Argumentative Essay: College Is Not Worth The Cost

College Is Not Worth The Cost
College, College, College, all you hear is go to college! Go to college and get a good job. Go to college you’ll make good money. Go to college or you’ll never get a good job. However, none of these is guaranteed just because you go to college. Huge debt is your only guarantee from obtaining a college degree. College is not worth the cost.
College tuition is astronomical, the average cost of attending a four year elite private college is $68,000.00 per year, a private college will cost you $59,000.00 per year and a public college cost $28,000.00 per year. Either way you look at it after four years you will be thousands of dollars in debt (Blake). Apply for financial aid they say. Financial aid has not even remotely

kept up with inflation and the increase cost of college. The return of investment of college has diminished and turns out negative for most graduates (Blake). As for finding a job, the majority of unemployed Americans attended college, there are more unemployed people who attended then there are high school graduates who are unemployed (Blake). For the college graduates who are employed the majority are mal-employed not even utilizing their degrees (Blake). In the words of employer Mark Cuban “I want people who can do the job, the best prepared and best qualified employees, those with experience and talent, not those with a simple piece of paper” (Blake).
As for employment forecasts for Bachelor degree holders, yes they have added 8.4 million jobs in the post-recession recovery period (Georgetown). Bachelor degree holders now make up a larger share of the workforce (36%) than workers with a high school diploma (34%) (Georgetown). Bachelor degree holders also make more money in positions that don’t require a degree. Secretaries plumbers and cashiers all make more money if they have a degree (Leonhardt). Bachelor degree holders make forty percent more than those with a high school diploma (Leonhardt). Construction workers, police officers and secretaries earn significantly with a degree than without (Leonhardt). Education helps people do higher-skilled work, get jobs with better-paying companies and open their own businesses (Leonhardt).
Even with all the positives of going to college the cost is still not worth it. As far as college helping you to land a good job and have some job security The numbers are not that impressive. The number of worker’s with a Bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 32 percent to 36 percent in 2016 (Georgetown). The largest job growth for workers with a graduate degree was among healthcare professional and technical occupations, such as doctors; pharmacists; nurses; and lab technicians (Georgetown). Other than being a doctor or pharmacist you can obtain education and certification for lab technician position as well as, nursing credentialing without attending a for year college and burning your money on a degree. As the population ages these will remain high demand job opportunities. Food preparation, another non degreed occupation had also had the highest growth among low-skilled occupation, adding 715,000 jobs between December of 2007 and January of 2016. Manufacturing added the second-larges number of jobs during the post recession recovery, to the tune of 1.7 million, another huge employment area were a college degree is not necessary (Georgetown). Leisure and hospitality another main source of jobs and added 1.5 million jobs during the recovery and this position only require an Associates degree or lower (Georgetown). Workers with a high school diploma or less gained 214,000 jobs in consulting and business services (Georgetown).
As you can see there are benefits to obtaining a college education, however the cost greatly outweigh the benefit.

In terms of costs don’t forget that you will lose four years or more of earnings while in college. Working a job with an income of $36,820 to approximately $44,920.00 per year in the general production manufacturing field will set you back another $147, 280 to $179,680.00 over the four years you spend in college (U.S.). Add your tuition debt along with your lost income and you are looking at a cost any from $179,680.00 up to $359,360.00 for a four year college education. Therefore, as you see clearly college is not worth the cost. You will get a much better return on your time and money by hitting the workforce straight out of high school.

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Works Cited

Blake, David. “Most College Grads Are Unemployed.” Www.investors.com, Investor' Business Daily,
5 Feb. 2015, www.investors.com/article.

Georgetown, CEW. “America's Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots.” LinkedIn
SlideShare, 24 June 2016, www.slideshare.net/CEWGeorgetown/americas-divided-recovery-
college-haves-and-havenots.

Leonhardt, David. “Even for Cashiers, College Pays Off.” Www.nytimes.com, 26 June 2011,
www.nytimes.com/.

“U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4
May 2018,

www.bls.gov/.