Summary: Is A College Degree Worth The Money?

Neil Boris
Dr. Coyle
English 101
October 8, 2014
Is a College Degree Worth the Money? Enrolling in college opens up the door for you to receive a higher education in pursuit of a good job and brighter future. Gaining acceptance into college comes with many things, including an insurmountable amount of debt that will most likely take years after completion of a degree to pay off. With this debt, though, comes the fond memories often made during the career of a college student. Many believe that the only way to attain a “good” job with great monetary, health, and employee benefits is through receiving a piece of paper stating you completed four years of education on a specific topic. In certain fields, such as the medical industry, this is
A college degree is a monument to the years of hard work and dedication necessary to attain it, and employers often view this monument as a sign of good character traits they seek in an employee. For example, if two equal applicants interview for a position, one having a college degree and the other a high school diploma, the employer will view the college graduate higher simply because of the hard work necessary to graduate college. College can be viewed as an opportunity for students to learn who they are as well; they are no longer under the daily supervision of their parents, and people tend to branch out of their comfort zones when this is true. Unemployment in America is a problem, and according to author Rodney K. Smith in his article, “Yes, a College Education is Worth the Costs” the percentage of people who are unemployed is much higher for those with only a high school diploma. (Smith 29) Statistically speaking, if you get a college degree, it is easier to find a job in the current economy. Points like these make attending college understandable, to
After years of working construction throughout my summer breaks in high school, I saw the world of blue-collar work for the first time. Although dealing with back-breaking work every day of the week was difficult, I saw the opportunities that could come out of a career in construction or other manual labor jobs. All of the foreman, supervisors, and even the owner from the company I worked for had no college education whatsoever and made triple-digit salaries. For people to state there is no money to be made with no college education is preposterous, those who are willing to work their hardest in order to achieve success can make it happen regardless of their education level. I believe a degree is obsolete if you are willing to work hard enough, because the same amount of effort put into the four years of school could have been used to begin a