The Value Of College

Within the past decades the price of college has risen substantially, but the amount of students that are attending college seems to also unexpectedly keep rising. Due to greater attendance and higher costs of college the issue of whether it is worth it has emerged within public debate. Whether or not college is worth the cost should not be in question as the benefits of going to college heavily outweigh the drawbacks. Critics argue that college is not worth the cost, because a portion of the population cannot afford it, but that argument does not weaken the value of college. Those who cannot afford the cost of going to college should simply not go as the financial burden can be devastating to a family economically, but that does not diminish
The annual rate of return when inflation is adjusted for, is fifteen percent for college, compared to stocks which is seven percent return and real estate gives just under one percent (source D). The annual rate of return being fifteen percent displays that financially college is always worth the cost when compared to other investments, as those considered safe investments do not compare to college. The huge margin difference in rate of return is no exaggeration of the value of college, as the numbers prove that college pays back more than twice what stocks would. Other statistics include the fact that In 2010 full time workers with bachelor’s degrees made eighty three percent more than those with a high school diploma (source D). With such a dramatic difference in salaries it would be foolish for anyone to believe that college is not worth the cost as three decades before this the salary difference was only forty percent. A dramatic increase in salary in thirty years implies that in the future the salary gap will most likely continue to grow, creating an even greater incentive for people to go to college. Critics may argue that college is not worth it for those who are looking for jobs that do not require degrees such as construction workers, police officers, plumbers etc… but a degree still helps those fields dramatically. Those with the previously stated jobs with degrees
Individuals have been statistically proven to benefit greatly in terms of their financial and personal lives. Society has also reaped its benefits from colleges as they have nurtured students who have innovated in different fields and industries. Critics may argue that true innovators of the world do not need colleges to become agents of change which is true, but only for a small group of people that are the elite of society. Peter Thiel created a fellowship to try and pay talented students to quit school and develop business ideas for him as he believes that colleges do not lead to innovation. Thiel’s advice to leave school and develop a business is applicable only to a tiny fraction of students and that Thiel’s own success, aided by business relationships forged during his days at stanford, argues against leaving school (source E). The students that Thiel offered the money to were able to innovate without college, but that is because they were the elite of society unlike the majority. The majority of the population that have the ability to innovate must first go to college. Colleges allows society to progress faster and become more efficient with advancing technology which makes it absolutely worth the cost regardless of