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Brayden Bailey
Engl 1010
Camie Schaefer
11/29/15
The Decision of Pursuing Higher Education
Many High School students and young adults are struggling with a very important step in
their lives. This step is deciding on the path for their future into adulthood. This is a crucial
stepping stone in their lives, because this often determines the well-being and success of not only
their lives, but the well-being of their future families. Most people assume that College is the
only way to have any taste of success in this world, but the reality is there are many ways to
succeed in todays society. Personally, I believe that the majority of the population need higher
education for the career paths they intend to follow in their lives, but most people pursue
education in all the wrong ways to obtain a degree. A college degree is almost a necessity for
those who plan to have a career in anything besides trades such as welding, construction,
automotive, etc. but the problem lies in students taking terrifying amounts of debt, and pursuing
degrees that have terrible employment rates, or are extremely competitive fields in finding a
stable career.
Although there can be some major risks in going for a bachelors degree, it is a very
smart investment if you approach it the right way. Stephen Rose wrote in his essay The Value of
a College Degree that earnings are significantly higher for holders of Bachelors degrees than
just a high school education. When the US economy recovered from a bad recession in the late
1970s profit in wages skyrocketed for undergrads in the early 1980s (Rose, Pg. 2). Undergrads

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were making upwards of 40% higher salaries than high school graduates, and an astonishing
80% more by year 2000. Although profit for undergrad students has greatly decreased because of
the 2007 Great Recession, Rose still insists on lasting benefits of obtaining a college degree. He
emphasizes this point by stating The main arguments in favor of earning a college degree are
based on college graduates larger earnings over a lifetime, lower unemployment rates, better
health, higher marriage rates, and greater civic involvement.(Rose, Pg. 2). This statement shows
alternate benefits that arent all money related, but nonetheless still very important. This sentence
really shows that a college degree is crucial for social and personal success. The lowered
unemployment rate is extremely important especially in todays economy, because company layoffs are far too common of a practice for companies looking to save money. Realistically, stable
employment that lasts till retirement is far more important than a high paying job that only last
for a couple of years, because stability will help you to budget and live comfortably for the rest
of your life where a short-term job will leave you scrambling for employment once that time has
passed.
Another very important topic to discuss is the type of degree you are trying to pursue.
Many students assume its a wise decision to obtain a degree in whatever major they like, and
expect to make a good living off of these wages. Often times if students pursue a degree in the
Arts, sometimes they will end up making less money annually than a high school graduate
working in sales. This is a crucial idea to think about, because it really shows how to make a
living in the right way. Statistics have shown that someone with a Bachelors in the Arts can
make as little as $40,000 per year, but someone with a degree in engineering fields or computer
science can make upwards of $87,000 per year with only a Bachelors degree. Rose explains that
these differences I earnings actually attribute to the knowledge base, and difficulty of the job at

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hand. For example, Computer Science, and Engineering are very difficult jobs because of the
required knowledge to perform the jobs daily requirements, vs. teaching or arts that have a
slightly more limited education requirement. These statistics really show that the right career
path is one or the very most important consideration one should consider when deciding whether
or not to attend college.
Aside from choosing your career path early, the cost of your degree is debatably the most
important decision a new college student can make before pursuing school. The media have
effectively exaggerated the cost of college by a large amount. Newspapers report that the cost of
school is upwards of $60,000, but this isnt an accurate representation of what a college student
actually has to spend in their lifetime. This number includes cost of living, room and board, and
also is going off of some of the most expensive private institutions one can go to. That $60,000
amount also does not include Pelgrants, grants, scholarships, and student savings that a student
may have acquired to assist them with college costs. The realistic cost to students is only $2,900
at community colleges and around $11,000 for 4-year institurions. These costs would add up to
around $24,800 if you start at a community college, and $44,000 if you were to start at a private
institution. While these numbers seem rather high, most students can realistically save up for the
majority of these costs. If more students would be willing to work hard and have employment
while attending school, they could have a much easier time finishing their degree with no debt,
or at least a significantly lowered amount of debt.
Of course most of us want to go to school, and obtain a degree, but with the current
system and how we approach education, is this really the best option for the majority of kids
fresh out of high school? Gerald Graff writes that college is a very important investment, but
discusses how it could be beneficial for us to approach education in a different way considering

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its been exactly the same since the 1800s. Graff states in his essay Hidden Intellectualism he
makes a point of saying I believe that street smarts beat out book smarts in our culture not
because street smarts are nonintellectual, as we generally suppose, but because they satisfy an
intellectual thirst more thoroughly than school culture, which seems pale and unreal. (Graff, Pg.
268). This idea really shows how most of us assume jocks or meatheads are assumed to be
less intelligent that scholars, but shows the truth that they are often just as intelligent, and
sometimes more intelligent than book oriented people. Graff explains that there is a very logical
reason behind this. He explains that taking an interest in sports or other competitive events
actually takes a lot of dedication and knowing the ins and outs of said sport. It also requires these
individuals to have a very strong knowledge base in statistics and knowing the scoring behind
these sporting events.
These observations really support the idea that we may need to approach our education
differently, especially where its been that same for so long. As humans progress, its important
for our society to progress along with it. Rather than eliminating the idea of college altogether, if
we change this approach it will still give new High School graduates the obvious and sometimes
even hidden benefits of college. Freeman Hrabowski writes about college being a very important
element in preparing young adults for the real world at hand after school. College is very
important in educating students about finances and helping them to be successful in supporting a
family. Hrabowski emphasizes the issue at hand is the timing in preparing students for life. High
School students arent learning nearly enough about finances and real world problems they will
likely face after college. With the escalating costs of college, students are taking loans the size of
average car loans oblivious to the risks that will cause down the road. If there are more high

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school courses centered on real life scenarios, this would help students to make much wiser
decisions in taking debt, and only borrowing the bare minimum of what they need for school.
As we have discussed the topic at hand, its very important for us to mention some related
issues that have yet to be covered. Aside from going to school, and getting the right job, new
undergrads need to be very aware of budgeting, and knowing how to pick the right homes, cars,
and other necessities after school. It is a very important lesson for these people to understand
living within their means. If there is one piece of advice I can provide to those of you reading
this essay, you should think of your future with every important decision you make in your life.
Make sure you do everything you can to pay for school out of pocket, and only take loans for
what you cant possibly cover. If you take this advice, your college experience will most likely
be a worthwhile investment for you to be successful in your career.

Works Cited

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Graff, Gerald. They Say I Say (with readings) Hidden Intellectualism. Ed. Cathy Birkenstein,
Russel Durst, New York, NY, W.W Norton and Company, Inc., Text Book Pg. 264
Hrabowski, Freeman. They Say I Say (with readings) Colleges Prepare People for Life. Ed.
Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York, NY, W.W. Norton and
Company, Inc., Text Book Pg. 259.
Rose, Stephen. The Value of a College Degree. Georgetown, Georgetown Center on Education.
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