Is College Education Worth The Money

Have you ever just stopped to think about what it must be like to be “qualified” for a job yet be unemployed and homeless? Starving on the streets because you paid everything you had to an institution that was supposed to guarantee a better life, a more stable and successful career. Obviously this is an extreme case, not everyone who pays for college ends up living on the streets and broke, but almost every college graduate is in debt. For as long as college has been around it has always meant a better life, it’s always been that people who went to college were more successful, smarter, and would make way more money than someone who didn’t go to college ever would. Lately, however, college has become so expensive that going to college will more than likely leave you in debt working for years upon years just to pay back what you owe and then start making money for yourself.

Getting a “good” job is not straightforward as it used to be. In past generations, someone in an entry-level position could work their way up the ladder simply through hard work and determination; whether or not one had credentials or a diploma mattered very little. This is not the case today. Higher education is now critical to obtaining a better job because the demand for skilled labor is rising. For this reason, the value that a degree offers is higher than that of one’s actual intelligence or merit. Furthermore, workers without college degrees will quickly be outpaced in position and salary by degree

In his essay titled “Yes A College Education Is Worth the Costs,” published in USA Today, former president of Southern Virginia University and a law professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law Rodney K. Smith, raises his concern about people willing to invest in material things rather than their future. By using the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the unemployed population to show that the unemployment rate is caused by the absences of graduates to satisfy the jobs in demand, he tries to convince the reader of the importance of education. As a 2010 report by the BLS indicates compared to 14.9% unemployed people without a high school diploma, only 1.9% graduates with a doctoral degree are unemployed. In addition, the average weekly income of a high school degree holder is 1106 less than a doctoral degree holder (qtd in Smith).

Journalist David Leonhardt, in his article “Is College Worth It? Clearly New Data Say,” argues, through the use of statistical data, that from both a financial and economical perspective, that pursuing a higher education is beneficial. Leonhardt provides data from the Economic Policy Institute that states that, “Americans with four-year college degrees [made] 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” Furthermore, on average, college graduates make “about $32.60” an hour while the average wage for those who did not pursue higher education is “about $16.50.” The disparity in wages should be a sufficient reason for pursuing a higher education. Yet, Leonhardt concedes that there is and will always be a percentage of graduates that will be unsuccessful in finding employment. According to Leonhardt, this unfortunate

A college degree is a valuable asset that could ultimately lead to a productive life in society due to the received education, but people without a college degree do turn out more than adequate in regards to societal success. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the forecasted 30 fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, five do not require a high school diploma, nine require a high school diploma, four require an associate 's degree, six require a bachelor 's degree, and six require graduate degrees to get the jobs (College). In an article called “College Education” by ProCon.org,

- end with a thesis(The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers if time is spent wisely college may be their key to success )

As it is heavily believed and statistically proved by Document A, Earnings and Unemployment Rates Based on Educational Attainments (2015), the higher the degree earned, the more money attained, similarly the higher the degree earned, the lower the unemployment rate. This proves the worth of college by giving numerical comparisons of those who invested in it verses those who didn’t. The median weekly earnings of $1,730 from someone with a professional degree put up against the $678 from someone who only graduated from high school shows a very obvious difference. This information greatly supports the decision of going to college by displaying the “in the long run” advantage of college through the amount of money you can make in the future with the degree you earn

In “The Great Debate: Is College Still Worth It?” author Ricardo Azziz endorses post-secondary education by stating its economic advantage in today’s society. The author begins his article by introducing a survey done by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which shows that the majority of college graduates believe college education is worth its cost. Not only are people convinced of the value of a college education, adults with a degree of some sort (bachelor’s degree or associate degree) tend to earn more than those without one. But also, post-secondary education gives people a better chance at achieving the “American Dream” through diligence and hard work. Azziz states that “college graduates were 5.3 times more likely to leave the bottom quintile than non-college graduates”. In addition, in times of an economic downturn, individuals with a college degree are often able to better cope with the difficulty than those without. However, amidst the benefits of college, Azziz does not forget to address the reality that attending college is still, without a question, an expensive endeavor.

Dr. Seuss once said “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more thing that you learn, the more places you will go”. This quote was meant to emphasize that the more people learn, the more they will get out of it of life. After high school, students will either go to college or get a job that does not require much of a college degree and work like that for the rest of their life. While some people believe that college is not worth the cost, it can be argued that college is actually worth its cost because of better jobs and the income and college prepares the individual for life because of the challenges college brings.

The U.S. is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world. But with an overwhelming 1.3 million students graduating with an average student loan debt of $29,000 each and with youth unemployment elevated, the question of whether or not college tuition is worth the money arises (The Institute for College Access & Success, 2013). Higher education faces intimidating challenges: continually rising costs, access and completion problems, constant changing of technology, and responsibility pressures from state and federal officials. But no challenge is more intimidating than the fundamental question that many Americans face to ask themselves, "Is college worth the cost?" As a result of the economic turn down, many students who graduate are not finding well-paying jobs, either within their field of study or not.

Throughout the USA college tuition has increased drastically; in the last five years Georgia colleges have had 75% increase along with other states such as Arizona whose tuition has increased by 77% (NPR). Since 2006 the tuition in Utah has increased by 62.8% and is rising throughout the U.S. (Desert News). Between 1885-2016 the price of college has increased between 2.1% to 4.3% per year beyond inflation (CollegeBoard). Through calculations, that equates to about a hundred precent increase since 1885. It’s no secret that college tuition has skyrocketed, increasing student debt and leaving prospective students to ask “Is College Worth It?” college education is beneficial in that it teaches students valuable life lessons in responsibility, prepares students to enter the workforce and can be relatively inexpensive. The eduction is “college education” is worth every penny but America has created clichés to define the college experience which are expensive and unnecessary. In a radical new world a college education is required in many high paying jobs, which leads to the question “Is the experience of college all it is built up to be?” Through recent research, many articles and news mention about the value of higher education seem to only take account of is the financial aspect. A college education is worth what one makes it and is an investment in a future and in one’s self. The purpose of college the education is to be prepared to go into a the workforce having gained the

Many people throughout history have said more or less the same words in many different ways, from Presidents to philosophers, from dictators to martyrs, men all through history have come to the same conclusion; knowledge is power. The question of knowledge being equal to power is not the question that has so many people preoccupied in the current economic climate. That statement as fact has been branded into the minds of young people in America and all across the world for so many generations that the point seems hardly worth debate. Now the question has become, “Is knowledge money?” The cost of a college education has skyrocketed to the point that many would be students are asking themselves, is college worth the cost?

The topic of “Are Too Many People Going to College?” was presented by Charles Murray, the W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise. In today’s world college is a must due to many employers seeking educated individuals. Murray develops an interesting conversation by demonstrating that many high school graduates who are seeking to go to college do not need a degree depending on their career paths. Murray provides the analogy of a high school graduate who is looking to become an electrician but is not sure if college is the most logical decision. Murray acknowledges the fact that a B.A. does not necessarily led to a higher income than one with a degree. The logical argument of money is brought to attention and is stated “the income for the top people in a wide variety of occupations that do not require a college degree is higher than the average income for many occupations that require a B.A.” (Murray 247). Although this is his main point, he understand that it varies due to the occupation one is leaning towards. There has been individuals without a college degree that are making millions of dollars, but it varies. Murray claims that getting a B.A. is going to be the wrong economic decision for many high school graduates (Murray 246); however not everyone wants to be an electrician or any other hand held jobs that doesn’t necessarily need a degree, but if one wants to be a lawyer, doctor, or anything require a degree, college is the answer. Having a degree in a

Supporters of getting a college degree often point to the statistics that college graduates earn more than their high school educated peers over a lifetime. Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau reports that since 1977, “Adults with bachelor's degrees in the late 1970s earned 55 percent more than adults who had not advanced beyond high school. That gap grew to 75 percent by 1990 -- and is now at 85 percent.” A gap of an 85% pay difference is a huge figure and a clear reason why college is a great option for some people. But there are problems with that figure because when the number of college graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed is taken into account it changes the value of the statistic. In an article by Businessweek’s Richard Vedder we get statistics to counter that argument. He tells of how the number of new college graduates far exceeds job growth in technical, managerial, and professional jobs where graduates traditionally have searched for employment. As a consequence, we have underemployed college graduates doing jobs historically performed by those with just a highschool education. He says we have “more than 100,000 janitors with

The value of a college education is a topic that strikes debates across the nation. People wonder if the debt and time will be worth in helping them obtain a career to pay off the debt and generate a larger income for themselves than if they did not have a four-plus year college degree. My whole life, I have always valued a college education. At the same time, I know that the higher education is not as important to others. I never understood why someone does not want to obtain a college degree, but after looking deeper into the subject, I understand that money may be one of the biggest setbacks. I decided to research further into the financial reasons that a person may not believe that a college education is with the money. My research