A Better Reason: College Challenges You To Become An Independent Adult
For many students, college teaches them to become financially, mentally and physically independent. Being away from home is a great opportunity to make your own decisions and take responsibility for yourself without mom and dad telling you to study and work hard. Its up to you to make the right decisions.
Is College All About Investing In Yourself
Nope.
Theres a big difference between investing in yourself and going back to school.
You should always be investing in yourself. You just dont have to spend thousands on a tuition to do this.
Returning to college might sometimes be the worst investment. Especially if you dont get a specific outcome out of this. I dont want to be too results oriented, but when youre 26, you cant afford to be spending another 2-4 years in college. This wont help you move ahead. Youre going to miss out on many opportunities to make money.
If the program doesnt help you increase your income, then youre wasting your time. If you want to hide from reality, you dont have to go back to college. If youre in debt already then you really dont need to be going back to college. You should be focused on this debt.
How can you invest in yourself?
The whole point of this article is let you know that there are other options out there. You dont have to do what your parents want you to do. You dont have to go to college if you dont know what you want to do. You can read up more on investing in yourself. You can take advantage of technology like Airbnb to make more money. You have other choices.
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You Should Go To College:
If the answer to all of the above questions is yes, you should enroll yourself in college.
In addition to preparing for a career, college does provide you with a way to meet new people, expand your social circle, and create a network of friends that may help you in later life.
That interaction helps you learn valuable soft skills like verbal and communication, interpersonal skills, time management, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
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Why You Can Trust Bankrate
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. Weve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that were putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.
Our loans reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most the different types of lending options, the best rates, the best lenders, how to pay off debt and more so you can feel confident when investing your money.
Student Loan Debt Is Of Concern
While there are scholarships, savings accounts, grants and student loans out there to help fund an education, debt is a prominent issue for many college students that can follow them well into their post-graduate careers. If you are worried about the expense of attending college, you may want to pursue a field that offers loan forgiveness or a company that reimburses tuition. Another option is attending a community college during your first two years to reduce the financial impact. Additionally, state universities and many trade schools may cost less than other private school campuses. It might be a good idea to speak to a school counselor or someone who has undergone the financial aid process to help you navigate the financial aspect of a college education.
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You Wont Be Guaranteed A Job
The only guarantee you get from going to university is that you’ll be graduating with a degree . Apart from that, there is not guarantee that you will find a job easily or that you will be promoted.
The job market remains quite competitive, and you will need to assemble a variety of skills, qualifications and experience in order to stand out from other candidates. However, on many occasions, a college degree could be a minimum requirement to qualify for a role.
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Options For Undecided Students
Dont forget there are plenty of resources available to you as an incoming student. While some are stronger than most, all schools have a student advising department to help you navigate all your options. Set up an appointment with an advisor early in the process. This way, they will have time to get to know you and can offer you the most appropriate guidance.
Taking advantage of online quizzes or assessments that can help match you with majors or schools that pair well with your unique abilities. While these types of tools should be taken with a grain of salt, they can be helpful to get ideas flowing when you are exploring your options.
Another less talked-about option is to take a gap year. If you feel pressured to make a decision about your major to the point that it is causing you distress, a gap year might be a godsend. It doesnt have to mean that you have given up on college altogether, just that you need some extra time between high school graduation and the start of something new. Many students are simply not ready for college right away, and there is nothing wrong with that.
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Why Go To College
Spread the Knowledge. Share:
Its exciting to think about going to college. Understanding why you want to go–and what you hope to experience while youre there–is the first step to finding the right college and educational path for you.
While many people feel going to college was a wise decision and that they made the right decisions while there, others find themselves wondering if they made a wrong turn along the way. According to a 2017 Gallup poll, 51 percent of Americans would change their degree type, institution, or major if they could make the decision again. With the high cost of college and rising student debt, you want to make sure that you think through your decisions and choose the right path for you.
Do any of the following reasons for going to college resonate with you?
You Should Not Go To College:
If the answer to any of the questions is No, college is not a good choice for you.
If you dont have the funds, think a hundred times before taking loans for college. There are several cheaper and more time-efficient ways to get good jobs without degrees. You can make connections and network without going to college as well. Starting your own business does not require a degree in any way.
Dont let parents, society, or peer pressure persuade you to attend college if it is not the right decision for you.
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Sign #: You Need A Degree For Your Dream Job
If you dream about becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, youâll need an advanced degree or maybe even two. A simple search will help you determine if your dream career requires a degree. But keep in mind that even if your dream job doesnât require a degree, some companies choose to only hire graduates. The practical skills you learn in college, like time management, study skills, stress management, and assertiveness, are skills many employers look for in their employees.
Is College Worth It
In most respects, The Hamilton Project has found, a college degree has never been more valuable. Even with rising tuition costs , the bottom line is this: while college may be 50 percent more expensive now than it was 30 years ago, the increase to lifetime earnings that a college degree brings is 75 percent higher. In short, the cost of college is growing, but the benefits of collegeand, by extension, the cost of not going to collegeare growing even faster.
Read: Regardless of the Cost, College Still Matters
The Hamilton Project has also recently studied how earnings vary across college majors. In a new interactive feature, the project found that lifetime earnings vary tremendously by major but that a college degreein any majoris important for advancing ones earnings potential.
Visit the interactive.
Gary Burtless argues that The economic reward from attending and completing college has probably never been higher. Despite the very real increase in costs to attend college and the tighter labor market college grads face today, the key to understanding why college still has such a big payoff, explains Burtless,is that the prospects for twenty-somethings who do not complete college are much worse than those of the ones who do. What is more, the economic prospects of the young adults who do not complete college have worsened over time, and much faster than the prospects facing new college grads.
Get more data and analysis on this issue here.
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You Cant Afford It Or Are Worried About Paying Back Student Debt
Theres no denying that college can be expensive and hard to afford. But, it doesnt have to be that way. There are online, accredited universities. For example, University of the People is entirely tuition-free, and when you graduate, you get a degree from a well-respected university that partners with New York University and UC Berkeley, to name a few.
Expand Your Potential Earnings
Learning to be financially independent isnt the only opportunity you will have as a college student studies show that college graduates are more likely to become financially stable upon graduation. A College Board report states that individuals with higher education levels earn more and are more likely than others to be employed.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that in 2020, people with a bachelors degree had a weekly salary 67 percent higher than those with just a high school diploma.
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Youll Be Able To Gain Work Experience
As a university student, you will have your fair pick of internships and part-time jobs which will allow you to attain experience and gain technical skills. Some degree programmes offer a year in industry, but also job placement opportunities that you can pursue during summer breaks.
This will ultimately give you a head start as a graduate looking for entry-level positions, and will certainly contribute to your CV.
The Dilemma Of The Curious And Well
In his article on how to get into Harvard and the Ivy League, PrepScholar co-founder Allen Cheng talks about developing a “spike” to make you attractive to highly selective national universities.
The idea of developing a spike makes sense for students who are both dedicated to being the best at one thing in particular and who are interested in applying to the Ivy League and similarly selective universities. If attending somewhere like Stanford or Columbia is your goal, you want to have one area that you really stand out in, rather than being well-rounded.
For students who have grown up being told that being a well-rounded student is important, the fact that you probably won’t get into a top national university by being good at everything can feel like the deepest betrayal.
Now, I didn’t know any of this information about not being well-rounded or having a “spike” when I was applying to schools.
But even if I had known about this strategy, I doubt I would have opted for it, because it just didn’t match who I was as a student. Rather than that picture of one ball with a spike rising out of it, I was more like a morningstarlots of spikes going off into all different directions for all my different interests.
A morningstar, or my different interests? Impossible to tell apart!
The different directions of my interests, but with Ludwigsburg tourist attractions instead of academic subjects.
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You Might Change Your Mind
What if you register on a course and later change your mind to choose a different career path? Well, you will have to wait till next semester to make the switch.
However, the university may not transfer your previously acquired credit hours to the new academic programme, so you might have to start all over again. However, if you end up studying the subject you are truly passionate about, then it will be worth it!
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Possible Disadvantages Of Attending College
Even though attending college can offer you many benefits, there are potential drawbacks.
Note that you only get many of the benefits of going to college if you’re able to graduate. A 2019 NPR article reported that only 58% of students who enrolled in college as first-time students in the fall of 2012 had earned a degree.
Now, let’s take a look at the three biggest cons of attending college.
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Having Trouble Affording College Consider Financial Aid
Where theres a will theres a way. If youre really interested in attending college but dont have the funds right now dont get overly concerned. There are several ways to finance your college education.
Financial aid programs include scholarships, grants, student loans and prepaid tuition. At many larger colleges and universities, youll also find on-campus jobs that offer flexible schedules to accommodate your personal life and studies.
With so many ways to finance your education, instead of wondering Why should I go to college?, the question becomes Why shouldnt I?
Pursue Your Interests And Passions
Interested in literature and biology? Business and art history? Music and political science? In college, you can explore your diverse interests by choosing two majors, a major and a minor, or one major and two minors. Some schools even allow you to have two majors and two minors! If youre worried about wasting time and money, fear not. Youll have to take general education requirements, so you can work towards your English degree while taking a biology class to fulfill your science requirement and vice versa. Some majors are less flexible, so talk to your advisor before registering for that underwater basket weaving class.
At most four-year colleges, the professors will hold doctorate degrees and are experts in the field. If you think you may be interesting in a topic, meet with a professor in that field to discuss your interests and future career goals. They may provide valuable insight and point you in the right direction.
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The Alternative: Trade School
Right now, skilled trade work is in high demand and it pays well. If you hate sitting in a classroom for hours on end, you might want to look into getting vocational training. There are tons of cool options.
You could:
- Study electrical work or plumbing.
- Learn to work on cars.
- Style hair.
- Train to be a paralegal or legal assistant.
- Pilot planes.
These are skills that can lead to well-paying, in-demand jobs. Plus, its much less expensive to go to a trade school. The overall average cost of vocational school in the United States is about $33,000.
Although that may seem expensive at face value, the average total cost of a bachelors degree at a public university is over $100,000 . Thats a huge difference!
If you need help paying for school, you might qualify for a career trade loan, making this an even better option. In many careers, you might even get paid to learn on-the-job, which is way better than going into debt for a degree.
Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Go To College And 4 Things To Do Instead
I got off to a bad start.
It was the fall of 2005. There I was in my college business class. I was so excited. It was day 1. I had a few business endeavors I had been working on outside of the classroom already, and I was super excited to learn about business in the college setting.
My professor introduced herself, she gave us a 10 minute speech about business and entrepreneurship and then she asked us to open our text books where she began going over a few business terms.
Since I was studying business outside of the classroom by building a business, I was puzzled to find that my professor was referencing business terminology that was flat-out incorrect and in some cases totally outdated. I proceeded to raise my hand and correct her. After the first correction she smirked and said, “thanks for clearing that up.” After the second correction, she was noticeably ticked off, and after the third correction, she asked me to leave the classroom.
I was befuddled. I mean afterall, I was paying to be taught about business and I wasn’t going to allow someone to teach me and my peers information that was incorrect.
I just gave you the cold-hard facts about a college education and I supported it with irrefutable data. You now have a choice. You can continue down a path that’s riddled with tremendous uncertainty cloaked in the disguise of opportunity, or you can wake up to the real world that surrounds you and take the path less traveled.
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