Many people believe that college is not necessary in today’s society. These people also have evidence to support this claim. Very prestigious people such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg either dropped out of college, or did not attend at all. Most surprisingly, John D. Rockefeller dropped out of school when he was 16, and by the end of his life, he had $1 billion dollars. However, these cases are very rare. A majority of people will not come across things in their life that will lead to successful lives like these individuals. An ordinary person needs something that helps them stand out in the job market. A college degree is perfect for this. A college degree will lead to many advantages in an individual’s life, and also in the society that the individual is a part of. Though a college degree can be very expensive, the end pay out will be much greater than the cost of tuition and the time it took to achieve this degree. An individual will benefit by having an all around better life, a higher average income, and many experiences in college that will be remembered for a lifetime. A society will be at an advantage with a higher number of college graduates because there would be a more productive workforce, more jobs which require higher education will be satisfied, and a robust democracy and civilized society will begin to form.  All of these advantages that are gained by obtained a college degree in total greatly outweigh the many costs that comes along with the degree. The more people that understand this, the better off the world will be. 

There are many reasons why an individual would believe that a college degree is not a necessity in life, and therefore is not worth the cost. These people could use the individuals that have become very successful in life without a college degree as evidence. However, these people are outliers. The likelihood of an individual becoming very successful without a college degree is very little. If this were an easy task, then nobody would go to college. Instead, most people would wait for their opportunity to become successful. Unfortunately, this is not how the world works. Most people have to work hard and diligently to become successful. A college degree along with hard and diligent work greatly increases the chance of success. 

Other people believe that college is not worth the cost because there is a high risk of a student dropping out of college. They say that the number of college graduates has not greatly increased since the 1990s. The argument is that, because of the high cost and low pay off of a degree, less people are attending college. Danielle Paquette writes, “In 2013, 65.9 percent of graduating high school seniors enrolled in a two- or four-year college, a level that is only modestly above the percentage in the early 90s.” Although this may be true, it does not accurately represent the level of college graduates. Students in the 90s did not have as much as an incentive to graduate college. A degree was much more rare and not as appealing in these years. Because of this, many students who attended did not feel required to put fourth the necessary time and effort in college to acquire a degree. Many students dropped out because of their low grades and the building of their debt. If the students knew the advantages of a college degree, they would have been more likely to maintain their grades and remain in school.

Many of the advantages of a college degree are beneficial to the individual only. One of these advantages is a higher income. Many people know that jobs that require a college degree usually pay more because of this. Jennifer Koebele writes that, “A median weekly salary of a high school graduate is $678 while the weekly salary of an individual with a bachelor’s degree is $1,1370.” Although a college degree does come with a price, this statistic shows that an individual will have the income to pay back their loans. Also, after the loans are paid off, all of this extra income can go straight into the pockets of the jobholder. This is one of the most well known and biggest advantaged of obtaining a college degree. A higher salary will eventually pay off the dollar cost of college and leave the individual with currency that they can do what they choose with. 

An individual will also have many experiences in college that cannot be obtained anywhere else. College is a place where many leave the comfort and safety of their home with their parents for the first time and form many life long friendships with people that would not of met otherwise. Casey slide writes, “The idea here is that college is more than just a way to get a high-paying job, it’s a way to enjoy life and become the person you were meant to be.” College is where many people are brought together with the common goal of obtaining a college degree. The advantages are far beyond the obvious increase in income. Many people might say that the experiences that have in college alone outweigh the cost that they paid. Thee experiences are different for everyone, however, everyone who attends college can agree that they will never forget the memories that they have while attending. 

Oddly enough, an individual with a college degree may also have a healthier lifestyle, which would lead to a better all around life. Matea Pender and Jessica Howell argue that, “Not only do individuals with a college degree earn higher wages than their peers without a college degree, they also lead healthier lifestyles, experience greater job satisfaction, and engage in more civic activity.” Many people dread waking up in the morning and going to work. This can make an individual have a life that they do not enjoy. However, if they would of obtained a college degree, they would most likely have a job that they chose based on their interests and skills. This would increase job satisfaction, which would lead to a happier life. If a college degree would increase the quality of life, how could any cost outweigh that? 

An individual will benefit from the cost of college more right now than they have ever before. As stated above, there are many benefits that are received when a college degree is acquired. However, what if one still believes that college has to high of tuition to cover the benefits? All they would need to do is some research. Katherine Peralta writes, “Though the price of education has risen, the out-of-pocket amount students pay is lower than the ‘sticker price,’ given the amount of aid that students receive that they don’t have to pay back, such as grants and tax benefits.” Now is the time to attend college. Though the price of tuition may be intimidating, it does not count the student aid that is available in this country. The government has tried to make college easily accessible to everyone. Depending on many variables such as family income, location, and major, tuition could be much lower than the original price. As the literal price for college decreases, the benefits stay the same. With less cost, but the same amount of benefits, the benefits become more rewarding. The benefits are acquired at a lower cost but the college graduate is still granted with the many advantages. The benefits then outweigh the cost by a greater amount. 

The individual has many benefits that come from obtaining a college degree. Most of these benefits revolve around having a lifestyle that is more rewarding. The most obvious benefit is the increase in income. This is the most beneficial advantage of going to college. In today’s world, money is one of the most important items in life. As more income is available to the college graduate, the benefits of college are endless and personalized. This income can then be used however the graduate decides. This means the benefit of a higher income after a college degree can then be rewrote as whatever the individual buys with the income. This can be chosen by the individual to ensure complete happiness. One of the benefits of going to college was a healthier lifestyle. This means the graduate would be less likely to spend the higher income on unnecessary and damaging items such as tobacco and alcohol. Perhaps the college graduate uses the benefit of having more income to enhance the other benefits that were acquired after college. Throwing a party for the lifelong friends that were acquired in college is a use of the income that enhances some of the other benefits of college such as reliving the experiences of college. All of these things combined will turn an individuals life into a dream. The benefits that the individual received from attending college will continue to outweigh the cost of college more and more every day.

A society can benefit as well when more individuals within the society have college degrees. Contrary to popular belief, there are not enough jobs into today’s societies. David Leonhardt writes, “The pay of people with a four-year college degree has risen compared to that of those with a high school degree but no college credit.” This statistic says a lot about the need for college graduates. If there were enough college graduates to satisfy the jobs that require them, then the pay gap would not be rising. Instead, the pay gap in increasing yearly because the need for college graduates is growing. As more people obtain college degrees, the society will have a lower unemployment level and will be better off because, the jobs that a society need to be successful will be filled by people with college degrees. There are more jobs than there are college graduates. Once the thirst the society has for college graduates is quenched; then society will be better off by having skilled individuals doing the jobs that are required to run a society, and that outweighs the cost of college. 

A society with more college graduates will also create a robust democracy and will be more civilized. Fred D’Agostino says, “The skills that are required to obtain a college degree are the same that are robust democracy and a civilized society.” To obtain a college degree, one needs to be dedicated, have good time management, meet new people and work proficiently with them, and be able to handle stress. These are all skills that are needed to create a robust democracy and civilized society. A society with a workforce full of dedicated people that are working together well is hard to beat. Also, this work force would not be wasting time because they have the skills to know when things are supposed to be done and get them done within the time frame. This will lead to a well-established democracy by having a good workforce to produce the necessities for the society and dedicated officials to keep the society running. A well ran society outweighs the cost of college by not having a society with no structure. 

Another way that the benefits of going to college outweigh the cost for the society is the more college graduates there are, the more productive the work force will be. The entire purpose of college is to introduce new knowledge to the students. This knowledge shows the student that there is much to learn in the world. No one person knows all. The student then realizes that everywhere they look, new knowledge is available to be comprehended. The more college graduates there are, the more knowledge the society will have. Also, the society will be more likely to comprehend new knowledge. Walter McMahon writes, “Higher education creates human capital that is complementary with university-based research and development in both creating and disseminating new knowledge”(183). The human capital in the workforce will be much more productive with more college graduates in the society. The techniques that are used in college to learn the material will then be used in the workforce by the employees to learn and understand the tasks that they are required to do. This will create a workforce that outputs labor at the most productive level. The new knowledge that is learned in the workforce will be comprehended more clearly. This will lead to a workforce that fully understands how to do their job. This means that there will be fewer accidents on the job. Also, there will be less time wasted because fewer questions will be asked on the job. The employee will be more knowledgeable about the jobs process and will be more qualified to make certain decisions that others without a degree would not be able to. 

The society will benefits from a more productive work force in many ways. A more productive workforce would lead to a higher output of goods within the society that could be sold for a profit. The society could then use this increase in profits to build new buildings. These buildings could be used for many different things. They could be used for more stores and restaurants that would increase the profits of the society. They could also be used for tourist attractions such as museums and theme park related activities such as mini golf, indoor go cart racing, or even water parks. The society would then have more activity, which would lead to even more profits that outweigh the costs of college by having more employment available along with higher paying jobs with the boom of the society.

As the civilized society becomes more profitable and more active along with having enough people with college degrees to satisfy all the necessary jobs, more beneficial opportunities open for the society. With all the extra profits that come from a society full of college graduates, more fire departments, police stations, and hospitals could be built to help the citizens of the society more. As the number of first responders rise, the level of deaths and crime would decrease. The society will be a much happier place to live and the citizens of the society will benefit from this and the price that they paid to attend college would now be paying for an improved life in society. Also, with this new expansion available in the society, more colleges can be built. With more colleges being built, this may lower the price of college because of the new competition in the market. With a lower price of college and more colleges available, more people will attend. As stated before, the more college graduates, the more the society will benefits. Therefore, as more people graduate from college, the society will endlessly benefit. 

College is an unforgettable experience. The benefits of attending college are virtually increasing daily. When a college graduate buys an item that causes happiness or pleasure with the income that is higher due to the college degree, they are increasing the benefits that they received from their degree. Likewise, as a society increases the amount of college graduates within it, the society will benefit endlessly. The society will become more profitable, and in return, will have benefits at the microscopic level of the society. With all these benefits, how could anyone say that the price of college is not outweighed by the benefits of obtaining a degree? As time goes on after the degree is acquired, the benefits continue to rise forever. Even after the price of college is paid off, the benefits still continue to grow. The entire price of going to college for an individual is different for everyone. It is dependent on variables such as the time committed, the price, and the loss of opportunities that were taken due to attending college. However, the entire price of college for each individual will be paid back eventually. The price of college will always be outweighed by the benefits. 
