What Is College Worth It Essay

Mackenzie Raske
Xavier Pastrano
ENGL 101T 14

College: Is it Worth It? Almost everybody’s plan after high school is to go to college, find a job, fall in love, get married, and own a home. All of these are attainable with a good paying job and sometimes even a college education. In this research paper I will be discussing these topics, increasing cost of college, affording college, finding employment after college, and weather or not graduates are able to pay off their debt.
The consequence of not going to college is even more fatal than paying for it. Not going to college makes it harder to find a job and harder to make money to support a family. So either way they give you no choice but to either go to college, get into debt, or find
a job making the minimum of fifteen thousand dollars a year. I feel that college does extend your knowledge and gives you a better chance of getting a job in your career of choice. If you have the mindset, the wisdom, and the ability to think outside the box, you may want to think about your decision to further your education and get a degree from a college or university. College sets you up with a foundation of education that helps you in the working world, but it doesn’t guarantee you anything except a degree or a major. According to Renee Haltom she states that going to college will probably make you richer, therefore continuing education is highly recommended if obtaining financial success is ones goal in life.
I think that tuition today is much more expensive than the actual worth of college; with all the different things like food plans, game tickets, flex plans these are all included into the tuition and can be over priced. It’s mainly because the state is not paying for the cost. As state budgets sink, the students tuition goes up. Professor Gordon Winston points out that, “All tuition increases are caused by cost increase or a decline in third-party support.” It’s hard for low-income families to pay for their college students. According to a Commission Report, the percent of a low income family who would need to pay for college has nearly doubled. In 2005, a low-income family spends 82% of its annual income to support a college student within the family. The other factor is if it is worth it or not. Bill Gates, a person I talk about often, is one of the richest men in the world and doesn’t even have a college degree.
My first reason is tuition and the cost.
What I can’t seem to figure out is where our tuition money is actually going. College is quickly becoming out of hand for lower income families; so why is tuition going up? Gordon Winston answers this question by saying, “Well because when the government aid goes up so does tuition costs.” And, “The solution of rising tuition would be to limit grants and loan subsidies.” Obviously we pay for our dorm but that could be solved if you live with your parents. The cost figures for books and supplies have kept the same for 30 years. But besides what we need and our classes what else are we exactly paying
for?
The reason these prices don’t ever decrease is another thing I would like to know. I feel that we aren’t just paying for an education. Winston states that our tuition may be paying for the health insurance and counseling services of faculty, which are expanding. (Martin, 2002) College boards should be able to state that the investment you make is worth the education you get, but they can’t. The article The Public Views on College Costs, surveys successfully show that since 1993, people consistently said that obtaining a college degree is very important for students to enter the middle class. But the public questions the importance of college education, and if it’s necessary. They question it because college dropout Bill Gates was so successful without a college degree.
The increase of tuition from 20 years ago until now is a big gap, so students that want to go to college can’t because they’re discouraged that they are unable to pay the tuition debt off. They don’t want to get into debt and not be able to pay it back. The article, The Widening Income Gap states that,
“Increases in the cost of attending college are one reason some people think a college education is becoming unattainable. A university education appears affordable for top ten earners, but is not for low- and middle-income families whose incomes have not kept pace with inflation.” People without a degree can sometimes be very successful; you just have to have the brains. “Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, neither one of whom have a college degree, each just have spectacular success.” (Brian, 2010) So why even bother going to college? Sometimes college can end up being a mistake, and you realize that you could have gone without it. Johnson and Immerwahr have a good point; American attitudes change to be on a virtual collision course, because of course college is absolutely essential, but the public of America think that a college education is not of reach for many. I believe that college can be a help toward your future, and that it will help you be more successful than if you had not gone. Unfortunately, many cannot go because they can’t afford it and don’t want the debt. Brian’s interview with a college graduate says, “I often think about whether college was worth it. Before college I was making better money, and think about what I could be doing now if I had focused on saving and furthering my career.” (Brian, 2010) Some people today are still paying off their student loans from almost ten years ago, because sometimes, the major you aim to get cannot guarantee a job that’s within your job cluster. The degree you earn in college doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get a job in that field. You could go to college for technical science and have a job selling insurance. It’s the future and it is very unpredictable.
My second reason is the guarantee of a job after graduation. When I did my research on the unemployment rate, I found the percentage for 2010’s graduates and their average debt in the article Project on Student Debt:
“Although Students who graduated from college in 2010 with student loans owed an average of $25,250, up 5 percent from the previous year, according to a report scheduled for release. The average debt, once again the highest on record came as the class of 2010 faced an unemployment rate for new college graduates of 9.1 percent, the highest in recent years, according to the report by the Project on Student Debt, which pointed out that unemployment rates for those without college degrees were still higher.” In some cases, the cost of a college degree is proven more than the salary you’ll make in your first year of a career. The article Project on Student Debt says, “Graduates are going into a job market where unemployment is high and getting a job is not guaranteed.” What I find sad is that many people are going to college just to find a “good job,” not because they want to follow their passion or interests.
Therefore, students are getting into thousand dollars in debt, only to graduate and struggle in finding a job. We need to make sure the investment you’re making is in the job you want. According to Garcia and Aracil, the business employers prefer to hire graduates from specific fields that already know what they’re doing, and need only little instruction. So basically, if you’re not skilled in the areas the job requires then you probably aren’t going to be their first pick. My dad says that businesses want someone that can start working right away. Requirements these days can be very hard to reach, and you want to base your job on how long it will take you to pay off your student
loans.
My third reason is the debt you will be in after your years of a college education. This topic of my paper is the main default of college. People are too afraid to get into debt and have to pay it all back. It causes mental issues and money related gluttony. To the perspective of Jackson and Callender, studies recently show over 2000 students of the lower social class constrain the choice of university far more than other social classes. (Callender & Jackson, 2008) This means more potential students are incapable of investing in a college degree. So what do we do? Maybe, we should do what the UK does. Callender and Jackson say that in Britain, a household that earns £17,500 (26,402.44 U.S dollars) or less is given grants to students, which pays 85% of their debt. Not a bad idea. Debt after graduation can be very high. Sometimes it takes more than a year to pay off. The story Turnham states,
“Turnham graduated two years ago from Fordham University and has a good job as a sales associate at a commercial real-estate brokerage in New York City. But the crippling financial hangover has left him dispirited. “I’m over $100,000 in debt, and find it very hard making payments,” says the 25-year-old.” (Brian, 2010)
According to Brian Kelly, if you’re going to borrow $10,000 dollars a year for four years, you should hope that the field you study will get you a job that has a starting salary of $40,000, (Garcia & Aracil, 2007) Take into consideration your career goals before making the investment of a degree. According to Vila Garcia and Mora Aracil, research has shown, C students become the bosses of the ‘A’ students, run the world, and bounce back faster from setbacks. Mostly because the C students were learning about the world and managing it when the A students were more book smart. Awesome so I still have some hope. In conclusion, I believe that college can be a little bit too risky for low income families. The tuition costs are too high, and we are not paying for our own education. Debt is increasingly high, and after graduation is difficult to pay off if you can’t get a job. The guarantee of a job is slim if you don’t meet the requirements a business wants. Therefore, college needs to concentrate on meeting most business requirements to help graduates get a good job. There are people out there that are successful and without a degree, and it makes me wonder what the worth of college really is.