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“Is College Investment Worth It? ” College gives the opportunity for young adults to grow both mentally and socially. Most students going to a four-year college are not entirely self-reliant, usually living off their parent’s, it is still a time for independence and freedom. It is an opportunity for young adults to explore a wide-range of topics that high school could not show them. In today’s world times aren’t easy, but today’s struggles are a perfect example as to why an education is so important.
Having a higher education allows a person to better themselves which in turn betters the country. Money makes the world go round” is definitely not something that most want to admit; nonetheless the world has yet to prove otherwise. With that being said, the only way into a four-year university, or any college for that matter, and to experience the “once in a lifetime” years is by paying the way with the green bills. Not everyone has the money to get into college but everybody has the ability to make it happen.
College is a life investment that is well worth the struggle. Money provides the books and classes but it certainly cannot pay for one’s own experiences. The knowledge and skill a person test from the all the time and effort put into each assignment and lecture is priceless. Receiving a college education is reachable to anyone who works to save up money, apply for financial aid or even apply for scholarships which all ease the stress of paying for college. On average, about 8% every year the price of college increases.
In 2012 the price of college tuition rose a shocking 15%. The National Center for Educational Statistics showed 18. 2 million students enrolled in college in 2007, in fall of 2012 a record 21. 6 million students enrolled into college. In a span of 5 years with n increase of over 15% the price of attendance has been continuously increasing. One can’t help but wonder if those 21. 6 million students actually wasted their money or not. In the article “Is College still worth it? You bet. , Tom Dennis shares how important attending a college or university is. In asking students personal opinion about college all together 37% would have been more careful when deciding on a major while, “only 3% said they would avoid college entirely’ (Dennis). In today’s current situations skipping out on a higher education would be very foolish, according to Dennis. Though all together college is not cheap, there are different schools that allow the opportune for some students to manage with the cost over other schools that one may not be able to afford.
In the article “Is a college education worth the price”, Brian Kelly brings up the different circumstances regarding college and what fits for different situations. When choosing where to attend school the price is Just as important as to what majors are offered. “A school may seem outrageous at $50,000, but a comfortable choice at $25,000” (Kelly). In other words, deciding on a school is a long term decision in which a student chooses how much money will be spent on loans in the future. The name of school is a big factor however so the future of a person’s financial status is.
In Brian Kelly’s article he personally believes starting off at a 2- year college then transferring to a 4-year bachelor program is the best way to go. Those with a high school diploma or less make the argument of wasting time as well as money being at a college or university. Many people would rather make money now rather than later. Laurence Sustain wrote a blob post called “Education Pays, but Perhaps Less Than You Thought” in which he brings up why the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics fails to mention the whole story when comparing numbers to those with a higher education and those without one.
In an article he read, by Enrich Merit of I-J. C. Berkeley called “Real Wage Inequality’, Catkins finds that Merit shows the spending from a higher education degree isn’t far of a difference from the spending money of a high school diploma. Merit shows that college graduates seem to be moving to more expensive cities in which lead to higher cost of housing. However, the different housing cost has nothing to do with the quality of the house when comparing to cheaper housing cost cities. He goes on to state two explanations that may explain the weird fact.
One being the demand-pull hypothesis which says, “high-skilled workers are more productive in such cities… ” And the supply-pull hypothesis which says, “College graduates are flocking to high-rent cities because they are attracted by amenities. ” (Merit) After Laurence Catkins lies out Mortises facts and he shares his own personal viewpoint. Catkins asks himself would all the information given change his advice to the young people, It wouldn’t. “Education many not produce as great an increment in spending cash… But it still provides an advantage. (Catkins) The fact of the matter is that as humans, the luxuries of the world are what are enjoyed more than anything. Yes, the spending amount is not far different but that’s due to the fact that these college graduates are already paying for the things that other cities with the same houses would not be able to give or provide for the lifestyle in which these people want to live. Without the higher education, Ewing able to enjoy such luxuries and scenery would not be possible. Along with that, $ask a year for an education to most is outrageous, however there’s people all over the country doing Just that.
In fact there is some paying up to $ask a year or more to attend some of the top name schools in the country. That can all easily turn into a really disturbing debt to be dealt with in the future. Especially with such a bad job market going on it definitely does not give people the comfort or confidence with being successful and paying off the loans without a worry. One study shows “53 recent of recent college grads are either unemployed or working in a Job that doesn’t require a degree,” (Langford) which certainly doesn’t make college sound very fantastic.
Conversely, one article written by Tom Dennis says this information didn’t stack up to the countless other unemployment statistics. With over 94% of graduates employed upon graduation for 2012, Colorado School of Mines was one that had such positive outcomes along with the average salary for these graduates being little over $60,000. Just like there are ton of students who would much rather work than attend allege, there’s Just as many that would love to attend college but are unable to afford it. This is when community college comes about.
It’s a much cheaper alternate than high cost 4-year universities. Though community college is rising in price, the idea of community college is to help the less qualified, financial aid challenged, to get an education, and eventually transfer out into a university. This allows more people to get an education, as well as making it more reasonably priced. Years ago a college degree would get a Job, Today it’s what makes a person competitive in a Job search. Not having a degree makes it difficult for a person to even be looked at for a certain job field.
Statistics such as “50% of college graduates are employed in a Job where no job is required” (Kelly) make college seem like a poor choice, in actuality it makes it even more necessary. Those 50% of college graduates would not have a Job making the amount of money they do if it wasn’t for the college degree they earned. Attending a university or college is a huge life decision that must be thoroughly thought out, it’s a decision that’s nothing but positive if don’t correctly. Graduates eave many perks, one being good salaries to live off of.
People all over the country go to college, each have their own personal experiences in which can be applied to the real world. For many successes won’t come as soon as graduation ends, but later in life, many view nothing would have been the same having never attained a college degree.