Research Proposal: Is My College Degree Worth The Money

Recently in my house, my parents and I have been discussing whether or not I should continue in college. Is my college degree worth the money was the main question in this argument? There has been a lot of debate in the past couple years about this, especially with student loan debt being higher than credit card debt for the first time in history. I found three sources with different views on the subject, one from the New York Times that was published this year in May, a book called 40 Alternatives to College, and finally an article from the U.S. news and world report magazine. The first article from the New York Times states that although tuition has gone up; the pay gap between those with a bachelor degree and those without one is so …show more content…
There’s an example of a computer science graduate who has a $100,000 debt and takes a job where he used nothing he learned in college. Also, it shows that college is not only just the estimated S25,000 a year that everyone thinks it is, but also there is a opportunity cost; meaning that if you had spent the 5 years making S20,000 a years then you are losing S45,000 a year. “If you had simply invested some of that money (S130,000) into a savings account for 50 years it would have accumulated to 1.4 million dollars” (Altucher 7). This takes the statistic from the New York Times article that college graduates earn on average 500,000 more and makes it seem like a trivial number. Also, it begins to show statistics that education has become a financial investment, where the price has inflated 10 times since 1977. Since society has been able to convince people that getting a college degree is necessary, they have been able to raise the price and even allow the U.S. government to profit off of all the student loans. Finally, this book shows how there are 40 other alternatives you can try in your life instead of going to college. This book’s primary audience is meant for young adults about to go to college to read, as well as parents. The teenagers are reading this because they are wondering whether or not to go to college and they can pass it on to their parents to prove their case. The author of this book uses statistics as well, using logos to convince the reader of his point. But also he uses pathos, uses emotion by telling his own personal stories. Also, when he includes 40 different alternatives you can do instead of college it is reinvigorating to know that there are a lot of other options out there for you that are not college. It allows you to almost feel free emotionally and feel