Summary: How College Shapes Lives

Many people believe that a college education is a worthy investment. The ability to become a college graduate will result in making more money. There are more jobs in today’s society that require college degrees. College graduates develop more and better employment opportunities within earning a degree. Self-discipline is a major element in becoming a successful graduate. Also, college graduates are healthier and live longer. Adults-young and old, male and female-who have a bachelor’s degree or higher have twice the annual median income than someone with only a high school degree ("Do college graduates," 2014).

In the critique of the article “The College Payoff”, we will be examining the numerous aspects of this article and whether this article is deemed a good research article or not and the different research aspects used. “The College Payoff” focuses on how college degrees can pay off in the long run and lead to having earned more money over a lifetime than those who do not obtain higher degrees. They account for certain factors such as occupation, race and gender that can cause some variation in lifetime earnings apart from earning a college degree. In the end, they found from their research that you do have a higher education degree, you will on average make more over your lifetime.

Most people only consider the direct impact of a college degree on their own lives-but a college degree has a tremendous impact on the well-being of our own families as well, especially our children. Not only are children of parents with a college degree education better off socially and economically, but studies have shown that children in households where one or both parents have a college degree are themselves more likely to earn a college degree. “According to an estimate in 2028 there will be 19 million more jobs for educated population that there are qualified people to fill them”.

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,

Recent high school students are debating whether to or not attend college, should consider the benefits of attaining a college degree. For many low or middle income students, this a route to gain opportunities to improve their economic circumstances. An article, “Pathways to Prosperity,” states in 2008, workers with bachelor's degree make about 65 percent higher than high school graduates and workers with associate's degree make about 73 percent more than high school dropouts.. This is evidence obtaining a college degree can be an opportunity to have earnings higher and significantly increase one's income.

College Board is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1900 by the New York Board of Regents under the New York Education Law. It was created to link students to college success and help increase access to higher education. It’s currently has a member association made up of over 6,000 international two and four year colleges, secondary schools, universities, and higher education systems (2014). The College Board website is multifaceted and helps students to research institutions of interest, explore potential majors, sign up and prep for admissions exams, understand financial aid, and learn about the college application process. Each year the organization helps more than seven million students prepare for their transition into college (2014).

This report is part of The College Board’s “Trends in Higher Education Series” that are published annually to provide evidence to policy makers to help aid in decision making. It includes comprehensive data and charts that show that higher education does pay off for graduates. The authors discuss the benefits of higher education both for the individual and for society as a whole. The benefits that are discussed in this report include lifetime earnings, employment rates, job satisfaction, health benefits, benefits on the family, civic involvement, and an increase in voting rates by college graduates vs. non-graduates. The authors use data from the U.S. Census Bureau in their calculations, so this report is a great resource with a really good representation of the population and large sample size.

Every parent urges their child to attend college to obtain a higher education and have an easier work life, however, currently college is being overlooked by a majority of the U.S. citizens because of tuition, paying student loans, or they remain jobless after receiving a degree. In fact, they fail to see the beneficial outcome of getting a degree. College graduates have higher wages than those with only a high school diploma, when applying for jobs it’ll be easier to be employed, and living in a different community aid with developing social and intellectual skills.

In their seminal piece, How College Affects Students, Pascarella & Terrenzeni (1991), states that “students’ grades are probably the single most revealing indicator of his or her successful adjustment to the intellectual demands of a particular college’s course of study" (388). Grades are significantly influenced by study habits, motivation, organization, and level of effort as seen in (Capella, Wagner & Kusmierz, 1982; Culler & Holahan, 1980; Astin, 1971b, 1975b). Grades tend to “reflect not only requisite intellectual skills but also desirable personal work and attitudes” (Pascarella, et. al, 388). There is evidence to support grades of undergraduates success will lead to the student earning a bachelor’s degree and future graduate degrees.

The preconceived notion of college life is that everyone is broke, tired, and struggling academically, spiritually and socially. While the college experience is different for each individual attending, everyone is pretty much going through the same things. We all eat the same food, experience the same fatigue after staying up all night studying for that exam coming up, checking our bank accounts and cringing when we see that we only have a few measly dollars left and regret the Whataburger we bought the other night when we thought we just had to have it and the food from the cafeteria would not suffice. I pretty much expected all of this. I expected the difficulty of the classes, the tiny showers, and the rush of people moving from class to class. What I did not

Higher education plays an important role in our society. People with a college degree make more money on average than individuals without one according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. These statistics also show that workers with only a college degree earned a median of $57,770 in 2012 compared with $27,670 for workers with only a high school diploma. According to these statistics a higher education is a great investment in our future (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

College education alleviates a person’s health in undeniable ways. There are several articles about the constant and important correlation between formal education and distinct health consequences, such as life expectancy, smoking, drugs, and alcohol, as well as the reduction of many diseases. The most part of these articles emphasize that educated people are healthier, fitter, and stronger than uneducated ones. This connection is so ubiquitous that following a analysis of the health literature, Mirowsky and Ross (page 6) determine, “education has an enduring, consistent, and growing effect on health.”

Going into college is one of the most important phases, for most of the students; college life decides how they are going to be for the rest of their life. And for many going into college are one of the most exciting times and many of the students look forward to it, it is the most exciting period for any students. Coming into college each student have their own view on how to spend their time in college some are there to study some to have fun and some for the sake of their parents.

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

College life is where the students show who they are and what they decided to be after their high school experience. College life is where they have completed building themselves, it is a place where they apply what the study and gain more knowledge. College is like a small world that has their own society. And college life is where preparing the students for real life or the world. It is where the students started to be on their own and face the real world. Also, it is where the students complete their academic skills, education degree in the field that they are interested in. From there, they should be able to hold jobs in the field and working in its environments within confidants. During college, they started to be responsible especially for themselves, which means by the time they are graduating from colleges, they would be experts at it and completely on their own. Besides, it is a diverse place where they can meet different backgrounds and cultures and learn from others. Meanwhile, work life is not easy in the beginning where the students are no longer students. They are not halfway there, but they are there. The road and the chapter that they have been working on is over. So, they started an official new chapter in their life. This chapter is completely different than the previous ones. This chapter is the lifetime one. It is the outcome of what they have been working on for a long time. Now, let’s compare between college life and work life to see which of the two