Essay: The Importance Of College Education

Imagine a student who wanted to go to her dream college. She spent nearly every waking second of her high school career doing homework, and sleep was placed on the back-burner in order to have more time to study for tests such as the ACT and SAT. Fortunately, she is accepted into her dream college; however, she receives no grants and only $2,000 in loans. Her parents, an elementary school teacher and high school headmaster, are required to pay the additional costs of college – $58,000, nearly triple what the Free Application for Federal Student Aid calculator estimated. This is the story of Katie Hutchins, a Georgia high school senior, who had to pass on the opportunity of studying pre-med at the University of California, simply because she could not afford the expensive college. Hutchins is not the only high school student who had to reject his or her dream college due to a lack of money (Fox). Twelve percent of young adults do not attend college, and approximately two-thirds of these adults state they did not go to college because it was unaffordable (Klein). Furthermore, nearly seventy-one percent of college …show more content…
Universities give access to a colossal amount of knowledge needed for jobs and provide opportunities not available in secondary schools and work fields. For example, higher education schools provide a forum for differing views as well as allow for personal, intellectual, and spiritual exploration one needs in his or her life. Oftentimes, students begin university with a career in mind, but many students often discover rather quickly that their “dream” career is not actually what they want to do in life. Regardless of how one spends his or her time in university, the opportunity to attend allows for individuals to become effective and informed citizens