Why Is It Worth The Cost Of Higher Education Essay

This week for PLN I read "Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say" by David Leonhardt is about how college is worth it even with its cost. In the article, it describes how important a degree is. It said in the article that 98% of people with a degree made more money than people without a degree. There is nothing inevitable about this trend. If there were more college graduates the pay gap would shrink. The true cost of a degree is negative $500,000. The unemployment rate for 25 and 34 years old is 3%. That is from having a degree. The average hourly wage for a college graduates has risen 1% to 32.60.

Ever since you were little, your parents have been talking about this wonderful thing called college. They told you that you have to go there to get an education before you can get a good job. Many kids have dreamed of going to college, and being able to get the job of their dreams. By putting in hard work and dedication to good grades in high school, you had high hopes that you would be able to get into an Ivy League school. The American dream of being able to go to college to get a degree is sliding away from many people due to rising costs. With increasing tuition prices and job loss, the college dream is slowly and surely slipping away from many students and their families.

According to Leonhardt, the pay gap between college graduates and everyone else is substantially different, “Americans with a four-year college degree made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013”, This provides a high difference in

For the many young college graduates who are struggling to find work, a four-year degree has undoubtedly never been more valuable. The pay gap between college graduates and non-college graduates has reached a high record last year, according to new data, which is found in an analysis for the Labor Department statistics

David Leonhardt, the author of “Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say,” makes the controversial argument that even with college debt increasing substantially in the United States it is still worth earning a degree. Leonhardt uses a variety of relevant figures and statistics to support his claim of the irreplaceable value of a college education. The majority of statistics used by Leonhardt concern the earnings advantage of college graduates as compared to their counterparts who decided not to attend college. Among the first issues Leonhardt addresses is the growing concerns prospective students and their parents have with attending college such as underemployment after graduation, debt, and unemployment (Leonhardt 33). To refute these arguments, he cites statistics from the Labor Department concerning inequality of income distribution; these statistics were

“The pay gap between college graduates and everyone else reached a record high last year.” Quoted from the article ‘Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say’ by David Leonhardt, Sometimes, not often, society tells us that College is not worth our time or money, But receiving a college degree will bring what you learned in the classroom into the real world, which benefit you on your quest to success. The education system has always been a major element in todays society. The more knowledge an individual has the better their success rate, some people believe a high school diploma is enough and it is, for a fast food restaurant.

Despite the fact that hourly wages for college educated people are decreasing,”college educated in 2000 were $22.75, but that dropped almost a full dollar.”(C) ,the wage gap between college graduates and those with only a high school diploma has in fact increased.”(D) Last year the gap reached 83 percent.” The gap is bigger than it has ever been , making the option of going to college better than it was before.

College is a dream that almost every American wants to come true, however, with the extreme rise in the costs of tuition it is a dream that has quickly turned into a nightmare. “Tuition at a private university is now roughly three times as expensive as it was in 1974, costing an average of $31,000 a year; public tuition, at $9,000, has risen nearly four times,” (Davidson). “For the average American household that doesn 't receive a lot of financial aid, higher education is simply out of reach,” (Davidson). That is why many students have begun questioning the worth of a college degree and if the amount of debt that is received upon exiting college is all for the better. And considering that costs have risen much faster than the rate of inflation, many are starting to believe that college just isn 't necessary any more. However, according to White, economically, the answer would still be a yes. “While unemployment rates for new grads and experienced workers alike have fluctuated throughout the recession and recovery, the earnings premium that college-and advanced-degree holders enjoy over their peers who didn 't attend college has remained relatively stable, and in some instances, grown, according to the report that was released this week,” (White). A study was shown that many college grads are able to get earnings that are significantly higher than those who did not get enough education or only hold a high school diploma (White). Even

One of the biggest complaints about a college education is the large price tag that comes with it. A national survey found that 75% of adults in the U.S. think that college is too expensive to afford, showing that a majority of the people in the U.S. agree that colleges should lower prices (Source F). As Source A says, college is about learning but the goal in life is to earn a living (Crawford). This means that while you need to earn a living, college isn’t the only route you can do so. There are careers that don’t require education beyond high school and you can still make a respectable income. It’s easy to see that not enough people realize you don’t need a college degree to get a good job.

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

In most instances, individuals quantify the time spent in doing something in terms of monetary compensation. Similarly, many people consider the time and cost spent in pursuing a four-year college education are not worth the benefits that accrue afterward. On the other hand, documentation of the link between college education and economic prosperity is perfect. There are other benefits apart from these two which are not known widely as quantification of these benefits is difficult (Murray). However, viewing the overall income and earnings for both college-educated employees and those non-college educated reveals a big difference in terms of earnings and job satisfaction.

With the rise in minimum wage nationwide, things cost a lot more. That doesn't mean you have $42,500 to pay for college yearly,(CNBC 2015). That's a lot of money if you're not working. Even state colleges are charging $19,000(CNBC 2015). And considering you're going to need a loan, That's going to add to our nationwide student loan debt of 1.2Trillion,(CNBC 2015). But due to the fact that you could earn enough money to pay back all that debt, it is still appealing to most people. The thing is going to college is a lot like gambling. You go hoping that you can get your degree, and earn more later on. But like gambling, you can lose everything.

The purpose of higher education is known to supposedly provide students with an excess amount of knowledge and information to find a career of their interest. Unfortunately, not everyone receives what they had expected from attending college and to some it has made them worst off. And, because of those negative outcomes advocated like Goldie Blumenstyk the author of “American Higher education in Crisis” explains why it happens and what to think of them. There are many complaints regarding higher education such as, the high expenses of attending, not being able to find a job, to much time being invested, and many more. With that being said, is it really worth attending college? To evaluate those concern one must gather information on the cost benefit-analysis of obtaining a bachelors degree.

The public is in debate whether or not college is worth its’ lofty price. College graduates will earn 73 percent more than high school graduates. Someone with a graduate degree will earn an average of $49,900. Compared to that, someone with just a college or Bachelor degree will earn $35,700, and someone who will only graduate with a high school degree will earn $30,800 (Kelley). Strictly looking at those statistics the price of college seems like a fair trade. “The advantage for

Higher education in the United States arose as an answer to the need to train clergy for the seminary. Throughout the centuries, higher education has evolved to become one of the principal means in educating individuals in specific areas of study. Individuals seek higher education to become more proficient in a particular occupation, area of study, or as a requisite for employment or advancement in specific fields such as engineering, management, or the sciences. The benefits that individuals who attend institutions of higher learning realize are more than education; the benefits are numerous and consist of socioeconomic benefits as well as personal benefits for the scholar, including income benefits, employment advantages as well as