College Degrees Vs. High School Diplomas

Elementary school, middle school, high school, college―that’s how we’re told our education careers should go. After college you go on and get a job based on the degree you received. Seems simple right? According to Erik Lowe in his Seattle Times article “Keep Washington’s College Tuition Affordable,” he informs that people in his generation are the first to be less educated than their parents, in the United States. He explains that this is due to the high cost of tuition followed by a huge amount of student loan debt. Lowe believes that there needs to be a significant change in the country’s higher education systems (in reference to the tuition costs) or the decline of college attendance will continue. There needs to be a decrease of

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

Data from the U.S Department of Labor shows that college graduates have lower rates of unemployment. The rate of unemployment with a bachelor’s degree is 2.7%, while the rate of those with a high school education is 5.2% (Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics). This depicts that those who earn a college education have a better chance at getting a job. Their data also shows that those with a college education have higher salaries. The median weekly earning for those with a college degree is $1,156 and the median weekly earnings for those with a high school education is $692. That’s a $464 a week difference and $24,128 a year difference (Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics). Not only are college graduates getting jobs and making more money, but they are also healthier and happier. Professor Phillip Trostel, reports college graduates are four times less likely than high school graduates to smoke and are more likely to exercise, wear a seat belt, be a healthy weight, and go to the doctor’s (Want to be Happy and Healthier, Merisotis, Jamie).

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.

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,

College graduates, on average, make a whopping one million dollars more in lifetime earnings than those with a high school diploma. Those with a college degree now make $17,500 more per year than those without — a wage gap that's doubled in recent decades. Those without a degree are four times more likely to be unemployed.One of the biggest and most important reasons for anyone to attend college is the upper hand it gives with regards to jobs and career. A college graduate has a higher chance of landing a job when compared to an individual with a high school qualification. Further, a college graduate also has better options and opportunities to progress in their

Many college students choose to also get more than one degree while attending college to earn more income and further their education. College graduates have the choice of get higher level degrees and training resulting in earn even more income based on the different higher level degrees earned and training received (this means the more degrees and training you have the more income you may receive). People with higher level degrees and training earn more money that those without degrees. In 1996, for example, workers with bachelor's degrees had median annual earnings of about $36,000, while college graduates with more advanced degrees earned around $40,000 (Mittelhauser 3). This is a four-thousand dollar difference in income; this is only one of several examples of how people who graduate college make more money than the average high school graduate and that of people with lower-level degrees. The median annual wage for a bachelor’s degree in 2010 was $63,430. While the median annual wage for a person with a doctoral or professional degree in 2010 was $87,500 ("Employment by Education and Training Assignment, 2010 and Projected 2020"). This is almost a twenty-four thousand difference income just based off of median annual wage of different degrees. The income difference from college graduates than to those of high school graduates is great. College graduates are getting better wages and job openings than those of high school graduates (“President’s Perspective:

In the reports of the Bureau of Labor over 317,000 waiters and waitresses have some kind of a college degree and that goes along with 80,000 bartenders and 18,000 parking lot attendants. Coming down to a conclusion, Veddar says that about 17 million Americans are doing the sort of jobs that require a lot less levels of education skills accompanying a bachelor’s degree. In the chart below you can see the ratio of the number of jobs to the percentage of the people who have at least a bachelor’s degree but don’t need to have that degree to be in the place they are: He also emphasizes on his belief that even though there is an escalating number of people who are attending college, many of these people do not have the intellectual abilities to necessarily have a successful outcome out of their higher education ;therefore, the rates of drop-outs will rise or their effort and money to get a college degree will go down the drain. Veddar also points out the fact that he agrees that people enjoy going to college simply because they can socialize and take advantage of the benefits of being in that dimension but when the economy is in a shortfall, it may not be a good idea to subsidize for those whom are already suspected of an unsuccessful academic and vocational

Getting the Facts: College Degree vs. High School Diploma--Learn the Top 5 Benefits of Going to College

In the article “We send to many students to college,” Marty Nemko discusses how college may not be the answer for everyone, and how a person can be successful without college. Nemko argues that it is most likely that a person that is at the bottom half of their graduating class in high school is not going to earn a diploma while in college. Nemko also says that a person that has been to college could end up working a job that a non-college graduate would be working because of the degree that a person has is useless. Many may think that a person that has a college degree is better off, but a person that didn’t graduate may work harder, and be more motivated in life to accomplish the goals they have set for themselves. According to Nemko “Colleges

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is projected to be highest for those without a diploma or GED. However, those that have a master’s degree will have the lowest unemployment rates. Also, the 2018 estimated median weekly income for people with a diploma or college degrees are as followed: less than a high school diploma, $471; high school diploma, $652; some college but no degree, $727; associate degree, $785; bachelor’s degree, $1,066; master’s degree, $1,300; doctoral degree, $1,624; and professional degree, $1,735. There is a big difference between those without a diploma and those who have earned a bachelor’s degree is very noticeable. For someone to graduate high school and earn a degree in a career that one enjoys can almost immediately change their lifestyle and enjoyment of life. I, myself would enjoy my job more if I made a weekly income of $785, I do not want to work 40+ hours and barely get by. Many youthful people already know what they would enjoy being and by going to college not only will they have a job promised because of the degree in hand but they income will remind them of all of their hard-work. There are a few jobs that require higher education that does not pay as much as it should, but the one that come to mind first are teachers. Four years should earn someone an income of $50,000+ and yet after all of the hard work put into their career, the under-pay, and appreciation they still put their heart into their classes. A positive attitude about one’s job will create a much better work place and one worth being part

Individuals who say it is not worth going to college would argue that college is a waste of time but can agree that college graduates make more money than non-college graduates. College graduates with a four year degree make more money than a high school graduate. For example, these statistics from an online source explains that “On average, a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree earned $30,000 more per year than a high school graduate, or about $500,000 more over a lifetime, as of Apr. 2013. The bachelor’s degree makes a huge difference than a high school diploma. The majority of high school graduates want to work when they graduate high

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in

Do we really need a college degree to be a successful human? Is a high school diploma good enough to live a great life? Does working at a fast food franchise such as Mcdonald 's appeal to you? Do you want to work a nine dollar wage job for the rest of your life? Working a nine hour job, whereas you can be earning forty dollars an hour seem fair? I strongly consider that having a college degree is well accepted and needed to be a successful person in todays society. I will illustrate you points that will help you answer the questions asked. Starting from, minimum wage comparison, unemployment rates between a college degree and a high school diploma only, the unemployment rate, and yearly income on both.

Although a person in college can have a job, that person cannot work as much as someone who is not in college. At first this is a positive for not going to college because that would mean more money for the people not going to college. That is true but over years; the people with a college degree will end up with more money because of the higher annual salaries.