Bachelor Degrees for High School Graduate Student - Assignment Example

Bachelor degrees is not the best choice for high school graduate Introduction Most parents and students today still abide to the traditional career route of admission to elementary school, followed by high school, and finally college or university (Watson n.p). The form of learning involved in this educational system is a straight line and because of its efficiency in the past, few or no parents or high school graduates question it. In the end, most high school graduates end up struggling for spaces in universities and colleges while some go for vocational education. However, the new generation of high school graduates is welcome in a world where college tuitions are high and high rates of college graduates’ unemployment and under employment. According to Vedder (n.p), rising college education prices are attributed to variations in college policies, and distortions on student financial assistance programs. The consequence is that only those who can afford the high prices attend college while some of the remaining opts for two-year vocational education, which is cheaper and quicker, thereby offering the students the opportunity to engage into work earlier. In this section, employment and employment rates are analyzed by comparing college graduates and vocational studies or two-year college students (Couch n.p). The perspective of this section is that student graduating from two-year college education is the better option for graduate students compared to college degree in terms of employment. Two-year College graduates A major advantage of two-year college education compared to college degree is that it is faster and easy to partake. This is advantageous for the students since they do not have to wait for four years prior to getting into the job market (Hamm n.p). Consequently, the two additional years spent by four-year college graduates deny them additional years in their careers. Besides being faster to undertake, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (n.p) rates two-year college education as responsible for the fastest growing occupations in 2012 and projected that it will have the highest occupations growth by 2022. Figure 1 below indicates the statistics. Figure 1: fastest growing occupations as of 2012 From the table, the fastest growing occupations do not require a four-year or advanced college degree yet the payment are to some extent higher that the average salary for four-year College graduates (Hamm n.p). Davidson (n.p) reveals that the trend of faster growth in mid-skill jobs can be attributed to the fact that the jobs that had been shed off during the recession period are slowly getting back to the market. Additionally, the increasing demand for such skills could be a sign of permanent growth (Riley xi). Some of the highly demanded occupations include X-ray technicians, air and heating conditioning technicians, and specialists in medical records among others. Goodridge-White and Richardson (3-5), reveal that the noticeable increment in mid skills jobs is because jobs requiring bachelors’ degrees have for long been linked with higher income and higher employment rates hence negligible consideration for mid skills jobs. With the recession, majority of the workers with low-skills were laid off leaving high skill workers. However, economic recovery is paving way for low to middle level managers and employees and their demand is reflected in the high number of community college graduates being employed to seal the gaps created by advancing recovery (Davidson). Besides being the fastest growing occupations, the mid skills occupations only require a student to posses community college education (Henderson n.p). Unlike the four-year colleges where education prices are very high, community colleges are low and affordable. In this case, students do not need student loans to boost their school fees. Consequently, two-college graduates have no student loan debts by the time they complete their college education (Twombly and Townsend 110-112). Figure 2 below summarizes the average tuition and fees as incurred by sector. This is advantageous given that graduates have no debts to prevent them from using their finances to advance their education while still working (Levin and Kater 28). Further, community college education has lower grade benchmarks compared to four-year college education. In this case, average performing students are eligible to participate and this makes them more attractive than four-year degree courses (Baum, Little and Payea 1-2). In addition, joining a community college is bound by less stringent measures that together with low prices, and geographical proximity makes them offer higher education to many who could not have accessed public four-year education. Figure 2: The average tuition and fees in various sectors in 2010-2011 In addition, managers in some organizations reveal that compared to four-year College graduates, two-year College graduates are easy to train. Consequently, this makes it possible to grab opportunities for organizational growth and expansion (Davidson n.p). Ease of training is facilitated by the fact that two-year college graduates normally have and offer more practical and applicability value compared to four-year graduates. Practicability also makes mid skills graduates open to numerous related career paths and this way it is possible to switch to another area of interest instead of dropping from school (Johnson n.p). According to America Association of Community Colleges (2-5), the number of students successfully graduating from community colleges have dropped over the last 22 years unlike the 37.8% graduate within four years for four-year colleges as of 2010 (College Completion Chronicle 1). Although the initial salaries for the mid skills graduates is low initially (simplyhired 1) $42,000, it is subject to changes due to factors like experience, industry, location, and benefits. Additionally, the fact that trade workers begin working two years early gives them an upper hand in terms of job experience and this contributes greatly in salary variations. With time, the difference between mid skills and four-year college graduate is small. Bachelor’s degree graduates According to Yen (n.p), the absorption of college graduates into the work market in the United States has been hampered by poor labor market. This is attributed to the fact that about half of college graduates remain jobless or are in jobs where they are underemployed. Under employment results to little or no utilization of the skills that one posses and but with high rates of unemployment amongst college graduates, taking low paying jobs is the best option available. Based on the findings by Vedder (n.p), college graduates in America have increased beyond the country’s current supply of employment opportunities in demand of their degree qualifications. Consequently, college graduate students end up seeking alternative employment in manual labor market. For college graduates, the four-year education that seems to offer automatically higher income upon completion is becoming the source of low wage jobs for graduate across all fields (The Economist n.p). According to The Economist (n.p), arts and humanities graduates are the worst hit by unemployment especially if the degree is from a less rigorous college. However, the engineering and other courses that would be considered better are also not ready to offer job opportunities for college graduates despite their having vacant positions. Stych (n.p), reveals that, manufacturers complain for lack of efficiently skilled graduate to fill the vacant position in their firms. This was evident from the findings of a Minnesota Skills Gap Survey in 2011 that revealed about 45% of manufacturers complaining of skills shortage especially for engineers and scientists. According to Black (n.p) revealed that, in order to fill the skills’ gap in Minnesota manufacturing sector, the state required additional young people with interest and passion in manufacturing. In addition, for the underutilized employed population, more training was essential particularly among Latin Americans, African Americans, and disabled workers among other immigrants. With unemployment and underemployment on the rise, college education is resulting to additional cost as graduates seek further training to get their career back on track (Reuters n.p). Such additional training cost contributes to the heavy debts accumulated by the student in the course of college years. In order to obtain money to pay for the additional training, some college students take up part-time positions that pay poorly while others end up in jobs that do not require any college degree to accomplish successfully. The result is that underemployed and unemployed college graduates become frustrated and regretting having studied the degrees they have while they could have done better with a different major (Reuters). For such graduates, career progression is only possible if they go back to college for a different course or they take additional courses to improve their skills and make them more suitable for better jobs. Conversely, some college graduates are said to be in jobs that they are over educated. In this case, the college graduate works is jobs like serving coffee or bike messenger, which they have to be patient in order to be able to pay their student loans (Jordan n.p). Based on evidence from Kurtzleben (n.p), the graduates leaving college in 2012 had a student loan debt of $29,400 and this figure has increased by about 6% within four years. However, the government’s current minimum wage is 7.25$ per hour for all states excluding about 19 states and the District of Colombia where the enacted minimum wage per hour is higher as shown in figure 4. Figure 3 below shows a summary of the number of graduates taking minimum wage jobs as of 2012. Although it may be common for graduates to take a while prior to proceeding with their career path, over qualified graduates may take longer to take career paths that match their education given factors like market congestion with graduates in their major. Figure 3: employed wage and salary paid hourly rates with earnings at or lower than the 2012 federal minimum wage by educational attainment, 2012 annual averages. Source: (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (n.p), the figures indicate an increase in the number of college graduates in lower paying jobs compared to same data two decades ago. This increase is not easily accountable with speculations revealing that this could be because of structural modifications within the labor market, or jobless recoveries arising from two recessions in the 2000s decade. With the unemployment, underemployment, and over qualifications for jobs, college degree is not a guarantee to high-income job. Figure 4: States with higher minimum wages than the federal standard. (Desilver n.p) With the number of college graduates increasingly becoming employed, underemployed, or over qualified for their jobs, only 19 states offer commendable wages to assist the students in paying their student loan debts and meet other necessities. Conclusion This paper does not oppose four-year degree. On the contrary, the paper presents a strong case for an option that would be beneficial to current generation high school graduates in overcoming current unemployment rates. The paper presents numerous advantages of pursing a two-year course after high school while providing one with valid practical skills necessary for the work environment. In addition, trade school graduates have room for advancing their education given that they are working early, have no school loan debts, and do not have to settle for low paying jobs since they are in high demand. Works Cited America Association of Community Colleges. 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New York: New York University press, 2008. Hamm, Trent. Trade School Might Be a Better Choice Than College. Heres Why. 16 December 2013. 26 August 2014. . Henderson, Maureen, J. Forget Four More Years: Why Community College Could Be Your Ticket To Financial Success. 12 December 2012. Forbes. 26 August 2014. . Johnson, Lacey. Completion Rates Outpace Growth in Community-College Enrollment, Report Says. 5 October 2011. 26 August 2014. . Jordan, Weissmann. How Bad Is the Job Market for the College Class of 2014? 8 May 2014. 26 August 2014. . Kurtzleben, Danielle. Twice as Many College Grads in Minimum Wage Jobs as 5 Years Ago. 5 December 2013. 26 August 2014. . Levin, John, S and Susan Kater. Understanding Community Colleges. United States: Routledge, 2012. Reuters. Recent U.S. college graduates disillusioned, more than 40% unemployed: poll. 30 April 2013. 26 August 2014. . Riley, Rowan. Top careers in two years : hospitality, human services, and tourism. New York: Ferguson, 2007. simplyhired. Average Trade School Salaries. 2014. 26 August 2014. . Stych, Ed. MN manufacturers: Not enough skilled workers to fill jobs. 24 October 2011. 26 August 2014. . The Economist. Higher Education: Is college worth it? 5 April 2014. 26 August 2014. . Twombly, Susan, B and Barbara, K Townsend. Community colleges : policy in the future context. WestPort, Connecticut: Ablex Pub. Corp, 2000. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012. 26 February 2013. 26 August 2014. . —. Fastest growing occupations. 19 December 2013. 26 August 2014. . Vedder, Richard. The College-Graduate Glut: Evidence From Labor Markets. 11 July 2012. 26 August 2014. . Watson, Bruce. Why College May Not Be the Best Choice for Your Education Dollar. 9 August 2012. 26 August 2014. . Yen, Hope. 1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed. 23 April 2012. Yahoo.com. 26 August 2014. . Read More