Is Going to College Worth It? - Essay Sample

Introduction

The debate on whether to attend college or not is complicated and diverse and with long-term life implications. The high college cost and the massive student debt have created a debate on the role of college education in the 21st century. The discussion about the mission and value of college education have been led by various things that include, the hard economic times, the rising college cost, the massive change in demand of the countries workforce and the increase in global competition. According to a Gallup poll in 2013, 57% of the United States workers did not need to have an undergraduate degree while only a half of the white collar workers have the belief that a college degree is crucial in their line of work (Leonhardt &David 35). Alternatively, more than two-thirds of the workers within the managerial, executive and professional jobs say that a college degree is crucial in their line of work. Another research in 2013 found that 45% of the United States population believes that the college cost is justified while the other 43% did not think that college was worth the expense (Leonhardt &David 39). This study intends to review if going to college is worth it and essential.

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The Financial Benefits of College Education

By comparing the benefits of earning and the cost of attending the four-year program, I find that going to college is worth it. This means that the education cost for the majority of the college education opportunities in the United States can be compensated by the age of 40 after which the graduates earn a return on investment in the form of high lifetime wages. The United States data survey between the college graduates and the high school graduates shows that college graduates earn higher than the high school graduates in the past decade. The college graduates earn an average of $30000 more than the high school graduates who did not attend college (Carnevale and Anthony 50). The people who attended college but did not graduate earn an average of $ 8000 more in a year as compared to those that did not participate in college. This adds up to $100000 over a lifetime (Carnevale and Anthony 50). If one examines the returns on the college education to the normal investment such as real estate and stocks, the college education dwarfs them. The Hamilton research estimates the return of a college degree to be around 9.1% annually while the return on investment such as stock is 6% annually and the yield on government bonds is 2% (Leonhard and David 50). Earning a college degree puts one at a chance of better pay in the workplace as compared to those that did not attend college

The American population with college degrees experience lower rates of unemployment as compared to the high school graduates; this is beneficial mostly during the recession periods whereby, most of the workers are unemployed. Research shows that the rate of unemployment among the college graduate is 8.0% as compared to the high school unemployment rate of 14.9 %( Carnevale and Anthony 67). College education improves the chances of employment in the United States since one is equipped with relevant job skills thus making an individual more qualified for a particular job as compared to the high school graduate.

Improved Employment Prospects with a College Degree

There is a huge intangible benefit of acquiring a college degree such as job satisfaction. Most of the population spend their lives working. Therefore, it is essential for one to feel satisfied with the work that one does. According to a survey in 2010, people with higher education levels are more confident with their jobs, most of the satisfying jobs are, education administrators, engineers, teachers, and therapist most of which require advanced education to attain (Carneval and Anthony 70). Most of the college graduates are satisfied with their work as compared to those who did not attend college. Among all college graduates, 55% are satisfied while only 40% of those that did not participate in college say the same (Leonhardt and David 40). The people who did not attend college are not likely to be in jobs that need a college degree. At least three in every ten individuals say that they intended to apply for a specific job but did not since they did not have a college degree while 13% say that they tried to apply for a job but turned down since they never had a college degree (Daly and Mary 13). Job satisfaction also promotes the financial achievement since if one is satisfied with the job position one is in, then you tend also to get satisfied with the payment you get from the employment. 67% of the Americans are satisfied with their financial situation through a small percentage may say they are very satisfied (Daly and Mary 20).

Non-Financial Benefits of Attending College

Apart from viewing college as a training ground for work, the college also helps in promoting both intellectual and personal growth. This growth is crucial in ones live since it develops and improves one's own and workplace discipline. Most of the American population say that college education facilitated them to grow personally and intellectually more than they are to say that the school prepared them for their future careers. 76% of the population say education was crucial in enhancing education and facilitating intellectual growth while 69% of the population mean that college education was useful in promoting them maturity and growth as a person (Daly&Mary 13). The two-year graduates have fewer chances of pointing the intellectual and personal benefits of going to college as compared to the four-year college graduates.

Conclusion

Despite the various challenges that arise because of joining colleges such as colossal cost, and increased students loan debt I suggest that going to college is worth it due to the significant number of benefits that come after earning a college degree.

Works Cited

Carnevale, Anthony. "College is still worth it." Inside Higher Education (2011).

Daly, Mary C., and Leila Bengali. "Is it still worth going to college?." FRBSF Economic Letter 13 (2014): 2014.

Leonhardt, David. "Is college worth it? New data say." The New York Times 5.27 (2014): 14.