Many higher paying jobs in the US require a college degree to work for them. Professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa surveyed 3,000 students on 29 different college campuses and found that on transcripts, surveys and the standardized test the Collegiate Learning Assessment, 45% of students showed “no significant gains in learning” after two years in college. Their research also finds that students spent 50% less time studying “compared with students a few decades ago. Many potential employers advertise for things they don’t need, like asking for ten years of experience in a technology that has only just been introduced” (theatlantic). So it would seem college is just a waste of time and money just to have a larger variety of jobs, but it’s not like that.The pay gap between college graduates and people who don’t have a college degree reached an all high record high in 2013, according to new data, from statistics by the Economic Policy Institute (EPIW).
Americans that have a four-year college degree make an estimated 98 percent more than people without one. A paper by Mr. Autor, stated “The true cost of a college degree is about negative $500,000. That’s right: Over the long run, college is cheaper than free. Not going to college will cost you about half a million dollars” (Autor). College education though it is expensive and you may not learn as much as you would hope, it will help you by giving you more job opportunities with higher pay, and in the end you will make more money than you spend.The point of college is to get smarter, to get a better job, to get more money. A statistic by educationorder.
com shows that high school graduates earn an average of nearly $30,000 per year, bachelor’s graduates earn an average of barely $50,000 a year, and those with a higher level degree (master’s, doctorate or professional) average close to $70,000 per year. In fact, an educated staff memeber is so important to some companies, that they will even pay for your tuition fees. This is how valuable a college degree can be. It is seen as an investment that will bring many benefits, not only to the employee, but to the company as well. Getting a college degree is beneficial as it gives you better job opportunities at a higher variety, it gives you a larger profit, and makes you a higher priority of many jobs and businesses.
