Essay Example: Should Everyone Go to College? A Final Examination

Education is regarded as the most crucial tool in enabling people to acquire knowledge hence improving their critical thinking and decision-making skills. However, the value and importance put in education differ from one country to another with various countries using different systems of education. The result, however, reveals that all individuals require a certain level of education. Stephanie and Isabel offer a final examination of whether everyone should go to college. They analyze different facets in colleges such as; graduation rates, school selectivity, and significant matters. Some people support the idea that everyone should have a chance to join college. However, some individuals believe that it should not be a must for every person to go to school because a bachelor's degree is not the best investment for every student in every circumstance. These people believe that there are better alternatives than going to college, and many well-paying jobs exist that do not require college training. Therefore, this paper seeks to focus on the argument of whether or not an individual should go to college.

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A bachelor's degree from a college is not the best investment. Available evidence suggests that lifetime earnings workers with degrees vary depending on occupation and college majors. With regard to return on investment, public schools have higher returns than private schools (Jepsen, Christopher, Kenneth & Paul 95-121). Arguing that everyone should go to college is therefore unfounded since other factors must come to play. Moreover, more selective schools offer better and higher returns compared to less selective schools. "There is enormous variation in the so-called return to education depending on factors such as institution attended, the field of study, whether a student graduates and post-graduation occupation" (Owen and Sawhill 208). The fields of study and colleges that people attend play vital roles in determining the benefits scholars can get from their investment. It is, therefore, imperative for individuals to underscore the fact that going to college does not bear the benefits to people. Therefore, care should be taken to ensure people understand the vital elements that make the benefits from colleges differ. According to Oreopoulos, Philip & Uros, the ordinary return to earning a college degree is evidently favorable, they spell out that it is not unanimously so. For specific colleges, majors, professions, as well as individuals, a college may not be a smart investment. “By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice,” they maintain. Effective analysis should, therefore, be done on individuals to establish what best suits them. Some people can do better in the informal sectors than in other professions hence do not require to go to colleges. Giving effective advice on people depending on what suits them best is vital in ensuring that not everyone is forced to go to college. Passion should, however, be given priority since people often do best in areas they have passion.

Moreover, students should be aware of the other vital factors that contribute to or determine the benefits they get from school. This is essential in helping people make informed decisions. However, passion and talents can be tapped by joining colleges. Those who join colleges improve their passion and talents than talented school dropouts. For instance, learned musicians can perform and compose songs that are sellable worldwide, unlike local musicians who can only attract the domestic customers' audience, hence limiting their marketability (Dwyer). This implies that going to school cannot be ruled out.

Owen and Sawhill agree with the assertion that students need to consider all options when hoping to go to college. In particular, the authors assert that advising all youth to go to college is more damaging than helpful. They maintained that essential and valuable options often exist; hence not all should go to college."… We should give more data [the positives and negatives about college] in an intelligible way…” (Owen and Sawhill 223). By saying this, they agree with pro-education that colleges should instruct and properly advise understudies about college before settling on a choice. For example, by informing them about the opportunities associated with acquiring education in colleges as compared to forgoing school and venturing into business. Owen and Sawhill recommend that joining is not to everybody's most significant benefit in light of the fact that the rate of intrigue (ROI) is not generally gainful to the sum a man puts into getting a degree. Therefore, both parents and their children must acknowledge that going to college does not determine the degree of return, commonly known as the rate of return. All factors being equal, before settling on a choice, understudies should be cultured about every one of the dangers and advantages of heading off to college. Comprehensive data about the advantages and disadvantages of joining a college should be made available to students before making a choice.

There are indeed many lucrative job opening that continues going unfilled since employers cannot get qualified and skilled workers from college graduates. The required skills for such jobs are not learned from colleges but are acquired through vocational training, apprenticeships, or associate's degrees. This factor further corroborates the fact that not everyone should go to college. Some young people need to join vocational training colleges or apprenticeships to acquire the skills required in the job market. "A bachelor's degree is not a smart investment for every student in every circumstance, and on average, the benefits of a college degree outweigh their costs…" (Owen and Sawhill 209). Thus, students and other society members need to realize the place and importance of other institutions of training apart from colleges. The actual costs of college education consequently do not determine its benefits. The policy makes should consequently try and establish strong and productive strategies that help students build essential investments in their post-secondary education. Making prudent decisions is essential in improving personal development while ensuring that people are happy at work. Therefore, everyone should not go to college because some vital skills required at workplaces can only be acquired in other training institutions and not in colleges.

Contrarily, I firmly believe that going to college is a prudent idea, and everyone should conceptualize this idea in mind. Acquisition of college degree better places a person to land lucrative jobs upon employment (Kortering, Larry & Sandra 5-15). Going to school will equip an individual with more entrepreneurial ideas than not going to college. School increases socialization, which increases networking since college education unites students from different parts of the world. College education improves scientific research for various diseases that adversely affect the population, such as the COVID-19 (Zuber, Ortrun, Lesley & Ina.). According to Schafer et al.,(1007-1034), those who join colleges are healthier than those who do not imply that college is crucial to the society, and everyone should yearn for joining a college.

Conclusion

Concisely, it is right to infer that going to college plays essential importance in the lives and development of students and workers in general. Individuals in different capacities are thus required to acquire such valuable assets in their lives. However, effective policies need to be established to ensure that people fully benefit from their investments. Stephanie Owen and Isabel offer a final analysis of whether everyone should go to college or not. While individuals need to attain a college education, close analysis indicates that not everyone should go to college. As explained in the study, not everyone should go to college because; a bachelor's degree is not the best investment for every student in every circumstance. There are better alternatives than going to college, and many well-paying jobs exist that do not require college training. Many factors point to the fact that there exist many good-paying jobs in the market since the needed skills that fit such jobs can only be acquired through other pieces of training, such as vocational training. Therefore, everyone should go to college.

Works Cited

Owen, Stephanie, and Isabel Sawhill. Should everyone go to college? Brookings Institution, Center on Children and Families, 2013.

Jepsen, Christopher, Kenneth Troske, and Paul Coomes. "The labor-market returns to community college degrees, diplomas, and certificates." Journal of Labor Economics 32.1 (2014): 95-121.

Oreopoulos, Philip, and Uros Petronijevic. Making college worth it: A review of research on the returns to higher education. No. w19053. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013.

Dwyer, M. Christine. "Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America's Future through Creative Schools." President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (2011).

Kortering, Larry J., and Sandra Christenson. "Engaging students in school and learning: The real deal for school completion." Exceptionality 17.1 (2009): 5-15.

Schafer, Markus H., Lindsay R. Wilkinson, and Kenneth F. Ferraro. "Childhood (mis) fortune, educational attainment, and adult health: Contingent benefits of a college degree?." Social forces 91.3 (2013): 1007-1034.