An Analysis of the Value of Pursuing Higher Education

In this day and age, it feels like pursuing higher education is a necessity for success. Go to any high school and you'd be hard-pressed to find students who aren't following up with some sort of higher education (including vocational school, trade school, community colleges, et cetera). However, with the rising cost of higher education and an intimidating unemployment rate, many have said they regret going to college, and some people see this as a deterrent to attending college as a whole.

This can be surprising, as it feels like we, as students, have been told that going to college is a way to guarantee success in lives. Despite the rising cost of higher education, I do believe that college is valuable because degree holders make more than those without degrees, attending college teaches life skills, and it is a great opportunity for intrapersonal development.

In almost every student's case, there has been at least one moment where they've asked "do I have to go to college?" Committing four years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars is a nerve-wracking decision. To add to that, many students aren't sure what they want to do even after they've entered college. The main counter-argument for this is "if you go to college, you'll earn more money."

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College graduates almost always out-earn those with only a high school diploma. At howtoedu.org, they breakdown earnings for those with a diploma, those with a degree, and those with advanced degrees, saying "over the course or working 40 years, someone with a high school diploma will make $1,116,600 while someone with a bachelor's degree will make $2,048,204" (HowToE-D-U). This is not to say that those who don't pursue higher education are damned to make less, but statistically, those who attend a college or university make more.

Regardless of how valuable attending college is to an individual, there is no contesting that attending is a learning experience. Students who attend college or university are learning not just in the classroom, but also outside. Residents learn how to live on their own and how to live with someone while also balancing their schoolwork and adjusting to a new environment. Commuters learn how to budget time to get to and from school, adjust finances for gas, food, and other expenses, and also balance their schoolwork.

College also teaches a myriad of other skills to prepare students for their careers, including “project management, working in a team environment, leadership, and communication skills" (Pankow). Many of the professionals I've talked to have told me that college isn't necessarily about the degree you choose, but what you've learned how to do while getting that degree.

As a college student in the information age, there is a lot of romanticizing of what the college experience is like. Of course, there are the old stereotypes that college students are financially inept and that failure is inevitable, but many future students also hear stories of meeting the love of their life at a fraternity party or making a ton of friends their first few days. While these things do happen, they're only a small piece of what college really is. College, in a lot of ways, is about discovery, and this is proved by the endless BuzzFeed articles titled something similar to “19 Things You Learn About Yourself in College."

In college, students learn academics and other life skills, but they also learn more about themselves and what they want to do with their lives. They also learn what they need to do for themselves in order to achieve their goals.

Going into college, I had a skewed vision of what it would be like. I thought I was going to be constantly socializing, always typing twelve-page essays, and doing things I had never done before. I can honestly say that my first week of college was one of the most eye-opening weeks of my life. College, for me, was going to be nothing like anyone else had described for me, and many students feel the exact same way I did. Rather than constantly socializing, I learned to appreciate finishing an assignment and then watching something on Netflix.

Instead of being constantly stressed about work and having ridiculous assignments, I was always proactive and got to know my professors. I had many situations where my opinion completely changed. This experience gave me a better understanding of who I wanted to be, and I am in the process of becoming that person. That is something I would not have learned about myself had I not attended college, and for me, that justifies college being worth it for me.

At the end of the day, attending a college or university isn't for everybody. There is a lot of commitment involved in choosing a school and a major, and some people aren't suited to the environment that colleges have to offer. Attending college, though, is a great way to hone skills, learn about yourself, and develop critical thinking skills that will benefit oneself for the rest of their life. College graduates tend to out-earn their peers who do not hold degrees, college teaches many skills that are not strictly academic, and college also provides an environment that allows for a great deal of introspection and thinking about oneself. It is because of these reasons that I make the argument that attending higher education, despite the cost and risks associated with unemployment, is completely worth it.

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