Charles Kurian
ENG 1020
College: Obligation or Option?
A college degree now holds the same value that a high school diploma used to be worth
thirty years ago. Majority of people believe that obtaining a college degree is a pre-requisite of
being successful. These people believe that the only way to get a well-paying job is to go to
college. Most of our society has been brought up being told, “go to school, get good grades, then
get a good paying job.” However, tuition rates are greatly rising and going to college has become
unaffordable for many. With this thought, student loans come to mind. But, student loans are
actually a $1.2 trillion debt in America. Over 40 million people in the United States have taken
out a student loan that has yet to be paid off. If you couple this fact with the fact that the majority
of new graduates actually are either underemployed or unemployed, meaning they can’t pay off
the student loans they took out, then all of a sudden going to college seems somewhat
unappealing. So that leaves the question, what options are available for the rising amount of
people that don’t go to college? How can they be successful if they don’t have college degree?
My interest in this topic stems from my dream of being able to work for myself and I
particularly do not find the idea of working 40, 50, or even 60 hours a week for someone
appealing in the slightest bit. To me, hard work is the pre-requisite of success. Consequently, the
more I educate myself on financial matters, the more I believe that statement. If I have the dream
to work for myself, then I am absolutely positive there are others out there with the same
entrepreneurial belief. However, many of these people are not knowledgeable about the
opportunities that they can pursue. Helping these people find something to be passionate about
that could lead to them being successful is something that is extremely important to me. I believe
that being financially literate and knowledgeable about the world around you will better equip
your for success. Attaining knowledge is an ever growing process that is crucial to me, but
applied knowledge is power.
My research led me to an article by Lynette Khalfani titled “Zero Debt for College
Grads.” I found this article by using the Wayne State databases and searching “Student debt in
America.” This article initially caught my eye because I thought it could aid me with information
and statistics pertaining to my topic. After further inspection, this article mainly summarizes how
much student loans are growing each year and the burden it puts on students, especially when
they are not able to pay them off. The article also discusses how the cost of education is rising
and how it is difficult for students to balance their scholastic and financial responsibilities. This
