Colleges Contribution to Higher Income and Happiness - Essay Example

March 6, Why College Matters: College’s Contribution to Higher Income and Happiness Life is hard, but it is harder without a college degree- not to Caroline Bird though. During the 1970s, Bird wrote several essays where she argues that college wastes people’s time and money in “College is a Waste of Time and Money” and “The Case against College.” For these two essays, her main arguments are the same: College is worthless because college cannot make the youth better people since they are already good people to begin with and because other people and experiences can help them become better people; college does not provide practical knowledge and skills required in having a good life after graduation; colleges are no longer relevant and motivating; and college does not provide enough preparation for vocational employment. I agree with Bird that college is a waste of time and money, if students only went there because of social pressures and economic opportunities, if they become burdened with college debt, and if they pursue a course they think they can get out of self-studying, but college can actually make the youth happy if it becomes their ticket to higher income and a more fulfilled life. College wastes time and money if students only pursue it because of social pressures. It is a waste of time because students go to college simply because adults, especially their parents said so. Bird talks about some of the reasons that the youth go to college, because “adults—parents, employers, high school counselors—began to push, shove and cajole youngsters to ‘get an education’” (“College” 1). In other words, they are in college because of societal pressure, not their own personal motivation. Indeed, if this is the case, then students are truly wasting their time. They are doing something they do not like, something that may even be opposite of what want to be doing, such as pursuing medicine because they came from a family of doctors, when they would rather be social workers or dancers. Another source of social pressure is the college system. Bird calls it the “Institution” that has become a social norm, where “the burden of proof is not on why you go, but why anyone thinks there might be a reason for not going” (3). As an Institution, people expect the youth to go to college; otherwise, they would see the latter as bums or ingrates to the society that have given them the freedom to pursue “free” education. With this reason, the strongest pressure to go to college comes from social norms and expectations. Society expects young people to go to college, have an education, and to improve themselves in the process, mostly economically (Bird “College” 1). If people are in college because society says so, they will truly lack motivation and drop out. Sooner, if not later, they will realize that college has no meaning for them other than because of social pressures, and social pressures are not enough all the time. Beside social pressures that force the youth to go to college without personal motivation, college is a waste of time and money because there are not enough good-paying jobs for all college graduates and because there is a disconnection between college education and actual workplace skills and knowledge. In “The Case against College,” Bird stresses that many college graduates are stuck in low-paying jobs because of lack of work opportunities. Some college graduates sell shows or drive taxis, instead of applying their learning because there are simply not enough jobs for all college graduates (Bird “The Case” 179). Certainly, many college graduates do complain that they finished college for nothing because it is hard to find a job that is connected to their college education. Some become call center agents or salespeople instead, when they have finished Psychology or Anthropology. These are depressing examples that underline the uselessness of college education to the fulfillment of dreams. Furthermore, college wastes money if it does not provide practical knowledge and skills required in having a good life after graduation. Bird mentions studies where they found out that college is not quite similar to what they are doing in their real jobs, where “only one in five said the work they were doing bore a ‘very close relationship’ to their college studies, while almost a third saw ‘very little relationship at all’” (“College” 5). Some people share the same experience because they complain that they learned more from on-the-job-training or actual job experiences than from college. Considering these examples, college can be quite irrelevant to some extent and feel like people wasted their time and money. Apart from poor economic opportunities, college is wasteful if students become burdened with college debt that they can no longer enjoy their life after college, and if they feel that should have invested their money on better money-making tools. Bird provides a good example of costs-versus-benefits ratio when college expenses are transferred to investments instead. Bird learns that an investment provides “$528,200 more than the earnings of a male college graduate, and more than five times as much as the $199,000 extra the more educated man could expect to earn between 22 and 64” (“College” 3). When people think of investment-versus-college-education pros and cons, people can indeed make more money in investing their money, especially if they can earn while their money is invested. This is a much better option than going to college and collecting huge college debt that takes years to pay. If investments are better than college education, job experience and self-studying are better too. Bird says that some skills can be learned outside college better than inside it. She quotes Charles Lawrence, a communications major who became the producer of “Kennedy & Co.,” the Chicago morning television show, who says, “You have to learn all that stuff and you’ll never use it again. I learned my job doing it” (“College” 5). College becomes useless if students feel that they can do better learning the job firsthand through experience. With the advent of computers and the Internet, not to mention the existence of public libraries, that provide videos and information about diverse kinds of jobs and skills, college becomes unnecessary. For these skills and courses, self-studying and experience can give more crucial knowledge and capabilities to students than college education. However, these people who are complaining failed to ask themselves if college did not contribute to their jobs directly or indirectly. Would they have gotten a job position without their college degree? Would they have thought of their dreams, if they worked menial jobs instead of going to college? They might say that college education is unrelated to their jobs or did not prepare then quite fully for actual jobs, but did college not lead them to their jobs, like through giving them social contacts or even the mindset for these jobs? Sometimes, people forget these “invisible connections” between college and the work they do. They fail to recognize that college education has, in one way or another, had something to do with their success in existing jobs. Despite these shortcomings of a college education, it is argued that college can actually make one happy if it becomes their ticket to higher income. Bird shows that not all college courses result to high-income jobs, and even high school graduates can earn the same or nearly the same as college graduates (“College” 3). Presently, the so-called wage difference from Bird is not enough to explain why many college students do earn more than high-school graduates. Doubleday reports the findings of “Education Pays 2013: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society.” It states that, in 2011, male graduates earn more than 69 percent than high school graduates of the same age, while women earn 70 percent more (Doubleday). The report notes that earnings gap is narrowing, but it is still significant. College continues to provide an economic advantage to people. Force agrees with Doubleday using interviews from college educators. Force interviews Bart Merkle, dean of students at Grand Valley State University, who asserts that students benefit from a college education because it provides them “personal and professional growth and tools that can open doors’” (Force). It may not even be the college education itself that is useful to actual jobs, but it provides learning of values, attitudes, and behaviors that are part of these “personal and professional growth and tools” (Force). College still pays off better than not being in college, and for many people who wants the American Dream, that is a good enough motivator. Besides providing economic advantages, a college education can also lead to a more fulfilled life. Bird asserts that many college students are sad because they feel that they are not wanted. Bird says that “too many people” are already “in the world of the 1970s,” so it is acceptable to put kids in college “to get them out of the way” (2). Apart from population problems, Bird argues that the society does not want them because they force young adults to take courses that they do not truly want. These reasons are not valid for those who do feel happier because of college. They feel happier because college provided them the education and professional development they want (Force). They also feel happier because of the interactions and learning that helped them become better people (Force). College education itself may not be the source of happiness or feelings of success, though it is the case for some people who love knowledge for its own sake, but it can be a strong contributor to it. Bird is wrong to say that it is a place of sadness and broken dreams, when many college students are happy in it, and happier in graduating from it. College education is recommended for young adults who know how to manage finances enough to not be overwhelmed with college debt and who have relevant personal reasons to go to college. They must not go to college because of social pressures, but because they see its various functions in their life. They must go to college and maximize it, learning from it and the people they interact with because of it. Thus, if the youth have the determination to go to college, then go forth. Have a meaningful college life and a more meaningful post-college life. In other words, college is only for those who find it meaningful and who can make it meaningful for them after it. Works Cited Bird, Caroline. “College is a Waste of Time and Money.” 1975. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. . ---. “The Case Against College.” 1979. 179-182. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. . Doubleday, Justin. “Earnings Gap Narrows, but College Education Still Pays, Report Says.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. . Force, Krisy. “College Education, Happiness Level Are Related, Study Says.” Lanthorn 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. . Read More