Is College Really Worth It?

By Lauren Simmons
In the United States, the combined student loan debt totals around 1.4 trillion dollars, a debt exceeding that of credit cards loans, or car loans. The rapid growth of student loan debt has often raised the question of whether college is worth the cost. That number, as daunting as it seems, represents a large scale shift in American culture; a society that once viewed college as the exception now views it as the expectation. Students today are siphoned through an assembly line-like process to higher education. The reasoning behind this process is that college education improves the footing and condition of Americans. While college is often championed as a place to expand thinking and education, the rising cost of many schools in the United States have dissuaded many students from pursuing a degree. The so called “advantages” that a degree bestows is not worth the cost for many students.
The average total cost of attending of 4 year private institution totals around 236,000 dollars. Many Americans liken a college degree to an investment. Investments are designed to generate a material result or profit over time. College sometimes does the exact opposite, causing a debt over time. It is not surreptitious that college is expensive. On the websites of many American schools, there is a page dedicated to tuition. College has essentially become a chess game of big business, and we are all pawns. Furthermore, student loans and the debt attached  are a reality to most college graduates. In 2011, Pew Social & Demographics created an executive summary on the question, “ Is College Worth It”. In a survey of the general public on the subtopic of “ student loans”, it was gauged that, “ A record share of students are leaving college with a substantial debt burden, and among those who do, about half (48%) say that paying off that debt made it harder to pay other bills; a quarter say it has made it harder to buy a home (25%); and about a quarter say it has had an impact on their career choices (24%). Student loan debt proves to be crippling to many Americans. An institution designed to set students up for a successful future rather has adverse impacts. Here many proponents state the very basic reasons as to why college essential: college graduates have more skills, they make more money, and they have more exposure. Admittedly, college is great for all the reasons aforementioned, but these reasons overlook the main question. The question of discussion is not whether students should go to college; the question asks is college worth the cost. If higher education was free there would be no debate. Students should attend college, that much is true, but they should not put themselves in paralyzing debt to do so.

Although the white collar industry has created a demand for those with a college degree,  it is absurd to ignore the millions of jobs that contribute to the overall functioning of this nation. The truth of the matter is that we cannot all work in a cubicle. Trade professions prove to be indispensable to this nation. “ The Princeton economist Alan Blinder argues that the crucial distinction in the emerging labor market is not between those with more or less education, but between those whose services can be delivered over a wire and those who must do their work in person or on site. The latter will find their livelihoods more secure against outsourcing to distant countries. As Blinder puts it, “You can’t hammer a nail over the Internet.” Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are in India”. It is easy to put that new tech job, or research project in another country, but it is impossible to have all your mechanic, janitors, and electricians  abroad. Although college is pushed to students as an end-all-be-all, today many individuals are realizing that there are more career paths that are more rewarding and do not require the money and time involved in receiving a college degree. “ If the goal is to earn a living, then, maybe it isn’t really true that 18-year-olds need to be imparted with a sense of panic about getting into college (though they certainly need to learn). Some people are hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and natural bents, when they would rather be learning to build things or fix things.” ( Source A). Students are hustled to continue their education without even considering all their options. Many students do not realize the investment that they are making with their time and money to attend these schools. They are a numerous amount of jobs that are equally as important as the banker, or the doctor that does not require a degree. Of course, many of my opponents would use the article “ Even for Cashiers, College Pays Off” (Source D). The article states that “ Construction workers, police officers, plumbers, retail salespeople and secretaries, among others, make significantly more with a degree than without one”. ( Source D). While it is true that with a college degree it is a possibility that an individual may be paid more than someone without a college degree conducting the same profession, but once again the opponents overlook the actual question. Is it worth being in the same profession as someone who does not have a college degree? Is it worth paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to make more than coworkers that saved that money and have a high school degree?. This system does not seem rewarding. According to the Department of Labor, as of 2008, 17 million college graduates were in positions that did not require a college education. Is college worth the cost when one can not benefit from the fruits of their degree?.

After attending college, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree, there is no guarantee of a successful career or even a job. There have been many statistics following the trend of jobs after earning a degree; however, will the salary of the attainable job be able to support one after college? Students today are earning less after coming out of college. The Economic Policy Institute graphs how new college graduates are losing ground on wages due to the lack of wage growth. The hourly wages for entry-level college graduates have dropped almost a whole dollar for both men and women from 2000 to 2010.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011 50% of college graduates under 25 years old had no job or a part-time job.  There are also many examples of successful people who haven’t attended college. In 2011, 24 winners of Peter Thiel’s (co-founder of PayPal) Thiel Fellowship will be paid $100,000 not to attend college for two years. Instead the winners will be developing business ideas. Thiel supports his program saying, “Students today are taking on more debt, and recently tightened bankruptcy laws make it more difficult to shake that debt, he argues, and those factors make higher education a risky investment”. Many opponents state that college can give individuals a better footing in society. These individuals are perceived to make more money and be more successful. Admittedly, this is true for some people, but this questions fails to realize that many of the nations most successful people do not have a college degree:  Walt Disney, Disney Corporation founder; Bill Gates, Microsoft founder;  Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.”, All of these people only have a high school degree and were still able to be successful. In no way is this argument stating that we can be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, but it would be unfair to not  recognize the countless amount of stories of people who pursued their career path rather than spend money a degree.

The question arises again. “ Is College Worth the Cost”. The price of higher education is on the incline, and peoples wages are not growing with the increase in the cost of college. It would be ludicrous to deny all the opportunities a higher education offers to some students, but is that over-expensive price tag and innumerable hours worth it. Opponents believe that the benefits of a college degree is worth that hefty tag, but with the availability of trade professions, the crippling student debt crisis, and the multitude of successful individuals that do not have a college degree prove otherwise.