The Pursuit Of A Higher Education

Superior Essays
The pursuit of a higher education is an asset that elicits individual economic mobility within the American society. It provides individuals with refined skills in their respective craft that they are able to apply in the workforce, thereby boosting personal, national and global economic growth. Despite the various manifest benefits that those in pursuit of a higher education may reap, the dramatic 1,120% increase in tuition fees in the past 30 years (Bloomberg Buisness, Jamrisko) has prompted an inquiry of the true value of a higher education with respect to the resulting financial success yielded. This requires an analysis on the return on investment, or the ultimate profit obtained after making a financial investment on an education. Costly tuition most frequently results in student loans that ultimately render individuals indebted to these institutions of higher learning. According to the Huffington Post, this affair has culminated in a national student loan debt of nearly $1 trillion. (Huffington Post, Mosbergen) In comparison to a complete absence in college education, those who only obtain a high school diploma have a significantly reduced financial success. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the median salaries in 2013 uniformly increased as we go higher up in the hierarchy of degrees. In 2013, individuals with a bachelors degree earned a salary of $48,500, 103% greater than individuals who did not complete high school. Those with a GED

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The more an individual has to compensate to attend a school, then the lower the net benefit will be of attending. The Hamilton Project calculates a four-year degree to cost approximately $54,000. In addition, other recent studies Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has exemplified that repaying college tuition can last up to ten years or more. “After attempting to account for in-state vs. out-of-state tuition, financial aid, graduation rates, years taken to graduate, wage inflation, and selection, nearly to hundred schools on the 2012 list have negative ROIs” (Owen and Sawhill 214). With the rising cost of tuition and indefinite job market, individual’s should consider whether obtaining a bachelor’s degree is essential in today’s…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the demand for a college degree is on the rise, so is college tuition costs. The cost of college tuition has increased more over the past few years than ever before. As Nicole Allan and Derek Thompson state in their essay, The Myth of the Student-Loan Crisis, “The costs of college has spiked 150 percent since 1995, compared with a 50 percent increase in the costs of other goods and services” (380). To help pay these unbelievable cost increases, student loans climb as well, putting…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    It’s hard to believe that once upon time, Americans did not have the dreadful worries of finding a way to prepare for the financial necessities for college. Now, college is becoming more of a dream rather than a reality as high tuition rates becomes the number one reason why Americans are not advancing themselves into higher education. In some cases, there are college students who receive full-ride scholarships to the college they desire; however, the majority of those who do go to college do not obtain the same luck. Those students who do continue their education and go off to college find themselves short of financial aid, out-of-pocket cash, and even scholarships. This causes students to resort to taking out a student loan.…

    • 1550 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many college students believe that they will end up making more money than their uneducated peers. There are many citizens who are unaware that they have the potential to live a world of debt after graduating. Robin Wilson, author of the article “A Lifetime of Student Debt Not Likely”, clearly concludes that student debt is unlikely in the title of the article itself. The real truth is student debt can be highly likely. Although it is easy to agree with Wilson’s conclusion it is easy to see debt in an entirety can also be prevented.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    College Gives Us Knowledge One day everyone will ask themselves if a college education is actually worth it and if it is the right path. Some may be quick to say no due to the rate of college tuition, but it has been proven in numerous studies that there are more benefits with a college education than with a high school diploma. The benefits a college graduate receives are both economic and non-economic, which makes the high education expense definitely worth it even though some may argue it is not. With college debt at an unbelievable amount it makes everyone wonder if the education is worth it. For most people, a certain amount of debt can be okay…

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Caroline Bird’s “College in America”, she describes the belief that college is the key to success for all high school graduates as a “noble American ideal” (336). Bird portrays the United States as the first nation to influence everyone to pursue a higher education. However, Bird asserts that striving for a college education is not the best option for every high school graduate, due to the money being invested and the lack of jobs being offered for college graduates. I endorse Bird’s argument that “it [the assumption that college is indispensable to succeed] violates the fundamental principle of respect” (336) because college only comes naturally to a few, not everyone is fit for the challenges that come along. College is not the perfect…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Student Debt

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Student loan debt has increasingly become an issue, not only for those who have acquired it and must deal with it, but also for the economy. To function normally in today’s society, pursuing a college education is a requirement for those who want a high paying job. With this decision, students also decide to take on large amounts of student loan debt and the long-term turmoil that it inevitably leads to. Student loan debt impacts students purchasing power which negatively impacts the economy. Over 42 million people owe $1.3 trillion in student loans (Rosato).…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , workers with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $464 more per week than workers with only a high school diploma - a higher salary that can add up over the course of your lifetime. A 2015 report from the U.S. Department of Education found the average worker with a bachelor's degree can earn approximately $1…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Different View of University tuition It is often said that students need a lot of money to graduate the university. Both the articles, “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?” by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus and “A lifetime of Student Debt? Not likely” by Robin Wilson, argue that students need not go to an expensive university to avoid over borrowing. According to Hacker and Dreifus, we can get a high-quality education; nevertheless, tuition is cheap.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Research Paper In the last decade there has been a significant spike in student loan debt. Within the recent years there has been an increasing number of Americans whom are overwhelming burdened by student loan debt than ever before. Statistics show that Americans owe nearly $1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt alone. The process of borrowing loans to assist with the cost of postsecondary education in the US has recently become a normal occurrence throughout this past decade.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Student Debt Research

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Student debt has reached its highest at over more than 1 trillion; passing credit card debt. One can wonder if college outcome is beneficial enough to repay the debt one might or might not be in. To begin, education is important regardless of what price. Also, college allows you to receive a better wage than someone who does not continue a post-secondary education. However, money is not always the most important factor.…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is shown that on average that people who go to college make more money than people that stopped their education after high school. This is supported by a quote from Should Everyone Go to College? by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill which says, “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by the age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500” (Owen and Sawhill, 211). This quote shows that on average people when people decide to make an investment in their education, they are seeing that they are making more money than if they were to stop their education after they gained their high school diploma. Now making more money when you have a college degree is not always the case, there is still a good chance that you will have better job opportunities by having the…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All around the globe, there have been debates on the price of College education. College is a very significant place for students to start their lives. College should be affordable and available for students that want to pursue in something. If officials choose to make college affordable, there will be an increase in lifetime salaries and more employment options. “Student loan debt was over one trillion dollars, and more than eight hundred fifty thousand students loans were in default” (college education).…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Students are paying more to go to school and are ending up learning less after graduation. With all the college prices rising, less and less people are able to attend college. “In recent years, students have been paying more to attend college and earning less upon graduation – trends that have led many observers to question whether a college education remains a good investment” (Karageorge). If the price of college continues to increase, the value of a college degree will decrease, because there will be less people attending college. According to Richard Vedder, who wrote “Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs too Much”, the current system of financing for college is extremely negative.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is argued whether getting a higher education provides a person more economic opportunity or not. Evidently as the years go on, employers are looking for people who have some type of college degree. Many claim not all students are fit to pursue a college degree and still can become successful without one. They may even say that some college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed while in debt. Although this is true, obtaining a higher education does allow a person to have better employment opportunities in comparison to those who do not.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays