High school students are very well familiarized with the idea of college. It is introduced to them by teachers, counselors, friends and even coaches. It is a very big topic for these students while in school and is established as a sort of necessary next step to reach future career goals and to secure a reliable career path. These students are pressured to work very hard to receive good grades, volunteer, and participate in extracurricular activities so that they will be perceived as respectable candidates to the colleges that they choose to apply to. Additionally, students work tirelessly towards just the possibility of being accepted into a good college because that’s all they have been taught to do, but is all this work really worth it?
A substantial number of recent college graduates are reporting that they cannot seem to find any jobs even with their fresh degrees. According to Gad Levanon, chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute for CNBC, “For the first time in modern history, a bachelor’s degree is no longer a reliable path to professional employment.”
Jessica Dickler, also with CNBC, discusses how some large employers are replacing entry-level workers (jobs that would usually be given to these new grads) with artificial intelligence. There are currently multiple factors that are leading to the prevention of the employment of new college grads. In addition to not being able to find employment, these college graduates are faced with an absurd amount of student loans. Usually, the career path they follow after college leads them to be able to pay for these loans, however, since there is no sight of even getting to begin this chosen career path for some of these graduates, they are left with no money to pay. If these graduates are not receiving the one thing they were promised (employment) from college, then are they receiving anything of use?
The short answer is yes. The overall college experience is very much worth it because while it may not guarantee immediate employment after, it provides essential social connections and networking opportunities that will come in handy later in life, not to mention the further education provides knowledge that is useful in the path in which graduates wish to pursue.
When speaking about college grads, Daniel Cox for The American Survey Center said “They are more socially connected, civically engaged, and active in their communities than those without a college degree.”
College provides a space for students to hear opposing opinions and be exposed to different thinking which makes them more well-rounded and overall more educated.
While college may no longer promise immediate employment, it provides a great deal of networking opportunities which can lead to business and employment opportunities down the road. These opportunities may be more successful than those entry-level positions that would usually be given to fresh graduates. So college is in due course, worth it.
