Why Higher Education?
Many students are attracted by the prospect of being able to generate an income and take up a job immediately after high school. While a high school diploma was sufficient to land a decent job and keep it thirty years back, the situation has definitely changed in the current scenario. You can still find a decent job after high school, but without a higher degree, you are very likely to get stuck in your career path.
One important reason why you should consider a higher degree is more opportunity, according to collegeview.com author Jeff McGuire. “The U.S. has been transformed from a manufacturing-based economy to an economy based on knowledge, and the importance of a college education today can be compared to that of a high school education forty years ago”, he explains.
Author Kathleen Porter in her ericdigests.org article quotes the findings of the Census Bureau, that “over an adult’s working life, high school graduates earn an average of $1.2 million; associate’s degree holders earn about $1.6 million; and bachelor’s degree holders earn about $2.1 million”. Thus a college education is important for higher-paying jobs as well as growth in your career.
Moreover, higher levels of education promote intellectual growth in the student. At the level of post-secondary education, the student gets exposure to many new ideas and stimulating thoughts. He/she also gets to meet achievers and leaders in their chosen field. All this serves to make the student an independent thinker, which is crucial to reach high levels of success in any field.
When you go back to college after a few years of work, you get to learn new concepts in your field and view theoretical learning in the light of hands-on experience. “Over the years, some practices get modified and evolved; higher education provides an opportunity to keep abreast with updates and trends in the field”, according to www.rememberanything.com.
Higher education not only improves the quality of life as the horizons of your awareness and exposure expand, but also has significant benefits to the community and society at large, according to a study by collegeboard.com. “Higher rates of volunteering, voting and donating blood correspond to higher levels of education as do lower unemployment and poverty rates. Similarly, socially valuable behaviors, such as tolerance for the opinions of others, seem to increase with education”, found the study.
When more and more people of a nation attain higher levels of education, it also impacts the economy and cumulative growth in a favorable way. It leads to better growth in the fields of science, technology, business and entrepreneurship as well as culture and social well-being.
Here is a link to some recent findings on the earning potential at different levels of education.
http://www.mdrc.org/area_fact_33.html
The following link throws light on how higher education is viewed in contemporary USA.
http://www.highereducation.org/reports/affordability_pa/affordability_pa4.shtml
By Claudine Vainrub, MBA and Principal of EduPlan
Sources:
http://www.collegeview.com/importance_of_college_education.html
http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/value.htm
http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/185478.html
http://www.rememberanything.com/importance-of-higher-education/