Many high school students know the plan that is expected of them. Once they graduate, they should attend a four-year university or community college with the intention of transferring. They may also have their sights set on graduate school after graduation. However, more and more students today are beginning to question this chain of events. With tuition costs rising exponentially, teens and their parents want to know, now more than ever, whether college is worth the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars it ends up costing. With such a huge amount of money at stake, many students are forced to choose a major based on salary instead of passion, just so they can pay off their student loans. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Other students simply choose to attend a trade school to avoid the seemingly unnecessary general education requirements imposed by most college programs. However, there is still value in studying passions, taking classes out of interest, and sitting in physical classrooms. College tuition pays for tangible skills, yes, but it also provides many invaluable experiences and lessons. Earning a college degree is often considered the logical path to a lucrative career, but a college education also results in lasting improvements in social interactions. What can $100,000 buy? By investing in a college education, students usually earn more money and have more. possibility of employment compared to workers who have only obtained a high school diploma. This is currently the most common and compelling reason given by students for deciding to attend university. While most people believe that a college degree is necessary to take advantage of these benefits, simply completing community college is enough to make a difference. In his article “There Are Economic Benefits to Getting a College Degree,” Jonathan Rothwell notes that “among the employed, the average college-educated worker earns 84 percent more than the average worker with only a high school education. Even those with only a few college degrees and no college or graduate degrees earn 16% more. People also commonly think that a college education only helps college graduates earn more money, but Rothwell also points out that it's much easier to find any job in general after earning a bachelor's degree. Its data shows that despite exorbitant tuition and record student debt, college still pays off in the long term. This economic profit not only benefits the individual, but is good for society as a whole. If more people had a college education, more people would earn more money and have the ability to add more money to the economy. Furthermore, the most successful companies that create more jobs and help the national economy were most often founded by college-educated entrepreneurs (Rothwell). This is one of the many reasons why an educated population is beneficial to a country. So, while the current generation could easily be fooled into thinking that college costs are now too high to be offset by a lifetime salary, research shows that getting that degree is still one of the smartest investments you can make. Attending college fosters growth in many ways, leading to better communication, managementof time and critical thinking skills. Too often, students measure the value of their college courses only by the information they are taught that pertains strictly to their preferred career. What they fail to see are the life skills they learn in all their college classes, be they English, math, or history. Taking classes with rigor and high expectations as in college courses teaches skills that, while not specific to one field, are absolutely necessary in any career and in life. In explaining the importance of college in “No, It Doesn't Matter What You Graduate In,” Carlo Rotella lists some of these skills that are learned simply by succeeding in a difficult class: “You can assimilate and organize large, complex bodies of information; you can analyze such information to create results that are of value to others; and you can express your ideas in clear, purposeful language. Even just taking a couple of college courses puts us ahead of a high school student at his or her best analytical and organizational ability. Taking an introductory English course not only satisfies a writing requirement, but teaches the student how to communicate persuasively. Taking a basic science course not only eliminates lab requirements, but teaches the student how to think and react quickly when a problem arises. A math class may end up lowering a student's GPA, but through that course they learn to manage time through evening homework problems and understand different perspectives through the multiple ways a solution can be found. These very skills demonstrate that a student is employable, which is why Rotella thinks these are even more important than any knowledge learned in mainstream classes, simply stating that “if you worked hard and did your job well and your teachers did theirs, An employer will know that “you have spent four years developing a set of skills that will serve you well in the postindustrial job market.” College-level classes, while sometimes stressful and frustrating, are, ultimately, beneficial to the student, giving them skills that they may not have acquired if the class had been as stressful as the classes they took in high school. Frequently attending college classes includes interacting with a diverse group of people, which in turn leads to greater understanding and a more open mind. Often, this may be the first time a student is surrounded by groups of people of a different socioeconomic status or race than their own, as many people travel from the neighborhood where they grew up to go to college. It's important for everyone to be exposed to diversity in their lives so they can hear stories of experiences different from what they've had, opening their minds to new perspectives. It also has more tangible benefits, as Lee Bollinger reports in “Both Racial Diversity and Class Diversity Benefit College Campuses,” “Empirical studies have shown that exposure to a culturally diverse college community environment has a positive impact on students with respect to their critical thinking. ”. , pleasure in reading and writing and intellectual curiosity”. Once exposed to new people and cultures, students can become curious about the rest of the world. Additionally, taking classes at a different college forces students to interact with others they otherwise would not have interacted with. To maintain peace, students must learn to communicate and work effectively with those who are different from them, preparing them for post-graduation jobs. Sheltered students who move straight from high school into the world ofThey may have been surrounded by homogeneity all their lives, and once they begin working with adults from all over the world, they may have difficulty learning to relate to them and understand their opinions. Overall, attending a diverse college makes a student a better person, decreases the possibility of racism, and allows them to coexist peacefully with the rest of the world. By becoming more educated citizens, students become more informed members of society, capable of enriching democracy. analyzing political rhetoric and understanding multiple perspectives. Limited access to education not only harms the individual, but also the population. If a democratic society is made up primarily of uneducated individuals, they will not be able to make the best choices for their country and will not have the knowledge needed to notice when democracy is being taken away from them. As one of his three arguments in “3 Reasons Why College Still Matters,” AndrewDelbanco touches on the importance of education in politics: “The best chance we have for maintaining a functioning democracy is a citizenry that can distinguish between demagoguery and responsible topics”. Something you learn in college-required English courses is the ability to understand the tools of persuasion. An educated student will be able to decipher whether a political candidate is being honest or creating a shaky argument based on biased and unreliable statements. They will have the critical thinking skills to know what questions to ask to receive the most in-depth and meaningful answers. They learned in philosophy, after reading Plato's views on government, what makes a government function smoothly and justly. They know what role they personally want their government to play, after learning about different types of government in political science, and they are motivated to vote to move closer to that ideal. They have studied history and written analytical essays that will help them avoid making the mistakes of the past. Through group projects, presentations and heated debates, they learned how to create and counter arguments, perhaps even allowing them to work in politics themselves. The entire college experience makes a student not only more likely to vote, but also to research, ask tough questions, and inevitably cast an informed and intelligent vote, resulting in just and necessary legislation that improves their lives and the lives of others. their community. Some still say that college is not the right path for everyone, because it can still end up making a student lose money. In their essay “A College Degree Is Not a Smart Investment for Everyone,” Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill acknowledge that, on average, a college education is worth it, financially; however, they also point out that "According to census calculations, the lifetime earnings of an education or arts graduate working in the service industry are actually lower than the average lifetime earnings of a high school graduate." It's true that the profit from college can sometimes be a loss instead. This largely depends on the type of school, the cost of the school, and the specialization you choose. Any student can ensure they receive the greatest return on their education costs by doing research before attending. A student can choose to attend a community college or state school rather than a private institution and decide on a major based on the salary they will earn in their chosen career. And yes, some students may find that it is a better choice, personally, to enter directly into the workforce after high school or attend a trade school,.