Is College Worth The Cost?

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The knowledge being a vital factor for separating us from the other species in this world is what makes us a superior kind. Abilities like diversified reasoning, curiosity, imagination are the driving factor fueled by the learning materials(either theoretical or practical). Different institutions like universities, schools are the ones which provide learning material and technique. Most of the students, after finishing their high-schools joins colleges for higher education picking up the major fields that they are passionate about. But paving the path for their future comes with the price or we can say the cost it incorporates. The cost for the college not only define the money invested but also summon up investment that they are doing for their future selecting the career path and also the stress that they are taking for picking up a perfect college.
So can these strands of cost for the college interpret its worthiness?

After completing the college and having a degree does not always mean a satisfactory earning and a good return on investment. After high school, students look for the perfect major that they want to study on which they are passionate about. But are these subjects that they choose, a right choice? Generally not, because from the survey done by PayScale, a researching firm implies that the degree defines the rate of the financial return. Hard subjects like engineering provide more rate of return than that of other subjects like philosophy, arts and humanities. According to The Economist, an engineering graduate of the University of California, Berkeley can expect the earning of at least 500000 USD as 20 years of return. While an art graduate from the University of Kentucky can expect the earning of 147000 USD as 20 years of return after deducting the cost of education. Not only the degree defines the return but also the college you studied from also affect your earning. Students take loans for their higher studies aiming that they would be finding a good job so that they could pay off their debt easily and live their future life as they have dreamed. But the harsh truth is that it is the return on the investment that you do may or may not be as satisfactory as you wish it to be.

While diving deep into the topic the question also arise that does the person who works full time from their age of eighteen can earn more than the college graduate? There are many examples of persons who have been leading the successful life without going to college and without having the degree. Example like Ellen DeGeneres who is a successful celebrity hosting the show called The Ellen Show having the net worth of 77 million USD had dropped out from the University of New Orleans. Similarly, David Geffen, co-founder of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. with the net worth of 8.5 billion USD is also the drop out from the University of Texas at Austin. These people show us that without the college degree one can be successful. But this is not always true, most of the entrepreneurs of age 18 fail because they do not have what it takes to start and run a business. Due to the lack of experience, judgment capabilities and guidance these entrepreneurs could not take right step at right time. According to the data given by Economic research of Federal Bank of St. Louis, the unemployment rate of college graduates is much less than that of high school graduates. J.P Morgan Asset Management states that the unemployment rate of the college graduate is less than 3.5% while that of the high school graduate is 4.4% in America. It also the fact that employer of the big companies or firms asks for the college degree to be considered for a position in the company. Many 18 years old think that why to go to college? Instead, let go straight to the working world saving the tuition fee and earning some more. By no means, I am discouraging young entrepreneurs who have great ideas and unique views about the world and to make it a better place. But the responsibilities that come with the business are heavy. But I am suggesting that use of the knowledge and experience that they would get after they gain the maturity after they learn something from the college and only then they can tackle the gruesome world.

The cost of the college does not only encompasses the earning that they will make in future but also the decision that they take what they want to be in life and how their life would turn up. When 18 years old think that they want to be a writer, an astronaut, an engineer etc…. they are imagining their future full of hope and happiness with what they want to become, let alone paving their path of life towards a successful destination. But many fail to recognize their interest and lead to the wrong path due to the lack of guidance and understanding about the course that they are taking as their major. The study done in 2012 at Rutgers University, reported that 37 percent of recent graduates say that they wish they had been more careful about selecting their major or wish they had selected different major. Carefully choosing what I want to become? and what are the circumstances that I would go through achieving that dream? should be known before following that dream then only we can say we are investing in the right dream that we have imagined.

Defining the worthiness of getting the college study cannot be established as true or false because it is perspective that you perceive on your own understanding and reasoning terms. People can debate on this issue but cannot converge to an accurate answer because both answers have equally proven by the living examples as stated above. Making the question “Is College Worth the Cost?” As an ambiguous question

References:

<sup>1. Project, The OpEd. “The Big Decision I Don't Want To Be Pressured Into Making.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Feb. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/the-oped-project-/choosewisely-the-stress-_b_4433747.html.
2. McKenna, Laura. “The Unnecessarily Mysterious Cost of College.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Sept. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/09/the-unnecessarily-mysteriouscost-of-college/502403/.
3. “Is College Worth It?” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 5 Apr. 2014, www.economist.com/news/united-states/21600131-too-many-degrees-are-waste-moneyreturn-higher-education-would-be-much-better.
4. “David Geffen.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, www.forbes.com/profile/david-geffen/.
5. Carlson, Ben. “Is College Worth the Cost?” A Wealth of Common Sense, awealthofcommonsense.com/2018/04/is-college-worth-the-cost/.
6. “Unemployment Rate: College Graduates: Bachelor's Degree and Higher, 25 Years and Over.” FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 4 May 2018, fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU04027662.</sup>