Is it Always Worth Going to College?
One of the major obstacles for a high school graduate is deciding whether or not to go to college. Cost is often cited as the primary reason people delay going to college, even with scholarships, grants, or other financial aid that doesn’t require repayment. Many students choose to fill the financial gap by taking out a loan to get the education they desire. But taking a loan out and trying to pay off that loan can be frightening and impossible for some. Student loan debt in the United States alone is $1 trillion and rising (Belkin N. pag.). Harvard University has this to say about dropout rates, “Only 56 percent of the students who enter America’s colleges and universities graduate within six years,
…show more content…
That doesn’t mean it’s always in someone’s best interest to go to college. “By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing them a disservice,” wrote Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill in “Should Everyone Go to College?” (Downey N. pag.). You should always consider your intended occupation. A degree doesn’t always promise to make you more money than if you only had a high school education. Recognizing tuition cost is out pacing inflation, you have to make sure your degree is worth the time, money, and effort you’re about to put into it. ‘’With fast-rising tuitions and stagnant wages, fewer of us are immune from borrowing to pay for our university education. And delaying or forgoing college while we save is a difficult option: according to the Center for American Progress, weekly earnings for workers with a bachelor’s degree were $1,066 in 2012, compared to $652 for workers with a high school diploma. Those without a degree are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed. For many, going to college, then, is simultaneously a rational economic choice and an economic disaster’’ (Clark N. pag.). Often if a four-year degree isn’t right for someone they might try a different, cheaper route such as; training certification, a trade school, or online courses (Downey N.
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.
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
In the U.S. students are encouraged to earn a college degree, but the cost of an education turns many away. “Driven by the allure of a decent salary with a college degree, Americans borrowed to go to school. Outstanding student debt doubled from 2005 to 2010, and by 2012 total student debt in the U.S. economy surpassed $1 trillion” (Mian, Sufi 167). There are plenty of opportunities to obtain funds for college, including one of the most common, student loans. A student loan is defined as “a common way to fund education, specifically college and graduate school, and they provide educational opportunities that you otherwise may not be able to afford” (Barr). Student debt is at an all-time high in America. Over half of all lower income
Why should you go to college? Well would you rather suffer a couple years and eventually lead to success or, take your chances and skip those years and have a little chance of success? Now, college doesn’t give you a 100% of success or a job, infact in the article “Why College Isn’t for Everyone”, states that “ a goodly proportion (more than 40 percent) of those attending four-year colleges full-time fail to graduate, even within six years.” ( “Why College Isn’t for Everyone” 78). Also, in the article “New School Year, Old Story: Education Pays” it says “Students who take out loans to pay for school should consider the amount they will be obligated to repay.” (“New School Year, Old
In “The Student Loan Problem No One is Talking About” (http://www.marketwatch.com/ story/the-student-loan-problem-no-one-is-talking-about-2016-07-12), Jillian Berman discusses how students who do not finish college often have the most problems with paying off their outstanding loans. She shows that despite the fact that drop-outs tend to have lower student loan balances, they are more likely to miss payments compared to their degreed counterparts. The article also presents a way to avoid this problem and a plan for how students can pay loans back without missing payments.
The other, increasing in popularity, investment of consumer debt is student loans. Since 2008, student debt has been rising in increments of nearly $100 billion (Schrager). As alarming as it seems, this is not the result of student decisions alone. High school students are being pressured by society to further their education. Students seem to be raised believing a college degree is the ticket to success. However, it is not; anyone can become successful, regardless of background or education. Some students strive for attending college while others have been forced to prevent them from being lethargic. In either scenario, the students are accountable for the inflated tuition as parental contribution begins to decline. Thus, students acquire loans to mask the overall cost. But, the occurring interest throughout their time in school leaves a heavy financial footprint. Three types of students tend to be affected most, graduate, for-profit, and dropouts. Graduate students are permitted to borrow unlimited amounts of money not exceeding their cost of attendance. These students account for 65 percent of graduates who borrowed $50K or more in 2012. The for-profit students are independent of their parents or pursuing a degree greater than four years. For-profit students only constitute nine percent of degree recipients. Dropouts include 59 percent of the students with minimal debt. Because dropouts have a laborious experience job-hunting, they are less likely to repay their loans
According to “DoSomething”, 1.5 million students drop out of high school a year. That’s 7,000 students a day! Also, around 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate high school on time. The students that do take the opportunity to excel in free public education have to stress out about colleges, checking the requirements of the college, the tuition, taking out student loans or applying for scholarships, etc. According to “usnews”, the average student loan is $28,000. It usually takes an average bachelor degree holder to pay off the loan in 20 years. n 20 years they also have additional things to pay off such as house mortgages, car loans, etc… A survey was taken 49% of the former college students reconsider attending or completing college because of the impact of student loan debt. Even though America is a place full of wonderful educational opportunities, the truth is that not all students take advantage of it. Even if they do, when they take higher education the average student ends up drowning in
Going to college straight out of high school or returning will overall give you a better economical stance once finished with college. According to the Sociology textbook "You May Ask Yourself" those who only graduate high school will roughly make $33,176 compared to those who graduate college with a bachelor's degree will make around $54,756. That $21,580 annual salary difference seems great but that isn't including college debt if you have any. Paying $8,000 for tuition and $9,000 for fees and room and broad comes out to $17,000 a year. That $17,000 will be a lot more costing in the future due to inflation. In the next three years $17,00 will account to paying $70,023. The real question here is that is it really worth paying $17,000 for four years?
The debated topic, “Should I go to college?” is a very common thing for high school students. In the article,NPR, written by Chris Arnold, he talks about how most of the colleges don't feel apathetic towards it students if they don’t get a job after their attendance to their university.In the article they state, “But economists say that doesn't mean everybody needs a four-year degree. In fact, millions of good-paying jobs are opening up in the trades. And some pay better than what the average college graduate makes(Arnold). Many people who
One major question that a student attending high school has to consider is whether to go to college or not. With the increasing debt that the average college-bound teenager faces if he or she chooses to go, it becomes harder to decide if college is even worth it. In fact, according to “Congratulations, Class of 2015. You’re the Most Indebted Ever (For Now)” by Jeffrey Sparshott, the average debt for a graduate of the class of 2015 is nearly $35,000 per year, more than twice the average of 2000 (Sparshott 1). This increase highlights the steady trend toward higher debt for future college attendees.
A fear for many is that the debt someone will leave college with will be unmanageable. The reasoning for this being unemployment rates as well as the fear of how long it will take to pay off his or hers debt. It’s true unemployment is a crisis that many are facing but it’s much scarier to be only a high school graduate in the economy currently. The rates of unemployment for a Bachelor’s degree holder over twenty-five is estimated to be around 4.4% (Wilson pg.260). For a high school diploma holder over twenty-five the unemployment rate is an even greater number at 9.3% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (pg. 260). As for paying off the debt accumulated in college, those figures aren’t as frightening. According to Sandy Baum, a senior analyst at College Board, “A student with twenty thousand dollars of debt should be able to make at least that amount in extra earnings in one to two year’s time simply by having earned a college diploma” (qtd. in Wilson). What is the key to unlocking the door for a brighter future? Apparently it’s a B.A. but if this is the case then why are dropout rates so high?
Deciding going to college is a decision that today young adults are deciding for themselves. Alternatively, is this decision taken away from them by society standards? Most young adults are crossing this social dilemma by the time that finishes high school. In addition, we have learned how a college degree can provide us a higher economic status, power, prestige, and level of property. That is to say, it does not matter if you are very skillful on computer coding, managing, or finance, because most of your skills have to back up by a certification that it say so. US News Money had predicted by 2020 most of the “high education jobs” were you need at least a bachelor degree will cover from the 50% to the 60% of the job market. As a result,
One of the most reasons given by students is that they go to college so that they can earn more money. They aren’t wrong, a college degree can earn students more money. For instance, “in 2007 people with a bachelor’s degree earned an average $57,181 or 63 percent more than those with some college or an associate’s degree and 83 percent more than those with only a high-school diploma” (Billitteri). Earnings from a bachelor degree show that students can earn much more money than their peers who only have an associate degree or high school diploma. Not everyone is prepared to spend the amount of years required to obtain a bachelor degree or pay the money, but a shocking
We live in a world that convinces people that college is the right thing to do. Society plays a part in pushing students into college classrooms. Society via high school teachers, general news, and information on the internet tells us that the lack of education presents a struggle, because without education employers are not hiring applicants without a degree. A four-year degree should not be the sole determinant for acceptance into the workforce. Besides a four-year degree, there are other options people can choose to be accepted into the workforce, like a two-year degree, obtaining a trade or skill, or on the job training.
If an aspiring college student doesn’t have the necessary funds to attend school, there is another option they could use to pay for school. Student loans are a popular choice so that the student can pay for school. While this may seem like a great option for affording school, it can be a devil in disguise for many. The New York Times reports that Americans owe over 1.4 trillion dollars in student loan debt (Kelly 1). This happens when a college student takes loans with the belief that the college degree they get will help them achieve a higher salary which will in turn will help them pay off their debt. This often isn’t the case. A student takes the loans and attends school, but does not receive the salary that they were hoping to acquire from attending school. A standard payment plan for students is to pay off their debt in ten years, but according to a study conducted by US News, the average bachelor degree holder takes twenty-one years to pay off (Bidwell 1). This is a common occurrence as well, a report conducted by The Institute for Collee Access and Success shows that in 2012, seventy-one percent of college graduates had student debt (Serrato 1). The current system that the government offers to help those struggling to afford a secondary education is a flawed program that needs restructuring.