Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
Although it requires lots of money, time, and hard work, the hopes of getting a good
job and a successful future has always been an Incentive for students to go to college.
Unfortunately, in the worsening economy, getting an college education has bigger risks than
ever due to financial costs being so great, and this seems to be influencing the general public’s
view of college. However, people are overlooking the fact that college greatly increases the
chances of you getting into a good job with high pay, and leading you to a more successful
future.
One of the biggest reasons for why people choose not to go to college, is because it
costs so much money and time, and yet, does not guarantee a good job. Every economic
decision that we make involves giving up something, and when that “something” includes
money or time, the stakes are set to a whole new level. It is understandable that some people
would choose not to go, but there is one thing that you should always keep in mind; We live in
a society where the first step to success often starts with a degree in college. High school
dropouts will have a tough time finding a decent job. If you don’t want to spend the rest of
your life living in the lower half of society, you should risk the money and time, and go to
college. Maybe you will find that it is not as scary as it seems. In a survey of 3000 people who
went to college, more than 60% said that they were able to pay back the debt, and about the
same percentage of people said that student loans had little to no significant impacts on their
life decision (Emmiline Zhao, 2010). Going to college definitely seemed to pay off for the
majority of the people that went. I am not saying you have to go to college in order to have a
successful future, nor am I saying going to college will get you into a good job. People respond
to Incentives in predictable ways. Some people would take only the extreme costs of college as
an incentive not to go, while others would take the fact that college greatly increases the
chance for a better job, as an incentive to attend college. If you do choose to go to college, it is
important to use the concept of Economic Reasoning, an analysis of the costs and benefits
to make rational decisions. If you don’t, you might end up like the student who went to
Princeton, and ended up working at a video store (Cris Isidore, 2011).
Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
Like I have said, just going to any college will not guarantee you a high paying job.
The Problem is that, different colleges offer different levels of different major’s, and so
students have to ask themselves, “which college is most likely going to get me into the job I
want?” For example, lets say you decided to go to college, and you narrowed down the
Alternatives into 3 colleges: Carnegie Mellon University, Wesleyan University, and Purdue
University. The 3 Criteria you will use is the cost, level of education, and likelihood of
getting you not just any job, but one you want, and one with a good salary. You will then
Evaluate the three colleges using the criteria that you chose.
The first university you are considering, Carnegie Mellon, is a university located in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is known for it’s programs in science and technology, and is the
only school ranked in the top 25 colleges that was built in the 21st century (US News, 2011).
Everything sounds great so far, until you get to the price tag. It costs $43,396 to go to
Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
Carnegie Mellon. Because it costs so much, going to Carnegie Mellon university has bigger
Consequences if you do not succeed, like being in debt and not being able to pay it off.
Every economic decision that we make have consequences that lie in the future, and the
magnitude of it, in this case, depends on how much the college costs to go. If you pay close to
$50,000, for a college, and don’t get a decent job, the risk you took to go to college would
have been a loss. This is where students have to use the concept of Economic Reasoning.
Carnegie Mellon has an excellent science and technology program. In the world today, the
demand for better technology rises by the minute. If you go to Carnegie Mellon and take the
sceince or technology program as a major (which most people do), you should be able to get a
job fairly easily and pay back the debt, taking into account the fact that from 2009-2010, 85%
of CMU graduates were employed (“AA Degree,” 2011). If you are willing to give up more
money to get a better education, Carnegie Mellon is for you. When you give up a little bit of
something to get a little more of something else, it is called a trade-off.
Just like Carnegie Mellon University, Wesleyan Univeristy located in Middletown,
Connecticut, is also very expensive, but provides a high level of education. It is part of the the
“Little Three”, (Top 3 liberal arts school group) which is the same as the “Big Three” except
for liberal arts schools. It costs $43,674 to go to (US News, 2011). Getting a good job really
depends on which major you take. If you, for example, take biology as a major, one of the
fasetst growing careers in the world (careeronestop, 2011), you should have no problem
finding a job. If you take History, you may struggle a bit more. Because of the high price tag
and the shakey guarantee of a job, going to Wesleyan University has huge risks. Many, like
university professor Barbara Hofer of Columbia University, say that a Liberal Arts college is
the ideal college to go to for a succesful future, while others like journalist Naomi Gladen say
that it is not worth the money nor the experience. A Liberal Arts college may or may not
guarantee a good job, depending on the major you take.
Then, on the other hand, you have Purdue University which is a cheap, but well
respected university in the state of Indiana. It only costs $9478 (US News, 2011) in-state, and
a more modest $24,646 out-of-state, which is still one of the cheaper universities in the US.
Even though the price of the college is relatively low, the level of education you receive is not.
Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
Purdue is said to have a great biology course, a wide variety of majors related to aerospace,
and incredible engineering courses. With a relatively low cost, a good academic reputation,
and a numerous amount of majors, Purdue University seems like the perfect college to go to.
It even has an acceptance rate of over 60%, so students with an average grade would still be
able to get in. This may be an incentive, something that motivates people to do something,
for students to go to Purdue. If all the universities was like Purdue and has a high acceptance
rate, good academic reputation, and cheap costs, I believe that more and more students would
go to college. Unfortunately, universities like Purdue are scarce, desireable but limited.
Cost
Level of Edcuation
Likelihood
for
employment
Carnegie Mellon
-
++
++
Wesleyan (1 point)
-
+
+
Purdue (4 points)
++
+
+
(3 points)
Out of these 3 choices, Purdue would definitely be my Choice, my final Decision.
This is because it is cheap, which means that the risks are smaller if I do not succeed. I have
less to lose, than if I went to the other 2 schools. Not to mention, all of these schools provide a
world class education. The only difference is that one of them is very cheap. Carnegie Mellon,
my second best choice I gave up for my first choice, would be my Opportunity Cost. What
may be the most important factor for choosing to go to college or not, may not be the price of
college, but whether the college has the resources to get you into a good job.
Although finding the right college is very hard, what lies on the other side of any
college education (even one you don’t want) will often lead you to a brighter future, than not
getting an education at all. By going to college, you can greatly improve your reading, writing,
and most importantly, research skills; all sets of skills that are valuable tools when getting a
job (Barbara Hofer, 2011). Statistics show that less than 4.3% of college grads this year are
unemployed (Judith Clayton 2011), whereas the unemployment rate for non-college grads is
Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
more than 10%. This proves that college does increase the chances of you getting a job.
Another study shows that students with a bachelor's degree earn 60% more than those with
just a high school diploma. If we translate this writing in actual dollar's instead of
percentages, it would look like this; College grads are likely to earn a whopping $1,000,000
more in their lifetime than non-college grads (Judith Clayton, 2011) which proves that college
grads are likely to get better paying jobs than non-college grads. On top of all of this, some of
the highest paying jobs in the world require advanced understanding and knowledge of the
field, which can only be aquired by attending college.
With clear evidence and statistics emphasizing that college grads are more likely to
have a better job and earn more money than non-college grads, going to college is a risk that
everybody should take. Although it is a big and often frightful one, the benefits of college
outweigh the consequences in several ways. Just as Wayne Grtetzky said, “You'll always miss
100% of the shots you don't take” (Wayne Gretzky, n.d.). Don’t expect to get a good job, or as
a matter of fact, a good future if you don’t take the necessary risks. The first step towards
success for most people started with a college education
Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
References
AA degree [CMU graduate unemployment rate increases 8 percent in past 10 years].
(2011, September 2). Retrieved October 20, 2011, from
http://www.aa-degree.info/
cmu-graduate-unemployment-rate-increases-8-percent-in-past-10-years/
Clayton, J. S. (2011, August 23). The opinion page [Do we spend too much on
education]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/23/
spending-too-much-time-and-money-on-education/
education-is-a-good-bet-but-no-guarantee
College confidential [Wesleyan University]. (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011,
from http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wesleyan-university/
882781-how-good-wesleyan-university.html
Goldman, L. (n.d.). Business insider [Is college worth it?]. Retrieved October
14, 2011, from http://www.businessinsider.com/
Mrs. Welbes
Kohei Joshi
10/11/11
Is College Worth it Report
is-college-worth-it-2011-5?op=1a
Hofer, B. (n.d.). Do we spend too much in education? [Preparation for work].
Retrieved August 23, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/
08/23/spending-too-much-time-and-money-on-education/
preparing-for-a-knowledge-economy
“LIttle ivy”. (n.d.). In Wikipedia Retrieved July 27, 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Three
The U [College overview]. (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011, from
http://www.theu.com/college_reviews_view/purdue_university/
great_school_bad_location_2549
US News [Education Colleges]. (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011, from
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/purdue-1825