Is Going To College Worth It For High-Paying Job Opportunities?
During high school senior year, the talk about college is always scary and daunting. Some students already know which college to go to, what course to take, and what career path they are going to take. But some students are still deciding with an option to get a college degree or not. Every single people has a unique path of their own, some become successful and well-off after getting a college degree, and some who do not are struggling. Interestingly enough it can also work oppositely, some high school graduates or even dropouts are millionaires, and some who earned a degree, unfortunately, live paycheck to paycheck. And so the question is, would going to college worth the risk for a high-paying job or people can just “wing” it on their future career and life in general.
Graduating students from high school are forced to make a huge and major decision, and oftentimes they have left clueless and so little information about the pros and cons of choosing to go to college for a high-paying job with their future working career. For most, the value of education and getting a career is always the top choice and priority, but going to college means a minimum of four years spent studying, thousands of dollars spent for tuition, and even with scholarships and tuition aids students are graduating with huge student loans that they will be paying for the coming years. Students can choose a two-year degree or 4-year degree to take in college, according to the National Centre for Education Statistics conducted in 2018, undergraduate students who seek a 4-year bachelor’s degree in institutions was sixty-two percent, a rate that has been noticeably increasing compared to previous years. Though the set years do not guaranty a degree if you fail or dropped out, and those years could be used to finding a job and establishing a career on your chosen no-degree career. Another worth considering if a college degree is worth it is the staggering price of tuition fees. Top US universities would likely cost sixty thousand US dollars per year, private colleges around thirty-six thousand US dollars, and state colleges around ten thousand US dollars (Bridgestock). All that not accounting for the extra thousands of dollars you will bring with you when you graduate with student loans. When with all those years and financial value could already help you build up a career that is higher paying than the job you’ll get after getting a degree. Aside from all that, the choice from hundreds of different degrees has a vital effect on finding a high-paying job after graduating.
Indeed college can be expensive and would take years with a lot of hard work, but there are certain benefits from going to college and getting a degree. Most jobs are requiring a college diploma to get hired, which means more opportunities for a college degree holder than those high school graduates. Statistics show that those who went to college get most of the jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, over the last years, out of ten new jobs, nine of them are given to people who went to college or have a college degree (Goldstein). Other than that, college is all about the experiences, the people you meet and the activities that will lead and open doors for you because of going to college, and also the transition of being a college student to getting ready to adulthood. One vital thing also is the connection you build that can help in recruiting or scoring a high-paying job. Going to college is optional formal learning in the United States just like Higher education, but it is as important to discuss the key benefits, the pros and cons, and significance of it to have a view and information about the available options for the academic path.
Going to college does not automatically means high-paying job opportunities. The resources, time, money, passion, and efforts of getting a college degree should be wisely considered. Finding a high-paying job in most cases indeed requires a college degree. But going to college is not guaranteed as a key to a successful and wealthy future. A smart choice and proper pondering of your chosen career, resources, environment, skills, and connection are what would make deciding and choosing to go to college for high-paying job opportunities worth it.
Works Cited
Bridgestock, Laura. How Much Does It Cost To Study In The US? QS Top Universities. 20 April, 2021. https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/student-finance/how-much-does-it-cost-study-us
Goldstein, Steve. Nine out of 10 new jobs are going to those with a college degree. Market Watch Capitol Report. 5 June, 2018. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nine-out-of-10-new-jobs-are-going-to-those-with-a-college-degree-2018-06-04
KQED PBS. “Is College Worth the Time and Money?” Above The Noise. YouTube, 5 Marc. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfoGLH7kQLs
National Centre for Education Statistics. Graduation Rates for Students Obtaining Bachelor’s Degree. U.S. Department of Education (2020). 27 April 2021, https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40
U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics. College-Educated Getting Most of Jobs Statistics. US BLS. 2018. https://www.bls.gov/