Should Everyone Go To College Essay? Thirty-two per cent of teachers and counsellors recommended that every student attend college forty years ago. In 1990, ten years later, that proportion had increased, with around two-thirds of teachers endorsing college for all students. Signs suggest that the tendency of college recommendations has increased over the past generation, despite a recent boom in favour of professional and technical education.
Should Everyone Go To College Essay
It’s common knowledge that attending college is one of the best things a person can do for themselves. There are advantages to attending college, even though many laugh about how stressful it can be and how it may make individuals physically and mentally unwell.
Even with all of the advantages that come with going to college, there has always been the question of whether it’s worthwhile or even required. The increasing number of college dropouts who go on to become billionaires like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, or regular people who overnight become celebrities and viral hits, is making many wonder if they should even go to college at all.
Poor outcomes result from extrinsic college attendance for students
We learned that a significant number of students from all backgrounds enrol in college to do what’s expected of them or to help them get away from a bad circumstance in their lives. These students attend college for reasons other than the educational experience or the benefits they hope to get. To put it another way, they are driven by outside forces rather than internal objectives. They decide on college because it is a socially acceptable option for their next step in life.
Students who attend college for extrinsic reasons suffer poor outcomes. According to our research, 74 per cent of those who attended college to “do what was expected of them” dropped out or transferred. Of those who went to college “to get away,” over half had left the school they were attending without a degree at the time we talked to them.
Educationist And College
High school teachers should be the first to intervene on behalf of students who could be better served by taking a different route, rather than contributing to the pressure parents frequently put on their children to succeed in college. Indeed, educators need to steer clear of having low expectations that discourage students from pursuing further education due to factors such as family income, race, or ethnicity. Rather, they ought to motivate every pupil to consider their objectives and investigate several routes to fulfilment and achievement.
One way to help is through courses that are now emerging to give students structured opportunities to discover what drives them. They must counter the narrowing of the curriculum over the last couple of decades caused by an overemphasis on test results and the decrease in career and technical education pathways in many schools. Extracurricular activities, experiential learning, and opportunities to build relationships with adults outside of school through real-world projects can help students discover their strengths and interests. Rather than marginalize these opportunities, schools should integrate them into every student’s program.
Benefits of Attending College
Without being compelled here are some benefits of attending college:
Build New Relationships
Beyond merely providing an education, college can serve as a platform for forming a variety of new connections. First, you might get in touch with an academic adviser, who will help you all through college by helping you plan your classes, guiding you to university resources, and supporting and guiding you for success on a personal level, among other things. Your course instructors, or faculty, can also help you comprehend your duties and expectations as a student.
When classes start, your peers will be all around you. Meeting people in your peer group through class discussions or group projects can be a terrific opportunity to establish a professional network, find your future spouse, and build lasting relationships.
Increase Chances of Employment
It’s not uncommon to see “bachelor’s degree required” on job descriptions or listed as a preferred qualification. A 2020 survey, done by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in collaboration with Hanover Research, found a growing number of employers deem college a good investment. Of those surveyed, 87% cited college as “definitely” or “probably” worth it
Achieve Your Personal Goals
While your degree can have many perks for your professional goals, finishing college can be an important personal goal.
Expand Your Opportunities
A college degree can be the extra credential you need to land the dream job you’ve always wanted. Getting your bachelor’s degree may also allow you to view your work as a career and not just a job.
Make a Difference
College can also broaden your horizons by introducing you to a diverse range of perspectives. A chance to engage with other viewpoints can lead you to better understand people who are different from you and situations you have never personally encountered. Earning your college degree can improve the lives of those around you, too. The College Board’s 2019 report on the benefits of higher education for individuals and society notes that college graduates are more likely to donate money to charity organizations
Challenges Surrounding College Education
Financial troubles can significantly impact students’ college experience. Tuition fees, costly textbooks, accommodation expenses, and daily necessities often strain their budgets.
Time management: Finding the time for academics, extracurricular activities, personal life, and maybe even work can be overwhelming. Constantly juggling multiple responsibilities can leave students feeling stressed, exhausted, and struggling to fulfil their obligations.
Academic performance: is arguably the most crucial aspect of the college experience. Therefore, the pressure to excel can often be heavy on students. Dealing with the intense workload, rigorous course- and homework, as well as high expectations set by themselves or others in their lives, can lead to stress and self-doubt.
Reasons to consider alternatives to college
There are many reasons to consider college alternatives, including time investment, personal interests and cost. You might find that college degree programs don’t match your career interests or skills. Earning a college degree also usually takes a minimum of two years for associate’s degrees, four years for bachelor’s degrees for full-time students, and even longer for master’s degrees. If you’re planning to go to school part-time, it can add several years on the path to your degree. College alternatives make it possible to get started on your career much sooner.
In case you are unsure about attending college, you may want to think about these practical alternatives.
Vocational education and trade schools
Trade schools and vocational education provide you with in-depth knowledge of skills needed for particular careers or trades. For example, you might go to a culinary school to become a chef or join a vocational education program to become a stylist. Other vocational education and trade school options include auto, medical, dental, welding, firefighting, law enforcement, animal care and technology. This kind of college alternative can provide a more straightforward path to a fulfilling career since you won’t be taking electives or other classes unrelated to your career path.
Self-paced free and paid resources
Certain careers don’t require any formal education. You can find both free and paid self-paced resources for illustration and animation, coding, video production, design, user experience, and similar types of jobs. A self-paced approach to college alternative allows you to learn skills as slowly or as quickly as you want. Control of timing can also give you the freedom to start building your skills without disrupting your schedule to accommodate formal instruction.
Apprenticeship
You don’t need a college degree for some jobs, such as becoming an electrician or plumber. These jobs require you to develop particular skills and learn how to do specific tasks expertly to reduce the risk of damage or injuries. With these kinds of jobs, you can gain this knowledge as an apprentice. Whether you’re interested in electrical work, plumbing work, masonry, carpentry or similar specialities, an apprenticeship provides you with valuable experience on the job. You can expect to get the skills and training you’ll need for this kind of work while under the guidance of an experienced professional. To explore apprenticeship opportunities in your area.
Conclusion
Too many students go to college not knowing what they want to get out of it or how to make it work for them. Committing to a four-year school and taking on lots of debt when they lack passion and focus for the endeavour is risky, particularly given the grim college completion and student debt statistics.
Instead of forcing college on students, educators would do better to encourage them to consider more than one pathway to a good life. Some pathways will include college now or later and some not. Educators also have a responsibility to help create those pathways, and students’ choices rather than their backgrounds should determine which they take.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are You Going Just Because Others Expect You To?
- For me, this was one of the biggest reasons why I even thought I had to go to college. Everyone else was.
2. Do You Like School Enough to Go Through Four More Years of It?
- Not everyone is put together to sit in lectures, write papers, and become a lawyer, computer scientist, or marine biologist. And that’s okay. It doesn’t make you less intelligent or useful. It just means you’re put together differently.
- Right now, skilled trade work is in high demand and it pays well. If you hate sitting in a classroom for hours on end, you might want to look into getting vocational training. There are tons of cool options.
3. Are You Willing to Put Your Life on Hold?
- While there’s a lot of growing, maturing, and studying to be had at college, it’s still just an extension of your academic life. You won’t be getting on with a career, you won’t have a lot of free time to explore your hobbies, and you might even be living in a dorm where there are a lot of rules about what you can and can’t do with your space and your time.