As many students in the United States of America transition from high school and on to a 2-year or 4 year university, they tend to ask themselves the question of whether if a college education is worth it. The debates surrounding this issue range from both sides of the argument. The first side argument is if attending college is worth it. Studies shown by the Pew Research Center show that college graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates. Yet the other side of the argument is that college is not worth it, they contend that the debt from college loans is too high and it delays graduates from saving for retirement, buying a house, or getting married. They also say that many successful people have never graduated from college and that many jobs, especially trades jobs, do not require college degrees. These are a few research questions guiding my research: How does attending a college/university affect a person’s economic stability? What are the downsides of not receiving a college/university education? This research paper fits into a wider debate because this debate of attending college has been around for many years and currently has received a lot of attention due to the increase cost of higher education and a rise of student debt. I respond to this debate by saying that by attending college, students have a higher chance of economic success in the future and a better quality of life.

In the future, the education received from college will be very beneficial to people in many ways. To secure a better future and have economic stability, a college education is definitely worth it. In the Huffington Post’s article, “Debate: Is College Still Worth It?” Dr. Ricardo Azziz claims that college education is worth it. Dr. Ricardo Azziz is the Chief Officer at the Academic Health & Hospital Affairs for State University of New York. He uses the source from The Pew Charitable Trust shows some of the statistics. The Trust shows that 40 percent of us believe it is common for people to start poor and become rich from hard work. The Pew Charitable Trusts is in fact an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization. The Trusts' public policy includes the environment, state policy, economic policy, health and human services. Ricardo also claims that college education is an important differentiator in economic mobility. He also claims that college education is the American dream. Some of the major values in this article show that people can have economic stability and mobility from receiving a degree. Therefore, there is a higher value for people who have a college degree. In another Huffington Post article, “Is College Worth the Cost?” Piyush Mangukiya talks about the career and economic benefits of a college education. He mentions that having a college degree leads to a higher income. Some of the benefits he states include higher income, lower unemployment, and greater job satisfaction. He concludes his article saying that college can be expensive. College education does offer “lifelong benefits, from higher income, to better health, to a better life for one’s children. (Mangukiya)” The author of this article works at the Huffington Post. He used multiple sources and statistical information to prove his argument in his article. Some of which include from the U.S. Census Bureau and research study from the University of Michigan. He also uses statistics form the National Center for Education. After reading this article, I think that people who received a college education and those that do plan attending college can agree with this article. The author has multiple claims on why receiving a college education is beneficial. Though he does mention that college can be expensive, he believes receiving a degree will lead to a better life. A college education raises the student’s chance of economic success in the future. By going to college people can change their wealth status and experience new things. College is a great place to help students explore what they want to do in the future and the career path they decide to take.

Even though a college education might have its perks, there are also many downsides of attending college. Some of those downsides include student debt, loans, delaying time for retirement, marriage, and work that does not require a college degree. In The Week’s article “Why a college degree isn't worth what it once was,” Jeff Spross talks about how receiving a college degree back then is completely different now. Some of the things he includes in his article are growing wage inequality among college graduates. He mainly talks about the fluctuation of wages between college graduates and high school graduates. He says that the wages for college graduates has declined. He mentions that jobs pay the person depending on the certain skill set they have and if they perform the task properly rather than based on the degree they have received. Jeff Spross and he is a business and economics correspondent for The Week. In this article he uses claims from another journalist of the New Yorker whose name is John Cassidy. He provides statistical evidence from the Economic Policy Institute and Washington Center for Equitable Growth. The author is biased towards saying that college education is not worth it. The major values he discusses in this article include inequality between educational groups. He argues with the point that a college degree is no guarantee of receiving a proper job suited to that degree. One of the most common disadvantages of attending college is costs and debt. College can be really expensive, with the costs continuing to rise, and many college graduates are burdened with student loan debt. According to the College Board, they have reported that the cost of attendance for an in-state public college for the 2014-2015 academic year averaged $23,410. The cost of attendance at a private college is averaged about $46,272. Most students that do receive financial aid can cover at least part of the cost of attendance if they do require financial need. However, many students do not receive financial aid. In order to fully cover the costs, they take on unsubsidized student loans to finance their education. Student loan debt has gone from $260 billion in 2004 to $1.2 trillion in 2014. Average debt per student jumped from $18,650 to $33,000. Student loan debt can dramatically impact your life after your graduate. It can affect the jobs you take and cause you to delay buying a house or starting a family. In a video by Susan Sualny from Yahoo news, Sualny interviews the movie director Andrew Rossi about his film Ivory tower. This film documents the rise of student debt and costs of higher education. Andrew Rossi is an American filmmaker, known for directing documentaries such as Page One: Inside the New York Times. In this video, he talks about how receiving a degree from a community college is a lot better than attending a 4-year institution. Rossi mentions that the rise of cost and debts has a huge impact on students. He says that the solution to this is by attending a community college can help problems dealing with student debt and expenses. In Peter Cappelli’s “Will College Pay Off?: A Guide to the Most Important Financial Decision You'll Ever Make” describes the reality of higher education and major changes taking place in labor markets. This book provides an analysis of how investing in a college education can be harmful or helpful. The main idea is to show that college has always been placed in the path of getting a good job and secure income. Peter mentions, “if academic skills and knowledge were the important factor in a high school education, we would see GED holders do just about as well in the labor market as high school grads do” (Cappelli 38). He says that academic knowledge is not necessarily required but good work ethic and social skills are. Cappelli wants us to get the least expensive degree from a normal, reputable university where you can have the standard social college experience. As Cappellu says "the biggest thorn in the side of the view that academic knowledge and skills learned in the classroom determine the payoff from jobs in the future may come from studies of achievement in college as measured by grades and the relationship with performance in jobs" (Cappelli 40). While in college, he wants students to focus on mental development and learning how to learn. Lastly, he mentions that after we graduate, we should expect to change jobs and careers throughout our working life. He also looks into the cost side of attending college. Though he establishes points between the both of sides of the argument, he doesn’t conclude with definite answer to the question. With an increase of college tuition and rise of student debt, most of the students decide to not continue with their college education. 

There are few statistics and data that shown from the Pew Research Center. For example, one of the main downsides of attending college is the student loan debt. About 42 million Americans owed $1.3 trillion in student debt and 45% of people with student loan debt said college was not worth it as of 2016. The number of student debt has increased from 25% to 43%, and their average loan balance was $20,326 in 2012 a 91% increase since 2003. Only 10% of students have graduated with over $40,000 in debt and about 1% has $100,000 in debt. These statistics show how students have drastically been affected by student debt. In 2011, the average student borrowed about $26,600 in debt. In June 2016, undergraduate college graduates had an average of $37,173 in loan debt. Another downside from attending college is the rising tuition. The rising tuition had made it difficult for the average American to pay for college without incurring debt. According to Pew Research Center, the average cost for a 4-year degree (including room and board) increased 130% for private schools and 131.4% for public schools from fall 1982 to fall 2012, while median family income increased 10.9%. Also the annual tuition rates for 4-year public colleges have increased by 27% from the 2007-2008 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. Another statistic from the Pew Research Center shows that in 2013, 68.9% of employed new college graduates did not receive health insurance through their employers and, in 2011, 27.2% received retirement coverage (down from 41.5% in 2000). Even after receiving a college degree, people had a minimum and low effect on coverage for health insurance. This states that a college degree has no guarantee of workplace benefits. Also college degrees do not guarantee learning or job preparation. Many students graduate from college with little understanding of math, reading, civics, or economics. As of 2011, about 35% of students enrolled in college reported they studied 5 hours or less per week and there was a 50% decline in the number of hours a student studied and prepared for classes compared to a few decades ago. 36% of students demonstrated no significant improvement on Collegiate Learning Assessments after 4 years of college. “In 2013, 56% of employers thought half or fewer of college graduates had the skills and knowledge to advance within their companies. 30% of college graduates felt college did not prepare them well for employment, specifically in terms of technical and quantitative reasoning skills” (Pew Research Center). This shows that colleges do not even prepare their students with the skills required but yet they bill the students with significant amount of money spent on education. The 2011 Pew Research survey found that 57% of Americans felt higher education did not provide students with good value compared to the money spent. Though these statistics show the downsides of attending college, there are other statistics that prove that college is worth it. It is shown that college graduates have more and better employment opportunities. “According to the Pew Research Center, about 85.2% of college freshman in 2015 said they attended college to "be able to get a better job” (Pew Research Center). As of 2015, 6.2% of college graduates were underemployed (insufficient work), compared to 12.9% of high school-only graduates and 18.7% of people without a high school diploma. This also shows that College graduates are more likely to receive on-the-job formal (22.9%) or informal (17.2%) training, more access to technology, and ability to enhance skills compared to high school graduates. Also College graduates attract higher paying employers to their communities. It is shown that College graduates are more likely to have health insurance and retirement plans. About 70% of college graduates had access to employer-provided health insurance compared to 50% of high school graduates in 2008. “In 2008 , about 70% of college graduates who were 25 years old and older had access to retirement plans in 2008 compared to 65% of associate's degree holders, 55% of high school graduates, and 30% of people who did not complete high school” (Pew Research Center). Also most college graduates have lower poverty rates. Therefore, the poverty rate for bachelor's degree holders was at 4%, compared to a 12% poverty rate for high school graduates. “In 2005, married couples with bachelor's degrees were least likely to be below the poverty line (1.8%) compared to 2.7% of associate's degree holders, 4.6% of couples with some college, and 7.1% of high school graduates” (Pew Research Center).  

Overall, college is very beneficial to people and those that want an experience of education. As a college student I can relate to the benefits and downsides of receiving a degree.  There are people who argue that college is worth it. They say that college graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates. But people also argue that that college is not worth it contend that the debt from college loans, being able to afford college, and delays having a settled life. Yet there are a lot of consequences that prevent talented people to obtain a college education, among them is money. There are a lot of individuals that live below the poverty line and even having a great talent in the discipline they are not able to afford the education because prices for the college are high. In addition, each year the cost of college education grows makes it not possible for more and more families to pay for the college education of their kids. Despite these conditions, those who are fortunate enough to attend college can make it very beneficial to themselves. They are able experience a positive consequence after their years of education. Also, students can be more beneficial if they attend a college that best suits themselves. By attending college, students have a higher chance of economic success in the future, have a better quality of life, and undergo a great opportunity to explore a wide variety of possible paths.
