Blog Sixteen - College Education
As an increasing number of students have begun to attend college over the past few decades, a rising number also seems to be indecisive about whether to go to college or not. There are many reasons cited for why students may not desire to go to college. For example, wanting to explore trades that will not be benefitted by going to college, or because of family obligations. Nevertheless, college attendance has reached an all-time high, with around 61.2% of students enrolling in some sort of education after high school.
This also leads to more normalization of requiring degrees for jobs, with the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Work Force predicting that by 2031, 72% percent of positions will be requiring at least a Bachelor’s degree. On June 28, 1970, however, the New York Times published an article titled “U.S. Predicts 80% of Jobs Won't Require Degree” about labor force participation, one section even going into more detail about how many of the new jobs would not need to require college degrees, as valid work experience would be more useful in employers’ eyes. So, college education clearly became more important over time. Still, the idea that this article needed to be written meant that the idea of college being important for careers was prominent even half a century ago.
Many say that this indicates a step toward more people in society having a higher-skilled and likely higher-paying job. After all, this means that overall, people will have higher levels of education and be well-equipped for more technical jobs. As reported in a study by the Public Policy Institute of California, those who attended college tend to have higher labor force participation rates, and the jobs that they get are more likely to have extra benefits besides pay, including vacations and health insurance.
Yet, some say that this underestimates the value of work experience compared to a diploma and formal education. A survey done by the Pew Research Center found that around one-third of Americans who did not have a college degree had an experience where they did not apply for a job they felt they were qualified for because the job listed a Bachelor’s degree requirement. The value of a college degree seems to far surpass the actual education or skills received from a formal education.
And college simply isn’t a viable option for many. One of the strongest arguments against going to college is the debt, especially for pathways that are heavier and require more years, two of the most common examples of this being the law school and medical pathways. Even with financial aid, which 83.8% percent of first-time graduates receive in some form, as reported by research analyst Melanie Hanson, the opportunity cost of college rather than going into the workforce right after high school may be too great. The average debt of a college graduate who took out student loans is around $30,000, as stated by US News and World Report. It is well-known that college in the US can be exceptionally costly, and this makes many students reconsider getting a higher education even if it is something that interests them.
Especially when students do not end up using the career doors that the degree unlocks for them; with a growing number of students entering college, many say that the value of a degree in a career process is declining. As reported by the Department of Labor in 2012, approximately one in three graduate students worked in a job that did not require a high school degree, so the career opportunities that the degree was meant to bring turned out to not be helpful for those students. However, they still spent a lot of time, resources, and money on that degree, leading many to be disappointed.
However, most educators agree that all high school students have different paths, and many of those paths do not require a college education to be successful. Whether students decide to attend college or not, it is the responsibility of the education system to let them know about their options and make sure that they are allowed to go into whatever path they would like without unnecessary obstacles. College is not just an institution. It is a life-changing decision. So, as students progress in their education journeys, they should be well informed on the pros and cons of this decision.
