Essay #2

College Graduate Vs High School Graduate

A college education is an important key in one’s life to success in the future.  Although some people believe that only a high school degree is enough to find a career today, this is not true. A high school education is very different than a college education. College graduates have the advantage of four extra years of education, a higher income/salary, and many more job opportunities and career paths to choose from than those who do not pursue education beyond high school.

One of the advantages of going to college is simply gaining an extra four to six years of learning. College students are required to take a variety of basic education courses, such as math, sciences, English, and basic computing and speech classes. College classes go into much deeper detail, and advance far beyond what is taught in a high school class. In college, electives are also required as a part of earning a degree. Students are able to take a course that simply sounds interesting or appealing to them. Often students discover that during one of these elective courses, they have a talent and/or passion for a certain subject and begin to understand the subject’s potential in the job marketplace. (Carter) For example, a business major may enjoy her art elective, and discover that she may own an art gallery as her career. College students become aware of the many different subjects and fields that they never would have considered, or even known about, without going to college. While obtaining a specialized degree is necessary for most fields, sometimes just having a college education is an advantage, regardless of the field of study. Employers want to know that their employees have a well rounded basic education.

A high school graduate can begin working full time immediately, which means a few extra years of earning potential and less initial debt from college loans, these benefits are negligible when compared to the average salaries earned by college graduates. The average annual income for a high school graduate is $30,400. College graduates, however, with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn an average of $52,200 a year. (Elmore). Over the course of their careers, college graduates can make a difference of $21,800 a year more than high school graduates. Those with a college degree, whether it be a bachelors or masters degree, are better equipped to make more money in the long run. A person with little or no college education can expect to make anywhere from one million, to one and a half million dollars over his or her career, in comparison to the average college graduate who can expect to make over two million dollars over his or her career. With every advancement in education, the amount of money increases by roughly one half, to a million dollars. (Chavis)

More and more jobs require education beyond high school. Obtaining a college degree is now more than just an advantage in today’s workforce. In previous generations, there were many jobs available for those without a college education, or sometimes even a high school diploma. Today, it is nearly impossible to get a job, let alone pursue in a career, without a college degree. Job seekers who do not have a college degree will find certain positions that may not actually require a college education, but those employers will still pay higher salaries to those who have a college degree. Jobs seekers with a college education will still earn higher salaries, even when the degree is not directly required for the job. (Carter). College degree holders are much more likely to get promotions in their chosen field of work, in comparison to those with only a high school diploma. A higher education makes a person more knowledgeable and able to foster creative, out of the box thinking. Corporates are always on the lookout for people who can suggest to them new, profitable ways of doing things. This makes the person with the college degree ideal for a leadership position, and more likely to get promoted or given a raise. (Dogra).  High school graduates have an unemployment rate of a little over 9%, while college graduates only face about 5.75% unemployment rate. Whether in a good job market or bad, that difference is significant (Carter).

Four more years of being in a classroom is worth the extra time, effort, and money, when considering the advantages of obtaining a college degree. College students are not only better educated, but are also able to grasp in-depth information learned in their major/ field of work. A college graduate’s income is significantly higher than that of someone with only a high school diploma. Finally, a college graduate will be open to different job opportunities, and career choices because of the in-depth learning, studying, and training in a specific field of work/practice.

Works Cited

Cater, Michael. "The Advantages to a College Degree for Today's Job Seekers." Ezine Articles. N.p., 10 Oct 2005. Web. 6 Oct 2010. <http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Advantages-to-a-College-Degree-for-Todays-Job-Seekers&id=81204>.

Elmore, Roger. "The Financial Benefits of a College Degree." Budget Musings. N.p., 13 Sep 2010. Web. 6 Oct 2010. <http://calendarbudget.com/wordpress/the-financial-benefits-of-a-college-education/>.

Chavis, Jason. "Salary Comparison of a College Grad to a Non grad." Bright Hub. N.p., 14 May 2010. Web. 6 Oct 2010. <http://www.brighthub.com/education/college/articles/68847

Dogra, Aastha. "College Education." Benefits of a College Education. N.p., 23 Aug 2010. Web. 20 Oct 2010. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/college-education-benefits-of-college-education.html>.