A think tank based in Washington D.C. called Third Way has released a report based on a study on college education they recently conducted. It was reported that graduates after college education earn similar to high school graduates.
Although this is alarming, it is an interesting find too. A college education is considered as an indispensable key to a better financial future, but it no longer is apparently.
Students graduating from college in 2018 usually landed a job with an average salary of around $28000. Over the years in American history, a college education is a huge focus for high school graduates.
Earlier, only the wealthy ones could attend college, but now, a college education is becoming more of a trend, with parents forcing their children into it. The recent college admissions scandals involving celebrities and well-known people are huge proof of that.
High school students, especially with a decent financial background have huge pressure on them to enroll for a college course after high school. Some of them might not be interested or not even possess the skills it takes, but they are pressured excessively.
College education puts a huge financial burden on students’ shoulders
There are teenagers in the country with debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars to support their education. Later they find jobs, using most of it to repay the loans. A 17-year-old kid, who has no right to vote, smoke, drink makes up a decision to take a loan which he might have to pay till his mid-thirties. Also, it is not a guarantee that a college degree will land you in a great job.
Another huge problem in college education is that a lot of degrees do not have a decent market value. When a student enters a college, he has no other option than to keep attending the college. Parents would love to boast about it in gatherings and all, but that does leave the child with a huge debt and excessive pressure.
As we progressed during the years, we have started seeing a blue collared job inferior to a white collared one. A blue-collar person, however it may look like, will most likely earn more than a white-collar person and within a few years, he or she can own a personal garage, factory, logistics company.
It is not that higher education is entirely a waste of money, but parents and society need to consider everything into the picture, along with the students’ interest and the skills they want to learn.
