Austin Buergermeister

Professor Grant
Inquiry essay
4/1/15

Is College Worth It?

The moments when the end of High school is in sight the biggest
decision of your life is right around the corner. Which college should I
go to, what should I major in, and is college even worth going to? Many
people ask these questions because of huge financial burdens, and the
thought of getting a job to support your life. College doesnt guarantee
you a well paying job after, and you might be looking straight into the
eyes of major debt. There are many pros and cons of the decision
whether to go or not, and our society shapes the minds of how many of
us think about higher education.
When I was looking for a college I wanted to go to a big school
with a lot of sports influence, money hadnt crossed my mind yet. I
figured that going to college will be like high school thats far away
from my family, and I thought my parents would be able to cover all
the expenses. IreallywantedtogotoNCStateUniversity,withgradesandother
factorsIdidntendupgettingin.Ireallystartedwonderingwhatisthepointofgoingto
college?IkeptthinkingtomyselfwhatamIevengoingtocollegefor?Oursocietyforces

highereducationamongtheyouthbecausetheymakeitseemlikeitisanecessityfor
work.HoweverinBradPlumersarticleintheWashingtonPostitsays,In2010only
62%ofU.S.graduateshadajobthatrequiredacollegedegree(Plumer).Thisshows
thatnoteventwothirdsoftheU.S.graduationpopulationneededadegreefortheirfield
ofwork.ThismakesmewonderwhyamIgoing.
IendeduppickingTheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatCharlotteastheplaceto
callmyhomeforthenextfouryearsatleast.Ihadnocluewhattoexpectcominginto
collegeforthefirsttime.IfeltlikeanoutcastcomingfromNewYork,manypeopleI
begantomeetwerefromNorthCarolina,Iwasblindedtothediversitywehaveonour
campus.Onceyougettocollege,youllseejusthowdifferenttherealworldcanbe
(Whattoexpectasacollegefreshman).Insuchabigschoolitisalsoverydifficultto
makefriendssometimes.Goingthroughsituationswithoutsomeoneelsebyyoursideis
moredifficultthanyouthink.Ithinkthatcollegeisnearlyimpossibletogothrough
withoutfriendstheretohelp.Themosthelpfulwaytomakefriendsandsucceedin
schoolistojoinclubsandorganizations(Whattoexpectasacollegefreshman).Ijoined
ClubBaseballatthebeginningofmyfirstsemesteranditwasoneofthebestdecisions
ofmycollegeyearsofar.ClubbaseballhelpedmakemealotofnewfriendsthatI
wouldnthavemetanywhereelse.Ihighlyrecommendforcollegestudentstojoinaclub
oranorganizationtosocialize,soyoucangetawayfromyourschoolworkattimes.
Asafreshmancominginundecidedhadmeconcerned,Ifeellikemanyother
studentsknowwhatjobtheywantaftercollege,anditseemsbeingundecidedwould
alreadymakemebehindofotherstudentsrightaway.AtUNCCharlotteallundecided

studentshadtotakeamandatoryclassanditwassucharelieftakingit.Myacademic
advisorKiaraCrutchfieldtaughttheclass.Thisclassconsistedofmanytipstowards
findingamajorthatsrightandtocontrolstressandthebigworkloadthatcollegebrings
alongwithit.Intheclassshewouldrepeatedlytellus,Pickamajorthatyouhavea
desirefor,notjustsomethingyouthinkyoucangetajobin.Shestressedthistoher
studentsbecauseshesaidmanyjobsnowadaysdontnecessarilylookatonlyyour
majortoseeifyouareagoodfitforthejob.InmymindIwastryingtolookforamajor
whereajobisalmostguaranteedandwillpaywell,butitwasntmydesire.InThe
WashingtonPostarticleBradPlumerexclaims,Only27percentofcollegegradshada
jobthatwascloselyrelatedtotheirmajor(Plumer).Thisinformationbegantoclammy
mindtoknowthatmymajorwontdeterminetherestofmylifeformealready.Plumer
laterclaimsthatmanyjobsnowmustnotrequireaspecificfieldofstudy(Plumer).
ProfessorCrutchfieldwouldalsosay,getinvolved,itlooksbetteronyourresume.It
makesalotofsensenowbecausejobsnowadayswanttoseealittleofeverythinghow
youmultitaskandhavingahardworkingpersonality.Thisquestionsthefactthatsociety
putssomuchemphasisongoingtocollegeafterHighSchool.
OnthewebsiteProConitsays,manyrecentcollegegraduatesareunemployed
orunderemployed(Research).In201150%ofcollegegraduatesunder25yearsoldhad
nojoboraparttimejob(Research).Goingtocollegeandbeinguptoyourneckindebt,
therouteofworkingrightoutofhighschoolseemslikeitwouldmakemoresense. The
solepurposeforcollegeistoreceivehigherpositionsandbettersalary,butifgraduating
collegedoesnthelpyougetthis,thenwhatisthepoint?

Notonlydoescollegetakeyearsoflearning,butalsoittakesahugefinancial
burdenonthestudentandtheirfamily.Ithebook,IsCollegeWorthIt?byWilliamJ.
BennettaquotefromasocialworkerandgraduatefromAndersonUniversitysaysThe
overallmessage,wasItsdoableandnormaltogointothatmuchdebt(Bennettand
Wilezol).Thesocialworkerthatsaidthisnonethelesswas$88,000indebthimself.This
meansthatitisfrequentforpeopletogointothatmuchindebtowingtheuniversities
thousandsofdollars.Thisdoesntmakemeanymoreconfidentaboutgoingthrough
collegewithnoguaranteeofajob.Thisisfinallywherethefinancialtollcrushedme.I
myselfamnolongeronehundredpercentcoveredbymyparents;Ihavetocomeupwith
aplanandthemostefficientwaytopayformycollege.Alsowhatiffindingajobis
troubling,payingforschoolandbillswillkeepaddingup.Bennettthengivesstatistics
abouttheriseofeducationcosts,forpublicinstitutionstherewasa42percentincrease
and19percentforprivateinstitutionsonlyfromthepriordecade(BennettandWilezol).
Thisisoutrageousthatschoolingthatdoesntholdajobpositionforyouincreasealmost
halfitscostinthepasttenyears.Withthehugeamountofmoneywespendeveryyearon
collegewehavetofindawaytopayforit.Whathelpsmepayforcollegeisstudent
loansandfinancialaid.Evenwiththeseoptionstohelppayforcollegeyoueventually
havetopayitback.Bennettalsoclaims,Familiesmustmakesacrificestoafford
college(BennettandWilezol).IcouldnotagreemorewithBennettsquote,Iamliving
throughthistime,IseewhathappensandIcanfirsthandobservetheoutcomesthatthe
bookandresearchhasbeensaying.Thesesacrificesthathavebeenmadeweretough

familychoicestojustgetaneducationthathasapossibilitytoleadyoutoabetterwell
payingjob.
Thesamesayingkeepsreappearingthroughoutthistheme,youarenot
guaranteedanything.Inthebook,IsCollegeWorthIt?ThereisaquotefromanOccupy
WallStreetprotesterIwaslettobelievethatcollegewouldensuremeajob.Inowhave
$40,000worthofstudentdebt(BennettandWilezol).Thisexamplejustshowshow
collegedoesntautomaticallysaveajobforyouonceyougraduate.Collegeislikean
investmentintoachancethatcouldbenefityouinthelongrun,orcouldjustwaistyour
timeandmoney.Howeverthischanceisoneyoushouldtakebecausetheoutcomecan
benefityoumorethanyouthink.
Collegeisimportantbecauseitallowsyoutoexplorecareersthatyoumightbe
interestedin.
Collegesoffercareerservices,internships,jobshadowing,jobfairs,andvolunteer
opportunitiesinadditiontoawidevarietyofcoursesthatmayprovideacareer
direction.Over80%ofcollegestudentscompleteinternshipsbeforegraduation,
givingthemvaluableemploymentexperiencebeforeenteringthejobmarket
(Research).
Collegeisthetimetoexplorewhatyoureallywanttodobeforeyougooutinthereal
worldandhaveajobthatyouhate.Collegegivesyoutheopportunitytoexposeyourself
todiversepeopleandideas(Research).Itisalsoaprovenfactthatcollegegraduates
makemoremoney,onaverage,acollegegraduatewithabachelorsdegreeearned
$30,000moreperyearthanahighschoolgraduate(Research).Notonlydoescollege

giveitsgraduatesthehopeofabettersalary,explorationofcareers,andnetworking
values.Collegeisautopiaforyoungadultstogettheirfeetdippedintothepoolof
society,withoutbeingfullysubmergedandstrugglingtosucceed.Therearenotmany
placesintheworldthatwillteachyoulessonsthatyouwillcarryaroundwithyourselffor
therestofyourlife.Thefavorablefactorsofgraduatingfromcollegeunquestionably
outweighthenegatives.

WorksCited
Bennett,WilliamJ.andDavidWilezol.IsCollegeWorthIt?Nashville:ThomasNelson,
2013.
Plumer,Brad.TheWashingtonPost.2052013.<washingtonpost.com>.
Research,Pew.IsCollegeWorthIt?1552011.<collegeeducation.procon.org>.
Whattoexpectasacollegefreshman.172013.<schoolguides.com>.