Four Year College Degree Analysis

A four year college degree is important because of the environment we live in. Having a college degree in my perspective means success and prestige in terms of getting a job because of the competitive nature of our society. A college degree is like a certificate that one must obtain to be eligible for a certain job position. For example, if someone wants to work in a restaurant, they would want to have on-the-job experience or a food handler’s certificate to give them an edge above other applicants. This way there are more opportunities to explore. The same thing applies to obtaining a degree in the field that you are interested in. College to me at this moment is an adventure. Because I am still a high school student, I have the
And many of those who took out loans will drop out of college stated in the article by The Economist: “It does not help that nearly a third of those who take out such loans eventually drop out of college; they must still repay their debts” (Is College Worth It). This statistic means that students will have a huge burden of debts when they drop out of college. Without their degrees, they will have a hard time paying back their loans. Students would be better off if they had applied for a job after high school. Also, a survey states that: “… only half of graduates feel prepared for a job in their field, and only 39% of managers feel that students are ready for the workforce” (Is College Worth It). This shows that even though they have a degree for their field many of them are not ready for the real world. They need more on hand experiences and even possibly part time jobs to get them to be used to the working experiences. According to an article, “Well-Prepared in Their Own Eyes” by Scott Jaschik, employers prefers well rounded employees even if they have a degree in their field. Employers felt more confident in their skills if they had real world work experiences and not just lectures from colleges. Because managers think recent graduates lack the skills they need, it means they will have a hard time
According to Is college worth it? published by The Economist, “Some degrees pay for themselves; others don’t.” Even though some degrees have a lower return compared to the cost of the degree it is still worth it. Enjoying something you love is better than doing something that you have no interest in. However, paying off the student debt will be problematic. Having information that help makes informed choices of the degree will be beneficial in the future and can be better off when students graduate from college because they would know which pathway is open for them and how it will help pay off their debt. As some degree such as engineering are more valuable and useful compared to art and history, having an engineering degree can earn and pay off their debt faster than art and history. At the same time they will also have a better living condition to start off with because of the higher salary comparison stated in an analysis by Economic Policy Institute: “American with four-year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree” (Is college Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say). The statistic shows that with such big pay gap between having a degree and without a degree means that there are still a lot of employment options that require a college degree in the market. Otherwise there will not be such a high demand of college degree graduates compared to non-college degree graduates