Four Year College Degree Essay

College degrees are known to be the key to a better future because of the many opportunities it offers. It’s also been know that college degrees offer greater pay rates, which although has been proven to not be the exact truth. Two articles titled “There Should Be Alternatives to the Four-Year College Degree” and “College Is Still Worth the Expense”, both from Greenhaven Press, mention two opposing views on the worth of a college degree.
Is college worth the money? College is certainly worth the cost if you find a degree that is actually worth something to you. I believe finding a degree that means something to you involves a combination of three factors, career opportunities, interest and aptitude, and smart financial investment. Choosing

a program with a growing industry, or one that will potentially repay your student loans will help mitigate the cost of educations and the insecurity in the job market. Throughout the two articles I realized that the worth of a college degree all depends on how you decide to use it.
During the article “ There Should Be Alternatives to the Four-Year College Degree” college is mentioned as sort of a waste of time.

Students are attending the four years required to receive a college degree, but do not know exactly how to put their degree into use, or in other words, find a job. This doesn’t necessarily mean you're receiving a false education, there just aren't any jobs available on the market. New research from the Pew Center shows the wage gap between those with a college degree and those without is at an all-time high. Average student debt per borrower has climbed to a staggering $29,400. Along with decreasing returns on the four-year college education, should lead to more secondary pathways into the workforce. These options for alternative pathways are supposed to be just as effective at preparing people for the world of work, but at a lower cost. These sort of options are made especially available for those who are unable to afford college, or who don't want to take on thousands in debt. College graduates, mainly recent graduates, are taking lower-skill jobs instead of their less educated peers. Many new jobs created are low-skill instead of middle-skill, college graduates are getting first dibs, which is getting all of those with less education out of the

workforce.
The article “College Is Still Worth the Expense” has more of a positive attitude towards the importance of a college education. Justin Draeger writes “The central factor that makes college—even at inflated prices—worth it is the ability of graduates to enter higher work "zones," as defined by the U.S. government. The lower work zones pay the least and are filled primarily by non-college graduates. The highest zones provide the highest incomes and are filled primarily by college graduates. As long as a student is able to borrow minimal funds of $20,000, college easily remains a worthwhile value.” I certainly agree with this statement because anything in this world is valuable as long as you focus and make it a priority. U.S. jobs are classified into one of five categories, or zones. Jobs are put into each zone depending on worker experience and attributes such as your education level, and training experience for that occupation. With that being said, there are many job opportunities available from a college degree. You really just need to focus on making the right moves.
Evidently, a college degree is so worth it. You may argue that it is not a key to success, but it honestly a pathway to job opportunities. A college degree can definitely take you a longer way than a high school diploma ever would.