Is Getting an Education in the US Worth the Trouble?
For those who cannot decide on whether they should go to college or not, we’ve compiled a list of pointers that examine the benefits and disadvantages of pursuing an education in the U.S.
Vavianne Bell
Listen to this article
Before that, for students who want to ease their burden and have too many tasks to handle at the very moment, try googling ‘pay someone to write my paper‘ and get pro help. You’ll find numerous services for writing, editing, and rewriting at affordable prices.
Moving on, here are our main arguments on college that will hopefully help students figure out their next move.
It Depends On Your Degree
Students need to think of college as an investment – what is your return on investment? If students have to get neck deep in debt and get loans that can sum up to hundreds and thousands of dollars without the guarantee of landing a good-paying job after, is your degree really worth it?
Expensive degrees and challenging majors like medicine, law, and engineering, usually pay out in the end, since students can start making good money once they find a job within their specializations (or go out in the job market). Moreover, it takes years to hone skills and accumulate knowledge for such difficult majors. In this case, college is worth going through.
For other degrees, students or people aspiring to go to college have to think if they’d be better off learning what they need online. They need to think if the cost of the degree is worth it, and so on. The internet is a blessed place, and there’s a lot you can do online to help shape your skillset.
In the long run, after you graduate, employers care about your work experience and surprisingly, not your grades. However, many jobs still require you to have a bachelor’s degree, but don’t make the mistake of focusing only on school and neglecting the future prospects of your career life – get an internship while in college.
Go If You Have a Reason to
Any endeavor worth putting energy and time into has to have a reason behind it. Getting an education and going to college without a reason is a sure-fire way to become quickly burnt out by it and disappointed by it.
Students need to think for themselves and understand what’s driving them to go to college since these factors will be what will motivate them (especially when times are challenging).
Tuition Fees Are High
Research suggests that:
-
Tuition prices have increased over the past three decades;
-
In 2018, the average annual tuition fee in a private college would be around $34,740;
-
The average student loan sums up to more than $37,000;
-
Student loan payment on average can cost up to $300 on a monthly basis.
Student loan debts are one of the main reasons why more and more would-be college majors opt out of going to college in the US. The tuition prices of many US universities are so high, that it’s difficult for many to see the benefit in signing up to a pricey college, with no guarantee of success after graduation. Many choose to study abroad since tuition prices are much lower.
It is evident that going to college is much more expensive than it was in the past. Is there a positive benefit that comes with going to college then?
Having a Degree Increases Your Future Salary
A positive benefit to going to college and obtaining a degree is the heightened chances of earning more. Stats and data from the Social Security Administration suggest that male and female students who have successfully obtained a bachelor’s degree had more in lifetime earnings than those who didn’t go to college.
Moreover, male and female college students who obtained a graduate degree earn around $1 million more in lifetime earnings than those who didn’t go to college.
Some Are Simply Not Made for School
People and society often forget that there is not only one sole path to becoming successful. With the correct mindset and dedication to apply what you know – almost everyone can be successful.
An individual does not lose value just because they aren’t fit to be in school, intelligence can manifest and show up in a lot of ways – there are people who have academic smarts, and there are those who have technical smarts, or life smarts, or emotional intelligence.
It’s important to find what you’re good at, and sometimes college and academia, in general, is just not everyone’s cup of tea, or simply ill-fitting to an individual’s makeup.
In this case, getting an education might not be worth it.
Some Are Hustlers
There are those who don’t have the patience to go through college and want to start hustling or making an income as soon as they can. Having an entrepreneurial spirit is a great asset, and some opt out of school to follow a business endeavor.
Becoming an entrepreneur and juggling school with it is possible (albeit more difficult than choosing to focus on one thing), but for those who want to go all-in on their entrepreneurial goals, college might not be worth it.
Being a hustler is a challenging path. The beginnings of this path, however, can be the most difficult. Stick it out.
Conclusion
While college might prove expensive in the US, it can still be a worthy investment that’s more affordable in Europe or another continent. Students can always choose to study abroad if they want to avoid the hefty prices of colleges in the States.
And while there’s a lot more information out there on how to succeed without a degree, getting a degree can still be beneficial. You can network and meet the right people. You can choose a major that actually interests you, and you’ll learn to be responsible.
However, in the end, you don’t need it to succeed in life, since it’s not your degree that’s going to make things work out for you – it’s you. It’s how you do it. It’s what you do consistently.