Benefits Outweighs the Costs in College - Coursework Example

College Tuition: Benefits Outweighs the Costs The rising cost of higher education has left many students wondering whether it is realistic to invest in college education or not, considering the difficulties in securing a good occupation in the job market today. There is also an ongoing notion that college training has become commercialized where education providers are driven by a desire for profits rather than the quality of learning. No doubt, the Great Recession left the destroyed the labor market and most graduates today are unable to get a job. Others who are a little lucky land on jobs that rate below their level of education. Some students even feel that it is better to look for a job with high school degree because going to college is not worthwhile when one looks at the cost and ease of finding a job after college. A study by Pew Research Center revealed that 57% of Americans have the impression that college education fails to give students value for their investment on college education (Caumont 1). Nevertheless, it is evident that going to college benefits a person in terms of both earnings, and non-money related benefits such as skills and ability to interact with different people. Despite the high college costs and low salaries for college graduates, the average return on college investment is 15% for those with degrees, but a lower amount for those without. As the study by New York Federal Reserve explains, the average investment is beneficial for college graduates because the wages for individuals without college degrees have decreased steadily (Abel and Deitz 2). In turn, this enhances the college premium, but worsens the chances of people without college degrees. Additionally, the authors of the report note, “Despite the recent struggles of college graduates, investing in a college degree may be more important than ever before because those who fail to do so are falling further and further behind,” (Abel and Deitz 2). Falling behind in this case means wage disparity and joblessness by the level of education. For instance, in May, the unemployment rate for people just reached high school level was 6.5% while that of college graduates was 3.2%. At the same time, the national rate of unemployment was 6.3%, which is very close to the unemployment rate among people without college degrees. As these statistics show, college graduates are at a better position when it comes to joblessness, which reveals that at the end of the day, they get value for their college investments. Furthermore, people with college degrees stand a better chance of keeping their jobs during hard times in the labor market such as the recession. A study shows that the majority of post-recession jobs require college degrees, which means that most people with high school degrees would be locked out of the labor market. Additionally, according to the Pew Research Center report, the “big payoff” for a college degree investment in not so much in incomes, but in the ability to secure and keep jobs (Pew Research Center 15). Hence, this explanation asserts that benefits of college degree should not only be looked at in terms of monetary returns, but also with regard to non-financial related parameters such as the ability to keep a job during recession. The benefits that a person gets from college education can also be measured in terms of health. Consequently, those who chose to go to college instead of halting their learning after high school have better health than those with high school degrees (Weiner 3). Additionally, they have stable marriages and their children are in better health than those with less education. Furthermore, several college graduates say that going through college education enabled them to grow intellectually and develop into a mature person. College also provides a place of exploration for a lot of people who do not know what to do with their lives. At the end of the day, one can find what interests them, and thus, build a great career. Finally, there are certain things that an individual can only acquire in college such as building confidence, interaction with people from various backgrounds, and acquiring skills that that can help one when looking for a job. Therefore, the benefit of attaining a college degree is not whether the investment gives a financial benefit, but the overall net benefit. The growth in education-wage gap also shows that the benefits of attending college outweigh the costs. In a study conducted among Americans aged 25 to 32 college graduates, it was found out that the group earned an average of $17,500 more annually than those without college degrees, but falling in the same age bracket. While this was in 2012, in 1979, the same group made $9,690, which reveals a massive growth in education-wage gap over the years. Another benefit of the college degree according to Abel and Deitz in New York Federal Reserve is that it provides a foundation for postgraduate degrees (4). Thus, people without college degrees are unable to join postgraduate degrees and further their studies. Additionally, college education offers unquantifiable benefits such as skills and aptitude among other elements that students gain while learning making them different from those who do not attain a college degree. When comparing the benefits and the overall costs of investing in college education to determine the wage premium, Abel and Deitz uncovered that for a bachelor’s degree course, the yearly cost of tuition and fees has more than tripled from $4,600 in 1970s to $15,000 in 2013 (5). Referred to as the “sticker price,” college tuition and fees that the students pay is lower considering that some amounts come from student aids, grants, and tax benefits, which they do not have to pay back. Based on this reasoning, students end up paying less for college education despite the tripling of the cost of attending college over the years. Despite joining the workforce late and foregoing “opportunity costs”, bachelor degree holders end up making a lot of money in the long run than people with just high school degrees. For instance, the New York Federal Reserve report indicates that individuals with bachelor’s degree end up making $1 million higher than what a person with high school degrees earns (Abel and Deitz 4). Similarly, those with associate degrees earn $325,000 more that people with less education. Finally, college majors also make a difference on the value that one gets on their return on investment for college education. For example, majoring in technical fields such as engineering and mathematics attracts average returns of 21% and 18% respectively (Peralta 2). On the other hand, majoring in art fields earn returns that fall between 11% and 9%. College education costs more in the United States as compared to other countries. Studying in US requires $116,233 for college tuition, $122, 555 in the UK, and $78,989 in South Korea, which reveals the disparities in costs of education (Taylor 3). Despite this difference, the return on investment in America is big. In addition, in some countries college education if free, for example, in Germany students are not required to pay the tuition fee for higher education. The difference in education policies and the number of students is the reason education is free in some countries and expensive in others. For instance, in the United States, there are many students thus making higher education free would not be feasible within its budget. In Germany, the population is relatively low thus the budget can comfortably support free college education, are described in the country’s education policy. However, other people believe that the education in America is free for nothing, as it does not give the expected return on investments. Moreover, it is no longer required for one to have a college degree in order to get a job. Among people who dropped out of college and are currently multimillionaires in America today are Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg (Weiner 7). Therefore, many people think that one does not necessarily need to go to college to become successful. Furthermore, the cost of education has risen beyond the financial capabilities of most Americans, yet the value of education has remained the same if not gone down. Another reason why people argue that costs of college degree outweighs the benefits is that a good number of college graduates are working jobs that require less expertise that what they possess, or unrelated to their professions (Weiner 5). Nevertheless, all these might hold, but they account for a smaller percentage of the population. The truth is that the benefits of college education are not only monetary, but comprise a number of factors, which at the end of the day, favors college graduates. In conclusion, college education has become controversial, as many people do not realize immediate benefits as expected. Some parents sacrifice to finance their children’s education so that they can finish, get a job, and return the investment through earnings. Shock on them when three years down the line after the child finishing college they do not have a job, or have one that can barely support the family. Naturally, they would feel that their investment in education was not worthwhile. Nevertheless, as demonstrated in this paper, return on investment does not come immediately, and it involves a number of parameters, not only financial earnings. Evaluation of these parameters such as the chances of getting and retaining a job, average return on investment, rate of unemployment, and unquantifiable factors such as skills, health, family stability, maturity, and aptitude level reveals that the benefits of college education outweighs the costs. Works Cited Read More