Are the Benefits of College Worth It, Considering the Cost?
For many high school graduates, the thought of there being another option besides college doesn’t cross their minds. Their entire senior year is spent writing college essays, applying for scholarships, and stressing over college applications, which leaves no room to question whether or not college is right for them. However, due to the deteriorating job market and disparities in loan debt between economic classes, college is simply not worth it for everyone.
Many high school graduates take the college route because they believe that having a college degree will better help them find a job after school; however, “The likelihood that a recent college graduate will find a job closely related to their major is incredibly slim” (Smith 3). Because of how niche some majors can be, the degree students graduate with often doesn’t provide students with a bright job outlook immediately after graduation. Furthermore, the automation of industries has begun to eliminate jobs, besides those of hands-on skills, “Which don’t require traditional classroom education,” and therefore are “the only jobs that computers can’t do” (Capelli 4). From this standpoint, college is obsolete. Not only are jobs not available in many fields of study, but most of the jobs in demand stem from a different educational route than college.
The problem with college is especially paradoxical when it comes to those who need it the most: students who are born poor. Although it was shown in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics that a college education is a wise investment for middle and upper-class families, the result for low-income students leaves much to be desired. Mainly due to financial obstacles, “Low-income students… are far more likely to drop out of college than are wealthier students,” So college provides no benefit to them (Shell 2). In fact, the loan debt acquired between enrollment and withdrawal often significantly depreciates the student’s ability to break out of the cycle of poverty. STEM fields are some of the only areas of study that still require education for success in the job market, but in coming years “the economic benefit of a college degree [in all fields] will begin to dim” (Shell 3).
Although a college education may be obsolete in theory, it is important to note that many employers still require a degree, even for a job that doesn’t technically need it. In fact, “fewer than 20 percent of American jobs actually require a bachelor’s degree,” but employers still demand one for hiring simply because they can (Shell, 4). Therefore, college isn’t worth it due to the dim job market outlook and acquired loan debt students face, even though businesses will continue to perpetuate the importance of a college degree.
