College Still Matters
In today’s world going to college has become part of the “norm,” and as a junior and senior in high school nearly every adult urges kids that going to college is necessary. It does not matter if you want to go to college or not, many people have the perception that you will not succeed without further education. While going to college is still very important, it is not a way of finding success for everyone.
14,473,884 people are enrolled in either public or private undergraduate programs as I write this paper. That means, that unless they attend a postgraduate program, to obtain a masters degree or to further their education, within the next 4 years, these 14 million people will be put out into the workforce, and expected to compete for the same few jobs. The number of college graduates working minimum wage jobs is nearly 71 percent higher than it was a decade ago. This means that out of these 14 million people it is inevitable that some of these people will be working minimum wage jobs even after receiving a proper education. In fact 284,000 college graduates were working at or below the minimum wage in the year 2012.
The average student takes about $42,000 in loans for their education. With that being said, each payment would be upwards of about $300 a month post graduation. That means, each month if you worked a 37.5 hour work week at McDonalds, you would make enough money to pay back only your loans, before taxes. Nevemind rent, car expenses to get to and from work, and other expenses such as food and insurance.
After looking at that information, are you willing to gamble with upwards of $40,000? Everyday thousands of successful people whom we look up to and envy, live a happy healthy life with absolutely no college degree. Actresses, insurance appraisers, powerline installers, loan officers and even pilots, all wake up everyday, and go to work, never having to worry about the burden of their student loan payments. In fact,...