom instruction to prepare students for graduation.

Leaders in higher education typically argue that spending increases are necessary to maintain educational quality, but “what we see across a broad range of indicators is that states and institutions are spending money in areas that may not be in line with the public priority of preparing more graduates,” report author Jane Wellman says. The report is based on Department of Education data across 18 years from nearly 2,000 institutions representing 90% of students. The study examined only operating expenses, which include instructional costs — primarily faculty salaries and benefits. The fastest-growing operating expenses are related to research, public outreach and financial aid, the report says. Other examples are student services, maintenance and academic support.

For the current school year, the price of tuition at community colleges increased an average of 4.2 percent and 6.6 percent at public four-year institutions, according to College Board data.

Interestingly, as the article points out, the United States spends more per student than any other industrialized nation, but is at the bottom in regards to degree completion (54 percent), as reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in a 2007 study. The organization’s average was 71 percent, with Japan at the top with 91 percent.

Some who have left comments on the article disagree on just how important a college degree is in getting ahead, and how much going to a name-brand institution, like an Ivy League school, counts. Could one spend far less than the $125,000+ it would cost for four years at Harvard and get a fine education and a degree from a community college (and afford the first down payment on a house) instead? Does more money shelled out for college necessarily equal a better education? A bigger circle of connections? A higher-paying job?

A better life?

What I find intimidating is that more and more, it seems that a four-year, oftentimes terribly expensive college degree is not enough. Back in the day, those who finished high school were considered accomplished. Then it became those who completed some kind of secondary education. Now it seems you may need even more than that to succeed in this increasingly globalized world.

Many of my friends are discovering that their college degrees are not enough. But applying for graduate/law/med school while still paying off hundreds in college loans each month can be daunting.

Honestly, where does it stop?