The Myths Of College Majors

While this is often true, it can create problems when a student does not have the money to pay for a quality education. The cost of college has risen an estimated 250-500% over the last 30 years while consumer price index has only increased by 115 percent during the same time frame (White, 2015; Eskow, 2014). The amount of student loan debt is increasing, along with the cost of college. The income of many young people today cannot keep up with the rising costs of college education and housing. Part of the problem with student loan debt begins when students choose to attend a college that exceeds their financial resources and rely on federal student loans as well as private student loans to make up the difference. Eskow found that even public colleges and universities are becoming difficult to pay for without taking out student loans often averaging $30,000 for tuition, room, and board (2014). Since many people do not have enough money to cover college education expenses, they rely on student loans, both federal and private, to fill the gap. Financial advisor Ramsey stated that often the loans students take out pay “for an off-campus standard of living, and no debt was needed to get the degree” (2013). “The Project on Student Debt reported in 2013 over ⅔ graduating seniors were leaving school with student loans” averaging approximately $28,400 (White, 2015). Taking on almost $30,000 in debt before even starting a career can have a significant impact. It can force people to get a job just to pay off the student loans, not based on what they got an education for prepared for or what they studied. This also can cause a setback in future plans, having to delay many adult milestones due to lack 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

David Leonhardt in his article “Is College Really Worth It? Clearly New Data Say” goes over the biggest negatives of college that deter students and even returning adults from receiving a higher education and earning a degree. He talks about the struggles of finding work after college and the accumulated student debt. Daivd Leonhardt points out that “Americans with four-year college degrees made 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” (Leonhardt). Which shows that as much as college costs, you get that back multiple times over after graduation and after you are employed. The stress and struggles that undergraduates face such as deciding a major, the issue of time commitment and large financial sacrifices are worth

I also found some web sources that have a divergent view. For example, “Debt Burden: Repaying Student Debt”, a report written by American Council on Education, the only higher education organization that represents presidents and chancellors of all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting institutions. This report describes the borrowing and repayment experiences of 1992/93 and 1999/2000 bachelor’s degree recipients one year after graduation. The author believed that student loan debt did not have discernible impact on graduate one year later. To support his/her argument, the author collects data from U.S. Department of Education and National Center for Education Statistics. Although this source is reliable and

As with any college student, the idea of not having to pay for school sounds quite perfect. Average student loan debt has increased at a constant rate since 1993 and peaked for 2015 graduates at $35,000 according to the Wall Street Journal. The same report shows two other key factors. While 70% of students leave college with student debt, the need for a college degree has never been more important. Unemployment rates between people holding a bachelors degree or more sits around 2%, while people with only a high school diploma is over 5%.

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.

When it comes to achieving success in the work force and finding a fulfilling and lucrative career there are few things more important that higher education. Going to college and getting a degree is essential in finding success in the work force. The problem is when the cost of gaining that degree outweighs the financial compensation the career that follows is able to supply. Very few people are able to pay for college out of pocket. The result of this is that students seeking higher education are forced to take out massive student loans. This means that they are entering the work force

There are currently 40 million Americans that have student loans they are still paying off. Along with this 70% of all students graduating with a bachelor 's degree will graduate with debt. If this is not convincing enough look at the class of 2015, they have graduated with

When it becomes time for someone to pay off their student loans, it can be a long, complex, and strenuous process. Attorney Heather Jarvis, a specialist in the field of managing student loan debt, graduated Duke University School of Law with a total of $125,000 in loans. “Four-year college graduates continue to experience far less unemployment and earn higher salaries than those with only a high school education… But higher education is expensive and scholarships and grant aid has failed to keep with the rising tuitions.” Says Heather Jarvis. This shows that yes attending college is beneficial to people and their futures, but with tuition continuously rising year after year, colleges have failed to keep increasing the scholarships and grants they give out, which in turn causes many students to end up taking out loans, which if they don’t manage right can have endless effects on their future. “In the United States today, there are approximately thirty-seven million student loan borrowers who together owe more than one trillion dollars. Seven in ten college seniors who graduated in 2012 had student loan debt. Those who had student loan debt owed an average of $29,400.” This is why it is so important to constantly monitor one’s loans, because they can pile up very quickly and suffocate you with debt when you finally get around to paying them.

As decades pass by, obtaining a college degree seems more necessary to get a decent job after graduating. Therefore, high school students feel the pressure to get into a good university and to get the highest degree possible, even when they have no plan on how to pay for it. Financial aid has not kept up with growing tuition prices, and taking out student loans seems almost impossible to avoid. According to research, “About 40 million Americans hold student loans and about 70% of bachelor’s degree recipients graduate with debt.” (Market Watch) The U.S currently has a total of 1.3 trillion dollars of outstanding debt. There is a ton of controversy on how to solve this issue, but there are progressive solutions schools and college kids need

While the plan of a college student would be to just pay off their dept quickly after finding a job, the harsh reality is there just simply isn't as many job offers as they expected. College intuition has increased over 538% in the last 30 years and not even including other expenses it is understandable why most college students have doubled in debt.

College gives its graduates the greatest ability to achieve a higher paying job. Furthermore, adults who attend college earn higher wages over those who do not. As emphasized in “College Grads Find Big Degree of Debt, Difficulty; American Families Start to Wonder Whether Education Cost Is Worth It” by Patrice Hill, a staff writer for The Washington Times, employees who have a

Not having to be a full-time employee, while also being a full-time student, is a positive aspect to loans. Also, beginning to learn how to apply for loans and paying them off at a younger age could be very effective to future financial success. On the contrary, not paying for college with loans will allow you to be student loan debt free. In 2013, the average college graduate owed $28,400 in student loans, while numbers across the nation exceeded $30,000 (Bidwell). Chandra Wilson from Brainy Quote said “When the time came for me to go to college, there was only one scholarship that my high school offered at the time and I didn't win that one, but that didn't stop me. I went on to college anyway. I worked my way through it and paid my student loans for 11 years.” In 2016 the average student loan debt soared to $37,172 which is roughly $10,000 more than three years prior (“A Look”). College tuition rates are steadily rising and, in turn, so is the national student loan debt. Moreover, with a high debt cost, the number of years to pay back, with interest, is also soaring. Mrs. Wilson took at least 11-years to pay back her student loans which is about the national average time span (Brainy). These shocking statistics are on the up rise and with college expenses rising every year, students need to be more aware of how they

Student debt in the United States is one of the biggest growing economic threats in our nation today; college students are taking out large loans for four year public, and private colleges and generally cannot pay off the loans until 10 years after they graduate: “Without student loans many cannot attend college, but many students don't pay off loans until 10 years after they graduate, on average for a bachelor's degree it can take up to 21 years to pay off.” (Johnson), which affects the way graduates succeed after they are out. No solution has been found, and many are blind from the issue, Hans Johnson of the Institute of California says:  “Student debt has hurt the employment, and wage prospects

“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