Preview

Is a College a Good Investment?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
738 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is a College a Good Investment?
Is a College Education a Good Investment? Every spring, some high school seniors and their parents are anxious about college admission decision letter. Those students want to know where they will be for college. The other high school students aren’t going to college. They are trying to find jobs. People make different decisions, but is a college education a good investment? As we can see, many people are trying to get in college, and their salaries are more than who didn’t go to college. The returns from having a college education are worth the time and money investments.
There are many benefits if one decides not to get a college degree. You can get a job to make money. Jobs can give you professional networking opportunities and working experience, and an early exposure to skills you need to survive in a competitive market. With the money you make, you have more monetary resources to enjoy life. If one decides to go to college, there are a lot of sacrifices. You not only need to pay for college-related fees and spend years completing your college education but also miss job opportunities and the monetary rewards from working. On average, a high school graduate’s annual salary is $33,000. Assume your college education takes 4 years to complete with the tuition of $12,000/year, there is a balance of $45,000 difference per year, which totals to a $180,000 during your college education years!
Of course, there are plenty of benefits by not going college. However, obtaining a college education opens many doors of opportunities for you. Generally, a job with higher pay requires a college degree. On average, a person with a college degree has the starting salary of $46,000. That is $13,000 more than a high school graduate every year. Going through college helps you gain knowledge. This knowledge can help you prepare for future work. For example, if you are a pharmacist, you need to know whether adding chemicals to new medicines will affect the human body.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    College Degree Values

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A big bonus in going to college is the end results, which is making more money as a graduate. Everybody wants money and everybody needs it. Students out of college who have earned their degree have a higher chance of getting a higher salary than a student with just a high school diploma or G.E.D. As the years go on a high school diploma will be worth less and…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The article “The Return of the Overeducated American?” by William R. Doyle shows the two sides of the argument on the topic if college is worth the cost. The labor market data confirms that individuals with higher level of education earn more even if its the same occupation as the high school graduates. According to Doyle, students with a higher education develop intellectual and communication skills which benefits them because they are able to become managers of businesses. College graduates also have greater potential for promotions which increases their income allowing them to provide a better lifestyle for themselves and their family. Individuals work their way up within most fields because higher positions are more well paid. On the other…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to College Board, higher earning potential is number one when it comes to benefits of going to college. "The median earnings of bachelor 's degree recipients working full-time year-round in 2008 were $55,700." (Hardy) A lot of current college students say that college is not worth the money, but they are still in college because they know without some type of degree it is going to be difficult to be financially stable and career ready but along with that they will learn some sort of responsibility.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, after examining the advantages and disadvantages of a college education as it relates to student loan debt, it is very clear that there are more benefits of a college degree over the course of a lifetime; however, without the proper planning, it may not be for those who have incurred tremendous debt. Additionally, student’s ability, major, and lifetime expected earnings are significant when weighting the investment. The return on the investment has been well-documented in prior research. I agree that there are numerous benefits of earning a college degree due to my own educational background.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The benefits of college degree is to get a rewarding career and better pay with a college degree helps to get a degree in your field get a job that is exciting to go everyday and enjoy what you are doing. College is hard, but at the end of school it makes it worth every minute that you have accomplish something that…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is College Worth Anything

    • 846 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The reason why colleges and university are worth the four plus years and the high cost of tuition is because of the amount of money you can make afterwards. An article written by Catherine Rampell can help you see the advantages of receiving a degree from an institution. She showed that of the American earning more than $150,000, 82 percent of them carried a bachelor’s degree. Only 6.5 percent of those Americans who earned at least $150,000 did not receive a high school diploma and around 7 percent did have a diploma. This illustrates the need for more people to go to college to receive a degree because it will get them a job that will increase their income by 20 to 30 thousand dollars. In the long run, this can affect your standard of living. With that extra cash you would be making, you can pay off your college debt which a lot of people are saying is out of control and one of the reasons college is not worth it. The bigger picture is that you can pay off the college debt in the first five years and then use that money to pay for a new car or a bigger house. This is the reason why the standards of living will increase.…

    • 846 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The main reason is you naturally make more money than someone with just a high school degree. According to Cheatsheet.com, a college graduates average salary is $46,000 but the average salary for someone with just a high school diploma is $32,000. Taking 4 more years to become an expert in that specific profession can give you more money. Plus you're not learning the whole time, College Parties are also fun.…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First, college education is important because you make more money. College graduates make 415$ more a week than those who highest level of education is a diploma. 2.4% the unemployment rate for workers with a professional degree was also the lowest of any education level. So going to college can help you financially even though college is expensive.…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is college worth it? Well, in my opinion, college for me is not even a goal, but a dream in my eyes. The advantages of a college degree in the job market today are pretty much priceless. I can go to college and look forward to the endless possibilities of my future. According to Lucie Lapovsky an economist for strategic financial issues, over 62% of high school graduates can’t afford college. Even though college could be expensive, I think happiness overcomes price. After graduating, I can focus on a certain direction and change career paths when needed. A college degree can also get me educated and prepared for the career path I will choose in the future. Even though my family isn’t rich, I can afford college by applying for financial aid…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The second reason why I think that college could benefit you more than not going to college is because of health and happiness. Another statement made by Susan J. Demas on the website eduguides.org is states “. Those with college degrees have better health, exercise more, and smoke less. This is related to the fact that their employers are likelier to offer better health plans and perks like gym memberships.” This clearly states that people with college degrees are more likely to be healthier and more likely to be offered better health benefits meaning they are more likely to stay…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The key to understand the value of an education is looking at it over a long period of time. Studies have shown that people who have obtained a college degree of some sort will earn an average of 74 percent more than someone who hasn’t. According to the Census Bureau, a college graduate earned $57,181 in 2007, while the average high-school graduate earned just…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although there will be student loans to pay off afterwards, with a college degree, my standard of living will be better in the short and long term because of the copious pay. In the short term, I will begin with a higher pay than I would if I had not received a college degree. Furthermore, my college education will have allowed me to earn a greater amount of money, which will enable me to live more comfortably and have additional money to save or spend in the long run. Being able…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people agree to disagree on college. There are plenty of people who do not attend college, and they find their way to the top. College gives you the extended learning skills that employers will look for when you're finding a job. The authors repeatedly express several statistics, including, “14 percent of people with a high school diploma make at least as much as those with a bachelor’s degree, and 17 percent of people with a bachelor’s degree make more than those with a professional degree.” This statistic also all depends on the major you want to pursue your career in. The choices a student makes about his or her field of study and later in a job can have a substantial impact on what he or she gets out of her degree…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Cost of College

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Others think that the cost of college should not be a problem because it is worth it. Going to college means that graduates will be able to get a better paying job than they could without a degree. Having a better job will eventually allow graduates to pay off loans and thrive in the real world. People who have a Doctorate or Professional degree earn between $120,000 and $150,000 per year. People who have a Masters or Bachelor’s degree earn between $80,000 and $95,000 per year. People with only a high school education only earn about $45,000, and people with less than a high school education only earn about $30,000. It is important to have a job that will pay enough to live a good life and even support a family. Even though the cost of a college education is ridiculously high, it is completely worth it. Getting a college education and having better job opportunities to get a well-paying job helps people in many ways throughout their lives (Luhby).…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    You will build a career for the rest of your life is reason enough to make time for a college education. In addition to the skills and knowledge acquired from the college will help to perform well at the workplace. A college degree also leads to greater job stability. High school education is only the entry level for a college. However, college is more expensive. The cost of tuition is very high comparing with a high school. More students are not actually able to afford with college fees.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays