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Alison Krones
Robert McElmurry
November 15, 2016
Writing 1
Is College Education Worth it?
Did you know that college tuition at a private university now is equal to the cost of a new
Ferrari? (Jasty, Web. 26)Why is it that higher education seems to cause harm rather than good
for a majority of college graduates? As you leave high school, you are to be prepared for the so
called “real world. Unfortunately, most really are not ready for that stage yet. As we live in a
quickly changing economy, is higher education worth your time and money? There is a famous
quote by Mark Pocan that states, “By making college unaffordable and student loans unbearable,
we risk deterring our best and brightest from pursuing higher education and securing a good–
paying job.” (Pocan, quotes) Student debt is at an all-time high during the 2015-16 school year,
reaching $37,172, which is up 6% from last year. (Glum, student debt crisis) If looking into the
cons on higher education you will notice, there are many successful people who did not even
attend college and are making more than some who did continue to higher education.
(Stansberry, 12 Business Founders Who Succeeded without a College Degree) According to the
Bureau of Labor, out of thirty jobs that are projected as the fasted growing jobs between the
years or 2010 and 2020, thirteen of them require a high school diploma at most and another four
only require an associate’s degree. (Bureau of Labor Statistics) Did you know 8 out of 10 college
graduates move back home after graduating? (CCAP Staff) While continuing your education and
going to college, you pay for the status of the school name and its size. Higher education is not
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worth it because of the fact student debt is outrageous, the likeliness of getting a job within your
field is slim, and there is no guarantee for success after graduating; but there are other options
that can be affordable and worth it, such as, community college, technical schools, or online
classes.
It is said that college tuition is rising faster than medical costs, inflation, and the income
of 99% of Americans. (Jasty, Web. 26) High schoolers now a days are told that college is what
you need to be successful in life, but in all honesty that is not true. Why would you want to
attend a university and get taught an education that is equivalent to high school but costs you an
average of $40,000 a year, depending on the type of university it is? (Couch) People argue that
higher education can help people in more ways than not; higher employment rates, higher
salaries, better benefits and may also have an impact on creating a healthier life, better
interpersonal skills and achieving more milestones in life. (Ellis, Student Debt Delays Spending,
Saving- and Marriage) In overall studies they would prove some of these sayings are inaccurate,
over 17 million college graduates were found to be under or unemployed. (CCAP Staff,
quickfacts) Although the employment rate has been as high as 89%, 70% of those students will
be in debt due to student loans and other fees. (National Center for Education Statistics) As
stated by Jaison Abel, college is supposed to be an investment that will create benefits for you
that will last a lifetime. (Abel, Vol 20, No. 1) As far as the argument that it achieves more
milestones in life is not true for all. It is found that attending college actually causes you to
achieve some of these milestones later in life than the average person due to the fact you are
stuck paying back your student loans and do not have the money to go out and buy a house, car,
get married, or can even lead to living back at home with your parents. (Ellis, Student Debt
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Delays Spending, Saving- and Marriage) In addition, it was stated that less than fifty percent of
college graduates felt that college helped teach you knowledge and skills that could be used in
the workforce. (Eric Hoover) The recession in 2001, took a big strike on the education world.
The amount of students who had graduated college, were looking for a job and had good luck
decreased drastically. (Abel, Vol. 20 No.1) The recession caused the problem of graduates to
struggle to find secure jobs and would cause them to find low-wage positions that did not even
require a degree. (Abel, Vol. 20 No.1)
As you begin to look at the cons of higher education a major problem sticks out to most,
which is student loans and debt. Seventy-one percent of four-year graduating college students
had loan debt after graduation. (Student Loan Hero) Why is the percentages of debt and tuition
rising at a rate higher than medical costs, inflation, and the income of 99% Americans?
(Konczal, 118-121) The numbers these researches bring out are eye-opening for many people.
Out of the 20.5 million people who attended college in 2015, there is an average of $1.26 trillion
in student loan debt, crazy right. (Student Loan Hero) The bills that students receive each month
for their tuition, averages between $300 and $400, and leads many of those graduates to ask
themselves, “Was my education really worth it?” (Ghose, TechMedia Network) When you
attend a university, you are basically getting an education equivalent to high school education,
that you can receive for little to nothing by attending a community college. (Robert Farrington)
There is financial assistance available out there, but the majority of time you will need to take
out loans. For some, statistics show in 2013 student debt caused delays in multiple life
milestones; forty-one percent delay in retirement savings, forty percent delay in car purchases,
twenty-nine percent delay in house purchases, and fifteen percent delay in marriages. (US
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Congress Joint Economic Committee) Funding for public schools has been in a crisis in the past
couple of years, and has caused the price of tuition to sky rocket. Between 2008 and 2013, the
funding has decreased by a large number of twenty-eight percent. (Recent Deep State Higher
Education Cuts May Harm Students …) It is found that the funding of higher education has
decreased and the tuition price has risen drastically, with the recession being one of the primary
reasons. (Mitchell, Funding Down) Not only does this funding hurt the students, but also the
staff as well. It has a negative effect by reducing the amount of faculty, having fewer courses
being offered, and has even resulted in campuses closing. (Mitchell, Funding Down.) The fact
that schools only use seventeen percent of their money on budgets and instruction, compared to
forty-two percent on marketing and investor payouts, makes you wonder if you are really their
