Is College Education Worth The Cost?

Is college worth it? This one question turns into this debate high school seniors begin to think about before graduating. In our society you cannot really say no to college education because many make it known as a necessity to be successful in life. Many of our parents have raised us to know that college is a must go and that there are no failures. However some may think different. A lot of people may think that not setting a foot in a university or community college does not make them successful and that they will do just fine without a degree towards a career. We all know once someone graduates they are not always guaranteed a successful life with well-paid career and awesome benefits for you and your family. There are different views from both sides of this debate.

The rise of college tuition along with room and board have lead many to believe that college isn’t worth the money. This among with the other factors of how getting a job into society is more difficult and that a college degree no longer competitive due to the high abundance of them. On the other side, many others urge the importance of a degree. They bring up how more jobs today require degrees, the return investment, and many other things.

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.

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.

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

Many students today look towards the future scared and frightened debating their future, all of them asking the same question. Is a college education truly worth the cost and the amount of debt that a student acquires over a four-year period? Many ask what are they doing this for, a piece of paper called a degree. That’s what the articles “Five Reasons Why College is Worth the Cost,” written by Reyna Gobel and “Is College worth the cost? Many recent graduates don’t think so,” written by Jeffrey J. Selingo both address. The articles take different standpoints and views on the topic. Gobel’s article siding with the view that college is worth the cost. While Selingo’s article argues that college is not worth the cost.

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

Is college really worth the time and money? This is the question I am going to be exploring. While many people may have an idea that college is just an abundance of debt, other students argue that most of the information they learn doesn’t provide them with the value they thought it would (Adams 1). Many college students who grow up with the opportunity to go to college usually don’t stress the idea of going to school, but most students who don’t have the opportunity to go to school usually make school their priority. Students who don’t have the opportunity to go to school think this way because they want the opportunities they think they could have with a college education. I am deciding to argue about this topic because I grew up in a household that didn’t grow up with parents who stressed college, as a result, I am making a strong effort to get through college. Although college does have some disadvantages, going to college is worth the time and money because it provides critical thinking and opportunities for job advancement.

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

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?

Is College Really Worth It? Millennials struggle with the decision whether to go to a four-year or two-year college or to even attend college at all. Though the question that is asked repetitively is whether “college is really worth it?” There are some really good benefits that college can teach you such as, knowledge, credibility, social networking, independence, and budgeting. But there are a lot of skills that college doesn’t teach you.

Everyone wants to make lots of money when they grow up and on average people with a college degree make more money. So are the college tuitions and student loans worth it? Some people believe that tuition is not worth it because you spend years paying off student loans. But in the long run, you make more money. Yes, college is worth the price of tuition.

In the debate about whether college is worth attending, many argue that college is worth it but others argue that college is not worth it. Those who argue that college is worth it contend to say that college graduates make more money, college allows students to explore career options, and not going to college will cost people more money in the future but on the other hand, those who argue that college is not worth it contend to say that college graduates are employed in jobs that do not require degrees, students who do not graduate waste their own money and the governments money, and student debt can cause another financial crisis for students who are already struggling with financial aid. While it is true that college does cause many problems already, college is worth attending and worth all the problems at the end of the road.

In recent discussions of is higher education worth it?. A controversial issue has been whether studying in colleges or universities is necessary to be successful in life. On the one hand, some argue that higher education is too expensive and waste of time and money. From this perspective, there are many arguments about if higher education is good for this generation of students. On the other hand, others argue that adults should have a good quality of learning and should get a certificate from a college or a university to be ahead in this quick movement world. There are too many ways to get an academic degree, the first one is studying for two years in a community college and the second way is participating in a university for four years. In the article, “Two Years Are Better Than Four,” author Liz Addison, who is studying veterinary medicine at the Royal Veterinary College in London, argues, “[Community colleges] unconditionally allows its students to begin. Just begin” (212). According to this view, community colleges accept almost anyone that wants to complete a higher education level. In sum, the issue is whether higher education worth it or not. Moreover, students need answers about which is better for them studying in colleges or finding a job.

High school students are often stressed how important college is and how vital it will be for their future, but students often wonder if the thousands of dollars spent to further their education is worth it. According to the New York Times, “Student debt, meanwhile, has topped $1 trillion” (Leonhardt, 2014). Having that much in student debts, often questions individuals attend college or to join the work force right out of college. There are a lot of advantages of attending college as well as disadvantages of attending college. As an individual, you have to be the one to decide if it will be worth it or not. Some may view it is not worth all the debt in the long run, whereas some think it is worth every penny in the end. I have always had strong values when it came to education, therefore I think college is worth every penny.