Not All College Majors Are Created Equal Summary

Despite of whether going to college is worth it or not, recent college graduates have become more successful in their lives. Some people may think that attending college is a waste of time and money, while others feel that college gives them valuable skills in the real world. College will help the person gain the necessary work skills for his or her future job career. Moreover, the job that a person gets after college can outweigh the money and time the person spent in college. College graduates will be more favorable to have a better job than those who does not have a college degree. As our generation is rapidly changing, the work- force is getting tougher which means having a higher education is important in today’s world. Having a college degree is an obvious part of the candidate and is expected by the many employers. Nonetheless, going to college can also give students the opportunity network and develop personal connections among other students who are also interested in the career field.

Even with the fact stated earlier that about how many college graduates work in fields that don’t require a degree, more and more jobs are requiring a college degree even to the associates degree level. Though they can argue how the number of jobs requiring a college degree fell by 1.75 million, the number of jobs that require a high school diploma fell 5.56 million. Thus proving that having a college degree could provide more job security compared to their counterparts who don’t. Along with that is how many

The engineering field has the highest paid major, whereas the education field has the lowest paid major. "According to Census's calculations, the lifetime earnings of an education or arts major working in the service sector are actually lower than the average lifetime earnings of a high school graduate" (Owen and Sawhill 216). That statistic should really be taken into consideration when determining whether or not college is "worth it" or not. Making less than a high school graduate, on top of the expenses from college would make college not "profitable". In contrast, a mechanical engineer is projected to make around thirty-five thousand more a year than one with only a high school diploma. Different majors can make different amounts of

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

A job requires skill and knowledge. Murray says, “ The increase in wealth in American society has increased the demand for all sorts of craftsmanship… work of specialized skills in stonework, masonry, glazing, painting, cabin making, machining, landscaping, and a dozen other crafts” (Murray 236). Murray says that college will not provide the skill set for these jobs. College is where. Murray wants these type of people with low academic ability to shoot for one job and not move from that occupation or move up the ladder. Sanford J. Ungar in “The New Liberal Arts” makes a counter argument saying “It is far wiser for students to prepare for change and the multiple careers they are likely to have than to search for a single job track that might one day become a dead end ” (Ungar 191). During the economic recession, many workers in the manufacturing industry were laid off without a guarantee that they would be rehired in the future or that their positions would still be available. Unfortunately some of these jobs will never come back because the positions have been modernized. Non-stop robotic arms have replaced humans in the assembly line, which have financially benefited the companies. The advancement in technology has brought the world to a state where skilled labor jobs are not needed as much as others such as jobs in computer information systems or computer networking. Ungar brings up Geoffery Grain, president of the Hart Research who says that the responsibility of higher education today is to prepare people “ for jobs that do not yet exist” (Ungar 191). Higher education will always be beneficial now or in the future, it will never be a

Many people are confused on why to invest time and money of attending college. A reason for obtaining a higher education is that a college degree can possibly earn a much higher salary than the majority of the people who have a high school diploma. College can be expensive and time consuming for the most of the people that do not have enough money and spare time to go to college. Stephen Rose, a research professor at the Georgetown University, wrote an article on “The Value of a College Degree” to explain if a college degree can be valuable to people to have. Eleni Karageorge, an author on the United States Department of Labor, wrote an article “Is A College Degree Still Worth It?” to give some details on job occupations that compares with employees having a bachelor’s degree or a high school diploma on how much they annually make on their job. Finally, Paul E. Barton, a consultant and a writer for topics related on education, wrote an article “How Many College Graduates Does the U.S. Labor Force Really Need?” on giving details on how valuable to have a college degree in the near future are needed when certain occupations are on high demand with a requirement on having a least a bachelor’s degree. We need to know why going to college is so important for anyone who wants to have professional occupations.

Moreover, employers featured in the survey claimed that academic results of a graduate is not an effective indicator of his or her competencies in the job when compared to work experience performance(Highfliers Research Ltd,2012). Another report also revealed that neither GPA nor major of study was related to the salary level of graduates at the entry-level of employment, but only work experience resulted in obvious disparity in salary level(Gault et al,2000).

Apart from the idea that college degree does not decide the path of life, the author asserts that it is still worth people’s time. According to the author’s data, most people who do not own a college degree perform worse in careers

Students all over America are asking if college is worth it in the long run. Many people are bringing up the fact that “only half of the jobs landed by these new graduates even require a college degree” (Rampell 293). But according

A big concern in todays’ world for graduating college students is being able to find a job right out of school. More times than not, there are many problems that occur when a student chooses a specific career path. In the short exert “Why Focusing Too Narrowly In College Could Backfire”, written by Peter Cappelli, he discusses in his opinion, as well as many others, the right path students should be taking. The lead way students should be following to secure they get a job in a field they will enjoy. Many students have trouble picking a college to go to let alone what major they want to focus on. Students are told to pick a major and start taking the classes for it as soon as possible without realizing they might not even enjoy that field of work. There are many struggles in college with picking the correct classes and

Finally is ‘’getting a good job’’ after graduation, For some jobs, If it does, then why do college grads make up 40% of the unemployment? And why do 46% of college grads work jobs that don’t need a college degree why? Most Companies crave people with experience .It’s a horrible cycle because to get experience, you need a job, And to get a job, you need experience. So a college degree just shows a prospective employee that you are willing to do hard work, you can meet deadlines, and you can plan and priorities mean something to you. That's it! A degree will get you "foot in the door" with employers,

In her essay for The New Yorker, Rebecca Mead’s “Learning by Degree” addresses the issue of getting a college degree in todays society. Back in the day you could go to college and get a degree in your field of choice and you were almost guaranteed a job once you graduated. In today’s society, Mead’s says that to get a good job that pays well you would need to get a degree in a STEM field. Sadly even then you aren’t guaranteed a job after graduation. But you’re statistically more likely to get a well paying job with a STEM degree. People aren’t only deterred from attending college because of the lack of jobs after graduation but also the lack of reward people see from a degree. The cost of attending a place

According to The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institute from 2012 recorded a that a chemical engineer earns an average of 2.25 million dollars in their lifetime compared to a music major who earned an average of 0.75 million dollars in their lifetime. The more schooling someone attends the more pay received throughout their lifetime. Brookings Institute also recorded that the average lifetime earnings of all majors was 1.25 million dollars. This document shows that attending to college to earn a major will pay for itself in the end. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2015 stated that there was an average of a 10% difference in growth between jobs requiring associate’s degrees and jobs only needing a highschool diploma. This 10% difference can cause a significant pay

Attending college gives the student a considerable amount of knowledge before entering their career. Pursuing a bachelor’s degree usually takes four years for the average student. During these years, students are studying all aspects and information about their future career

“Too many students aren’t sure what job they could get after four, five, or even six years of studying a certain major and racking up education loans”(255). Singletary is given the fact that numerous students are confused on their own majors even though they have studied for years. And parts of the students even start realizing their majors might be in a hopeless employment situation after they graduate from that particular field. Therefore, before choosing a field of study, it is necessarily worthwhile for students and parents to check out the majors whether in the highest or the lowest unemployment. According to new statistics on unemployment for recent college graduates by The Huffington Post this June, majoring in social science and creative fields, such as anthropology, film, fine art, etc. have earned the top three of the unemployment rate. In contrast, engineering technologies, math, and computer science remain at the top of the employment chart. Alex Tabarrok mentions the harsh unemployment rate in his article, “…More than half of all humanities graduates end up in jobs that don’t require college degrees…”(250). The society has never shown mercy to students who are unlikely to be employed with the majors they have. Graduating without employment must be one of the biggest nightmares for most students; however, selecting an in demand major can surely decrease the chances of being