What Is College Necessary

One of the biggest complaints about a college education is the large price tag that comes with it. A national survey found that 75% of adults in the U.S. think that college is too expensive to afford, showing that a majority of the people in the U.S. agree that colleges should lower prices (Source F). As Source A says, college is about learning but the goal in life is to earn a living (Crawford). This means that while you need to earn a living, college isn’t the only route you can do so. There are careers that don’t require education beyond high school and you can still make a respectable income. It’s easy to see that not enough people realize you don’t need a college degree to get a good job.

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

Some people think that getting a college education is not really a good idea anymore. According to Abel and Deitz, “In recent years, students have been paying more to attend college and earning less upon graduation—trends that have led many observers to question whether a college education remains a good investment” (2014, p. 1). If the student cannot find a job that pays a decent amount of money, after graduation why should the government ‘fund it?. College costs are rising each year. Future generations may not be able to go to college because tuition will be too high. But Abel and Deitz

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.

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

A lot of people will argue, that college is too expensive. Not everyone can go to college, for financial reasons. Also, they may get into college, but end up having to leave because they cannot afford the remaining balances; or, they received financial aid, but end up having to take out loans they are going to be paying back forever. It is like once they graduate they will be working mostly to pay off their student loan debt. This also discourages some students. In some cases, they will not even take the initiative to try because it is so costly. I do not understand why it cost so much to want to better yourself, and possibly put us in debt for the rest of our life just to receive a higher education. Not only has the cost of college risen over a period of time, but it continues to go up. Yes, they have alternatives for paying student debts, but what if you do not qualify? Lastly, you are not guaranteed a job just because you graduate and have a college degree(s).

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.

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

Imagine being someone who struggled throughout high school, but is constantly being told they need to go to college. If a student is constantly having problems with their learning, thinking, money, and support, why should they be obligated to continue their education when they are struggling today? The problem today is that people feel like they have no other choice but go to college to be successful. Many people today do not go to college, but get a job and slowly start to become successful. A person can work and gain experience and knowledge, which allows a person to move up. Since there are many jobs today that do not require a college degree, going to college should not be obligated by students after high school. College is not for everyone, and no one should be forced to go.

The whole idea that students don’t really need a college education in today’s society is questionable, because employers will often hire someone based on whether or not they have a degree, as well as their past experiences. In many cases today, the people that are making a reasonable amount of money either have a college degree or invented/discovered something that ended up making them wealthy. If you’re one of the lucky few who have invented or discovered something of significance, then you may not need a college degree. For the many of us who aren’t as fortunate, however, a college degree is a

If you think about it, many people don’t attend college or continue due to the high costs of tuition, books, and room & board. I agree with Dr. Ricardo Azziz that “…we must focus on educating those without a college degree on its value, and foster access and retention so that those who want to attend college can attend -- and finish (Azziz).” It’s understandable that people fear debt and becoming burdened with loans, but an education is well worth the long term benefits. A college education is especially useful for when the economy is not doing well.

The cost of college is becoming outrageous because they are rising tuition, trying to make their campus more appealing to the students that attend as well as incoming students, and government loans have astronomical interest rates. Students are having to come up with all of the money themselves. It is hurting the students after they graduate because they are in so much debt before they even start their career. Some students wonder if going to college is worth it or if finishing high school would be enough for them. The amount of debt students are accumulating by going to college makes others wonder if they want to start a career already thousands of dollars in debt. Going to college may seem like a no brainer for some, but others struggle with the thought of “being in the red” right out of college and trying to find a high paying job that will help them pay back their loans and borrowed money, especially in the economy now.

     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

Today, many students are settling for jobs immediately out of high school instead of furthering their education in college. Students should consider how necessary college actually is for their lives in the future. It provides one with a significant amount of opportunities, a greater knowledge about their career plan, and a better sense of responsibility.

A four-year degree costs students “more than $19,000” (Stieger), and in this day and age it is nearly impossible to survive with only a high school education; being well qualified for a specific career position is very important to employers. George Leef, author of “Why on Earth Do We Have a ‘Student Loan Crisis’?,” says it best when he states that “college graduates are somewhat more reliable and easily trained than people with only high school diplomas … if there is a large enough number of [people] with college degrees, employers don’t have to bother with people who don’t have them” (Leef 29). That being said, I wonder how young people are expected to obtain some sort of degree, when higher education is nearly impossible for some families to afford. Although very significant changes have been made by our government offering improved financial aid to current and future students, more can still be done. Our politicians could increase the Pell Grant maximum to coincide with rising tuition costs, increase taxes on irrelevant goods and services to provide students with more direct funding, set up a “reward system” that would place more responsibility on the students (rather than themselves), and most importantly, our two main parties in office need to agree on specific changes.