preview

Advantage Of A College Education

Decent Essays

While history shows that people can be successful without a college degree, for those growing up in today’s society, college is no longer an option or privilege, but rather a necessity. Children and young adults in the twenty-first century are practically raised and conditioned to believe that one needs higher education in order to succeed in life. An American explorer Jeff Rich once said, "if you think education is expensive, try ignorance” (Jeff Rich, 2016). By this, he is saying that the less a person knows, the less opportunities are available to them. Educating oneself is expensive, but in the long run it is worth the trouble because it allows a person to grow as an individual and see topics from more than one perspective. However, if technology is constantly advancing and computers are running almost everything, is a college education really necessary? There are people who have never been to college but are making better money and have better living than people who have their master's or any kind of professional degree. While both sides make valid claims, a college education is entirely necessary because not only does it set one up for a better future with a higher salary than someone without a degree, but it also provides a better foundation for a person’s family as well.

Salary
By far, one of the biggest advantages of going to college is that it gives you opportunity and access to more jobs in most fields which are mostly white-collared and highly paid jobs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the annual salary differences (on average) between educational levels are staggering. High school drop outs make up to $18,734, while those who finish and graduate make up to $27,915. Choosing to finish all four years of high school already raises someone’s worth in the workplace nearly $9,000 more than those who choose not to finish. The high school graduates who choose to move on to college for four more years and obtain their bachelor’s degree, make about $51,206 a year, and any degree above that raises a person’s average salary to about $74,602 annually ("Educational Attainment", 2015). The more education a person receives, the more valuable they are to a company and the more that company will be willing

Get Access