Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
Is college really worth it?
What is the definition of being successful? Most people would say attending a
university, getting a good paying job and just making a lot of money in general. But does
going to a college really guarantee you a successful future? College has always been a
place that people look forward to. When we were young our parents often told us that we
have to study hard, so we can receive better education and live a happy life.
Therefore most teenagers' childhood dream is to go to a university when they grow up.
Attending a university will help you learn more knowledge and make friends with people
that share the same interests. Valuable knowledge that you gain from the college
experience will carry on with you for the rest of your life. Also, universities will teach
you how to build up a network, handle challenges and learn how to be an adult.
However, is college the only way that leads us to success? Is college really worth it?
As education has been more and more importants these days. 35 percent of the job
openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree, 30 percent of the job openings will
require some college or an associate’s degree and 36 percent of the job openings do not
require education beyond high school (Carnevale, 2013). The reason for people
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
attending college or universities has changed due to most jobs nowadays requiring a
higher education than before. Based on the history data the number of people attending
university is increasing, more people are attending universities to pursue a higher
education, so it could match their dream job’s education requirements.
(The United States
Census Bureau, 2018)
The reason why going to college has always been a hot topic that people talk about from
teenagers to older adults. Is because people often worry about whether the knowledge gained
from college is worth the high tuition fee. The average cost of college for the 2017–2018 school
year was $20,770 for public schools (in-state) and $46,950 for nonprofit private schools, only
including tuition, fees, and room and board (ValuePenguin, 2020). Due to these high tuition fees,
most college students would have to take out a student loan.
And here it comes to the tricky part of interest on student loans. Most Interest on loan
can be divided into two types, one is simple interest and the other is compound interest. With
simple interest you would only have to pay the same amount of interest in each loan period. But
with compound interest the interest will add up every time based on the previous conpounding
periods amount plus interest, which can be monthly, quarterly or annually. Students often don't
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
realize how dangerous compound interest is, it might seem a little bit of interest the first year, but
once it starts to add up it becomes a big matter.
According to a survey of 61,000 respondents conducted by One Wisconsin Institute, the
average time to pay off student loan debt is 21.1 years (Credible, 2020). You can always hear
stories about how people were still paying back student loans at the age of 30-40.Therefor some
may say that college is not worth it, people that attend college may earn more than someone that
didn’t attend college, but after paying back the high amount of student loans they might earn the
same. So therefore some people think that college is not worth it due to this reason.
Another issue and problems people wouldn't attend higher education is the social class
and race in admissions. African American and Latino students are less likely to attend college.
Racial and Ethnic Inequality discussed the debate over racially based affirmative action in higher
education. Reflecting this debate, some states have passed laws prohibiting the use of race and
ethnicity in admissions to public colleges and universities. When low-income students do attend
college, they are much more likely to attend lower-ranking institutions than very selective
campuses due to the financial burden. Also another article shows that from the top 10
universities in the us. 74% of new freshmen comes from the wealighlist one-fourth of US
households and 3% of them come from the least one-fourth of households (Krugman, 2012).
From these data we can see that children from average families need to spend more money and
time than children from richer families to compete for a good college admission spod. This
would have made life harder for families who were not already rich. Therefore it is less likely for
students with lower income households to attend those top universities or universities in general.
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
According to the U.S Department of Education
● workers without high-school diplomas earned $24,000 annually
● workers with high-school diplomas earned $30,500
● workers who completed some college earned $31,900
● workers with a bachelor's degree earned $49,900
● Workers with a master's degree or higher earned $59,200
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
These data used by the 2017 IES report describes income outcomes between
workers who have a higher education and those who have a lower education. As the
data shows workers that finished high schhol generally make about 6,000 more than
works that didn’t attend college. Workers that finished college earn about 20,000 more
than workers that didn't attend college. Education equals money. It's becoming more
and more realistic. People who have a higher education have more opportunity and
choose when it comes to choosing jobs. People always do things for a purpose, with the
crazy amount of time and money they spend on pursuing a higher education. They
deserve to be in a better position than those who didn’t spend time and effort on it,
nothing will be handed to you for free.
Top 5 highest paying Major ( Bachelor’s Degrees)
1,Petroleum Engineering 92,300-182,000
2,Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) $101,200-152,300
3,Applied Economics and Management $60,900-139,600
4,Operations Research $78,400-139,600
5,Public Accounting $60,000-138,800
Top 5 lowest paying Major ( Bachelor’s Degree)
1, Biology: $41,250
2, Social work: $41,656
3, Health care administration: $42,000
4, Sociology, $42,000
5, Psychology: $42,000
Majors play a huge part in future career and income earnings. While someone with an
engineering major could earn up to 182,000 per year, others with biology majors only can earn
42,000 per year. The salary gap between majors is huge, choosing a wrong major while taking a
high amount of student loans could end up in a very bad position. That’s why it is very important
knowing your major and what you want to pursue before you attend college. However the goals
for people are not always the same, not everyone that attends college is looking for a better
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
career or job opportunity. College does not just provide higher education, it can also help enrich
your life not just in terms of education, but in terms of growth with all the variety of clubs, sports
events, organizations and networks that college provides.
Inconculsion, Is college worth it? Of cours college is worth it, I would say just make sure
you know your major and have a passion about the things you want to do in the future. As you
can see education has become more and more important. It almost seems like higher education
gradually becomes a standard measure of job opportunities and a better career. Many people who
were not rich before regard college as a springboard to realize their dreams. What they have
learned in college can lay a good foundation for their future career and lead them to success.
Education may not be the only way that leads you to success, but it’s definitely the most simple
and reliable way. People who chose the easter, faster path to success often end up in prison.
Therefore I strongly encourage people to attend college or universities. But for those who want
to pursue a career that doesn’t require a degree, more interested in partying than in studying and
don't have a passion for what you're doing then college may not be for you, not everyone is
college material.
INTERVIEW
Here are some of the responses from the student base of the question: Is college really worth it?
Student A: College is only worth it for those who want to look good for corporations. If you have
a dream of something that’s not tied to a corporation then you're just spending thousands of
dollars and going into debt for thousands of dollars. College is seen as the end all be all of things
because it guarantees people a job, but even that’s not true all the time.
Student B: It depends on what you want out of college. If you have a plan and you need college
to learn the knowledge and gain the tools and experience, it's worth it. If you are going to college
just because you see everyone else going to college, then you are wasting your time.
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
Student C: My opinion is not necessarily. You can go to trade school or join a union making
plenty of money without having to do a single piece of college work. Or you can skip college
and work to save up money to start your own business which could possibly grow. Going to
college may not be the fastest way, but it is the most reliable way to be successful in life.
References
Highest Educational Attainment Levels Since 1940: (January 15, 2018)
The United States Census Bureau
https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2017/comm/cb17-51_educational_attainment.html
College Graduation Statistics 2020 Total Graduates per Year: (September 26, 2020)
Educacationdata.org
https://educationdata.org/number-of-college-graduates.
Recovery: Job Growth And Education Requirements Through 2020: (June 13, 2013)
Georgetown University
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/recovery-job-growth-and-education-requirements-throu
gh-2020/#:~:text=By%20educational%20attainment%3A%2035%20percent,require%20educatio
n%20beyond%20high%20school
Average Cost of College in America: (June 14, 2020)
ValuePenguin
https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-college#:~:text=Our%20researche
rs%20found%20that%20the,fees%2C%20and%20room%20and%20board
Average Time to Repay Student Loans in the U.S : (September 03, 2020)
Credible
https://www.credible.com/blog/statistics/average-time-to-repay-student-loans-statistics/#:~:text=
According%20to%20a%20survey%20of,no%20degree
Will-jay Daniel
DNY-1000c
11/04/2020
The Department of Education's 2017 IES Report : (May, 2019)
U.S Department of Education
The Average Salary Without a College Degree (July 01, 2018)
Chron
https://work.chron.com/average-salary-college-degree-1861.html
The Highest-Paying Careers with a Bachelor's Degree for 2018: (May 17, 2019)
College salary report
https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pay-you-back/bachelors
The top-paying and lowest-paying college majors: (October 18, 2016)
CBS NEWS
https://www.cbsnews.com/media/the-top-paying-and-lowest-paying-college-majors
More Hispanics, blacks enrolling in college, but lag in bachelor's degrees: (July 29, 2020)
Pew research center
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/more-hispanics-blacks-enrolling-in-college-b
ut-lag-in-bachelors-degrees
How Diverse is American University?(October 11, 2020)
College factual
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/american-university/student-life/diversity
