Why Are We Spending So Much Money

In the article, “Why are we spending so much money on college?”, Megan McArdle questions if college education is really worth the investment. The article mainly focuses on the debt that college students obtain due to rising costs. In order to be considered for elite institutions, students must pay to live in a good school district, then they must pay to be part of that institution’s student body. The costs of colleges keep rising due to inflation, so students must take out student loans. “Promotional literature for colleges and students loans often speaks of debt as an investment in yourself” (24). Unemployment and jobs that don’t require degrees are what half of college graduates receive. Students go into debt only to be let down in the job …show more content…
Although debt and loans are huge factors in college decisions, future income is an even larger factor. It is proven that college graduates make more money than people who only have a high-school diploma. However, students can major in something useless and not produce an excellent income. That leads to her next point that people go to college to say they went to college, not to get a good education. Students will go in debt to attend colleges due to their “name”, not their education. If students go to learn, then they will receive valuable skills and a great education. However, if students go to college just to say they went, then they will not gain anything valuable from their experience and time. Due to the rise in bachelor’s degrees, students end up in jobs that didn’t require a degree before. As a result, students seek graduate and professional programs to stand out from the common. Degrees are beginning to become a requirement for any job, so students NEED to stand out. In addition, students need to work while getting an education. According to this article, apprenticeships are wonderful working experiences that should be used by …show more content…
We are trying to become well-rounded students so colleges will want us, but we are going in debt while doing that. Even though we try our best, some of us will still have to pay for college. Students loans are something that are easy to obtain, which makes debt common in college graduates. However, I know student loans are “bad” loans. As an informed student, I am trying to obtain any aid that I don’t have to pay back. When I see that colleges are upgrading, I imagine the tuition rates rising higher and higher. I feel like we, as students, can never win in the college world. I can relate to students that seek after graduate programs to stand out. Honestly, I feel like we are slowly becoming a number. Colleges see our ACT score and our GPA, but they don’t see the real person behind those scores. Students are not just a number on an application. We are beginning to attend colleges that have “names” so we can brag about it later in life. It is truly sad that we are worrying more about a “name” than an education. This article makes me upset overall. Upset that students are going into debt to only come out of college unemployed or with jobs that don’t really require a degree. It’s disheartening that people don’t learn anything from their college experience anymore. I feel as if we need to focus on what is important