Colleges all over the world are telling you to go to college, offer you a path of wealth and happiness, but is that path really what they say it is. Ten out of seven students in America go to college. Six out of seven of those students won't be able to pay their debt off even until the age of 50, isn't that shocking? High school students should already know their career and start pursuing it in high school instead of in college, because most students are clueless with what they want to do for a career. Middle school needs to be teaching students on all the life careers out there and help students find what fits them. Colleges are setting up student with the wrong mind-sets. Why should a life, career put you in debt to the point that you
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a veterinarian, but as I grew up and experienced new things, that changed. I was lucky that I discovered this before I went to college, but others aren’t so lucky. Many people spend thousands of dollars on a college degree only to discover later on that they want to change careers. Rather than spend a small fortune and years of time getting a new degree, people can go to a vocational or technical school. These schools are exactly what the people in this country need to get the jobs they deserve. Some of the best schools in this country are technical schools, and we need to stop telling our kids that a traditional college is the only way to a successful career. Although
Individuals are struggling nowadays to acquire an education higher than a high school diploma. One of the main reasons for this issue could be very well the price it is to attend college. The prices have skyrocketed throughout the years. A lot of the people who attend college have to take out a “student loan,” just so they can get by. I believe one should not need to be in serious debt before they even graduate, all because they want to go out and further their education, and become successful in their life. College is a popular topic for most and Sanford J. Ungar and Charles Murray has a unique way of explaining both their opinions.
One statistic that Owen and Sawhill presented was “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500 (Figure 1). When we look at lifetime earnings—the sum of earnings over a career—the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree. (Owen, Sawhill pg 641). Owen and Sawhill also mention that “with tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student and perhaps for the system as a whole, should widespread defaults occur in the future. Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheets” (Owen, Sawhill pg 642). Basically, what the authors are saying is college is expensive, but for some career paths, the training and education received in college is necessary to have that job and the benefits outweigh the costs. With a high paying career where a college education is necessary, paying off student loans is no problem. On the other hand, people who go after low paying careers that don’t necessarily need a college degrees,
Once a person graduates from high school they are left with a difficult decision, wither to go to college or not. Some families this is not an option, their kid will go no matter what, but many students do not want to go to school and have so much student debt by the time they finish that they will have to pay off that they decide that college is not worth it. According to Craig Smith in his article in Education Digest he says, “too many families cannot afford to send their children to college so the student is left with making the decision on wither to go to college and collect debt or just skip college altogether” (Smith 42). He has a good point. Too many students feel like they have to pay so much yet they are not really getting much out of it. Smith later on in his article states, “We must stop balancing our state and institutional budgets on the backs of students and families” (Smith 46). School should not be all about money, it should be about helping the students get the education that they need so they can make it out in the big world. If a student is so worried about how they are going to pay their school bill they are not going to be focusing on their class work and it ...
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
As students near the end of the academic year, they are constantly faced with some of the same choices the generations before them have been presented with too. The biggest question a lot of seniors in high school have to answer is if they are going to be attending college or not. There are a lot of legitimate reasons as to why a person might not attend a college, but I personally feel like everybody should have a higher education if they have the opportunity to do so. One of the biggest reasons that people do not have the opportunity to pursue higher levels of school is the fact that they do not have enough money to pay for it. With the staggering amount of debt, the majority of students incur in college, it is becoming a
America’s future lies in the youth and building an educated youth that is interested in their career would benefit society. Rising college tuition is hurting the higher education of America. As more financial pressure is placed on these kids, the more they aren’t able to focus on their goals and dreams. Although inflation is a problem, the students who are able to graduate will benefit society if they worry more about their job. They should be able to satisfy their duty in society and a rise in college tuition will hinder that vision substantially.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Is a question most children hear from time to time though out their childhood. Most people ponder on that question as they grow up and become adults. The question that usually comes up when thinking about what they what to be when they grow up is “Is college worth it?” Are the risk of the high loans, and the challenge of finding a job after school worth the time of the college education?
When it comes to achieving success in the working industry and accomplishing a successful career an education is important. Getting a degree is essential to be successful. The issue is the higher the education the person wants the higher the cost is. Nowadays, not everyone can afford paying out of pocket for an education, which mean that students are forced to take out large amount of student loans to achieve that degree. Student debt is an ongoing problem, students are gaining oversized debts that most of the time if not ALL are defaulting and jeopardizing future credits. How much debt it too much debt? Everyone should have the liberty to
When a student gets out of college the game plan is supposed to be, get a job in the field that you went to school for and make money so you can start your life. That particular situation is rare considering not all students get a job fresh out of college. For the students that don’t, they have to go back home and settle for a regular job and start paying off their giant student loans and put their life on hold. Even with having the job they wanted the student loans come right around the corner. After college is when the student’s life is supposed to start and the part where you get a car payment, pay rent, utilities, but none of that is possible when you add the enormous amount of money that the student will be in debt by. With the amount the students have to pay fresh out of college, more students are sacrificing more time struggling to pay off the student loans then they spent in school. Student loans are set-up in a way to be flawed and not always completely necessary to the student.
Most kids that have graduated high school have never been educated on the subject of personal finance, so they don’t know things like how to pay bills, or even how to do something as simple as applying for a job. According to a family friend of mine, Ron Hart; who happens to also be an award-wining author and TV/radio commentator, believes that students in high school don’t learn anything about how to get a job or get prepared financially. He states that, “ Students should prepare for a job. Maybe, instead of taking a fifth field trip to the Trail of Tears site, do one to learn about real jobs in an area they might want.” Hart believes that most basic high schools aren’t teaching students how to become financially stable for their future, which can cause major issues. He claims that “few schools teach about the value of hard work, ingenuity, gumption and entrepreneurship. Those lessons are as rare as Donald Trump bumper stickers in the faculty parking lot.” Hart also goes on to talk about how high school does not prepare you for life the same way college will. There are so many more lessons to learn there that people are missing out on. College is very important due to the fact that it will teach students more skills about finance and job seeking that most high schools don’t. In college, kids will learn how to save and budget their money, pay for their own expenses, and prioritize their needs verses their wants. Learning financial responsibility is also something that kids will carry with them throughout their jobs and their life. Having more freedom to understand the concepts of person finance will allow students to make mature decisions while easing their way into real world
When I began my senior year, the number one thing which people asked me was where I was going to college. Whether they actually knew me or not, that would be the first thing they asked once they found out I was in the final stretch of my high school career. Now, I obviously had a pre-planned answer for them, since I had answered the question so many times, but I always found it to be peculiar that people didn’t actually care at all about what I was going to do with my life; they just wanted to know where I was going to get my expensive piece of paper from.
Charles Murray, the author of “What’s Wrong With Vocational School?” discusses how too many of today’s high school graduates wrongfully head off to a four-year college. For a large majority of the population, a college education is unnecessary. Murray says that a lot of students don’t even want an advanced education. Even if they do want an education, they aren’t qualified for it. Additionally, a large number of these students are striving for an education or experience that a four-year college isn’t meant to fulfill.
College is a place for people to learn a career, but students need to be wary of which one they chose. These past few years and days I have noticed if you have a high school diploma or GED there is a very vague chance of getting a good productive job let alone a career. So some teachers and many other people that are in students lives pressure them to go to college. Those students become unhappy and the job they or their family chose for them may not be one in demand. Many of those graduates search for a job in the workforce, which many times turns out to do no good. Students in specific educational programs like applied associate of science programs
Individuals in my generation that decide to go away for college may graduate with a degree but they also graduate with debt and have a hard time finding work in their area of study. College graduates are young and many may not have much experience in their field. It is a bittersweet option to go to college and further your education, I am all for it, but I am not for getting yourself in tons of debt, that will cause you to live your whole life paying off student loans and such. Which is one of the reasons why I chose to stay at home and go to community college, I’m saving money while still getting a great education. In earlier generations, people may not have felt that college was important because they needed a job to support themselves and their families. That is understandable because in the early years becoming an adult meant turning of age, 18, getting a job, moving out and starting your own family, but now turning 18 doesn’t mean you automatically are an adult and can move out and start your own life, I have friends that went to college, have a job but still are not able to move out on their own even in their