Are universities still worth the time, effort and cost incurred

            One of the main advantage of people struggle to achieve a higher education degree is that it provides a financial security for the future through the steady proffessional development and income obtained. Enrolling for a university degree is regarded as an absolute route for an individual to be enlighten and achieve success. In the United States of America, the pressure on young people to enroll and complete college is high and increasing every day (Oreopoulos & Petronijevic, 2013). As such, the American government through the leadership of President Barrack Obama acknowledge the significance of college education as an economic imperative that should be made accessible by all Americans by 2020 (Oreopoulos & Petronijevic, 2013).  As such, the need for obtaining college education has increased exponentially as a way of achieving financial security. Individuals with a university degree earn 65% more than high school graduates while those with higher qualification are paid twice or three times more.  The worth of university education has complicated the contemporary society and markets, which have now become competitive and challenging. Consequently, obtaining a job security by understanding the surrounding can only be achieved through acquiring university education. Similarly, premium earnings will steadily increase as workers advanced in their career path (Wellemeyer, 2019). Although acquiring a university degree requires effort, time and money, it is a sure strategy to access more employment opportunities and remains essential in our modern economies and society.

Education is an important requirement to get employment and income in the future, but it comes with costs and debt disadvantage. Many of the university degrees do not reflect the need of the market and employers do not benefit from such graduates. For example, Google is a giant technology company in the world that has moved its recruitment from academic credentials in the GPAs and are now focusing on exceptional abilities. According to Nisen (2014), Google’s recruitment is focused on establishing individuals who never attended university, but have made it in life through exceptional abilities and skills. This change of recruitment strategy is influenced by the fact that many schools have failed to deliver on what they promise for the employment market (Nisen, 2014).

In return, the university only generate a ton of debt for teaching what is not required by the market. Additionally, enrolling for a university degree causes a debt burned to the graduates as well. A survey by the National Union of Students showed that more than half of the respondents believed that their degrees were not worthy the tuition fees charged. According to Havergal (2015), 56% of UK University leavers have been charged £9,000 every year and they do not believe their degrees are worthy such a value. Majority of the 664 respondents in the survey stated that high fee charged is the main reason that makes their courses to have bad value and not the quality of education. Particularly, 70% arts graduates believe their course had bad value because of the high cost charged as fees (Havergal, 2015). This shows that high cost of enrolling for university degrees makes the course have bad value, but the quality of education is still integral.

Secondly, achieving high levels of education is faced with the disadvantage of high unemployment among graduates. Individuals with high college qualifications have a higher chance of getting a job compared to those with high school diploma. According to a study by the USA Today in 2014, the number of unemployed university graduate was at 7.9% compared to 13.8% for those with high school diploma. This research finding does not support the common perception that higher education reduces the chance of being unemployed, but instead, you can still get higher education qualification and remain unemployed. According to Havergal (2015), some large firm and recruiters have stopped considering success in university as a major factor in securing employment. No evidence has been provided to supported success in proffessional qualification with university education. For example, Ernst and Young have stated that they will no longer require students to have a degree and the equivalent of three B grades at A levels as a basis for a graduate program. Instead, they will be focusing in numerical tests and online assessments to determine suitability of applicants. This clearly shows the university is not worth the time, effort and cost.

The main advantages of acquiring university education is because it increases chance of getting employment, better healthy lifestyles, good income and social recognition. Backs et al. (2015), have found out that college degrees are well known to be rewarding especially for those people with MBA levels within the US labour market. Young people from poor families have only the option of acquiring university education to achieve upward mobility in life.  The American Council of Education undertook a national survey to evaluate the response of graduates about their own experiences. According to Whissemore (2011), the study investigated 400 young alumni and 89% agreed that education have value. Concerning the effectiveness of college experiences 81% of the respondents supported it. Overall, 62 % of those polled stated that university are effective in preparing students to the demands of modern workforce. Employability and income are the leading factors that support the worth and effort of pursing university education. According to Pew Research Center (2014), college graduates aged between 25-32 who work on full time jobs earn 17,500 USD every year compared to their peers with high school diploma.  This supports the position that university are worth time, effort and cost in return after graduating.

In conclusion, this study focused on establishing whether university is worth time, effort and cost for students. Through the discussion, we have identified both advantages and disadvantages of pursuing university education. However, the main point is that university education increases chances of employability and high income in the future. it is important to note that all university degrees are not the same and useful. Some of the university degrees are not worthy the values and it is even better for those who started work at 18 years. But other degrees like engineering will provide a high return to the level that makes the graduate better by over 1.1 million USD after 20 years. The main limitation of university education is that it does not offer a direct chance of employment, its expensive, and it is not correlated with proffessional success. Thus, whereas university education requires a lot of efforts, time and money, it is still essential in the modern workplace and society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Backes, B., Holzer, H.J. & Velez, E.D. (2015). Is it worth it? Postsecondary education and labor market outcomes for the disadvantaged. IZA J Labor Policy 4(1), 1.

Havergal, C. (2015). Ernst and Young drops degree classification threshold for graduate    recruitment. Times Higher Education. Retrieved from

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ernst-and-young-drops-degree-classification-threshold-graduate-recruitment

Nisen, M. (2014). Why Google doesn’t care about hiring top college graduates. Retrieved from             https://qz.com/180247/why-google-doesnt-care-about-hiring-top-college-graduates/

Pew Research Center (2014). The Rising Cost of Not Going to College. Retrieved from             https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/

Wellemeyer, J. (2019). Half of young Americans say their degree is irrelevant to their work.           MarketWatch. Retrieved from

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/half-of-young-americans-say-college-isnt-necessary-2019-08-06