BAM! What Is college "good" for?

Value

                In today's world there is always the question of why go to college and spend the money for a degree. College is entirely more than just a "degree". According to Mike Rose, college is "not just learning things to make a living, but also learning things to enable you to do things with your life, to enable you to find interests and pursuits that may in some way or another expand the way we see things." You simply cannot find a place like college.

Opportunity

                College is a great way for many doors to be opened for an individual. Andrew Bast said that "Computer science, accounting, marketing-- the purpose of many majors is self-evident. They lead to well-paid jobs and clear-cut career paths. ( One hopes at least.) But comparative literature, classics, and philosophy--according to the new convential wisdom--offer no clear trajectory." College is not all about getting that dream job but taking advantage of your opportunities.

                                       
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Student Debt

                Debt is almost certain while attending college unless you get fortunate enough to receive a scholarship. This can really put you in a bind because without a good paying job it will take a long time to pay it off. Mark Kantrowitz says "it's smart if it's enabling you to invest in your future," Kantrowitz tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. "But if you borrow more than your expected starting salary after you graduate, you're going to struggle to pay your loans." Almost every college graduate has some kind of debt so a good paying job would be a logical solution for this.

Death

                The stress and pressure from student loans can sometimes be so severe that individuals do commit suicide or at least talk about it. This happens in result of spending so much money for degrees that don't have jobs waiting for those grads. Studet loan debt has passed $1 trillion, if that number doesn't scare you then something is wrong. People just are not physically able to pay back the thousands upon thosands required to graduate from school.

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Why College?

I chose college because from an early age everyone I knew always said the same thing, go to college. So I took their advice and here I am, but not until around my sophmore year in high school did I ever understand why people I looked to as role models said for me to go to college. You can get a more prestigious job with a higher education. Having this "degree" will help open doors that would have remained closed without said degree. Plus it is proven that a higher degree allows for one to make more money and the only place to get a degree is college. College prepares you to get a job that you want to do for the rest of your life. I want to work for NASA or Boeing so they probably would not hire someone that has no experience in that field or knowledge of it. A degree enables you to have the training and the schooling required.

I love college and everything about it but I would like to bring out one point that might be offensive to some. In my opinion if you go to college for a career that there are no jobs then you waste around four years of your time and thousands of dollars. In the current day we live in math, science, engineering, and medical degrees are the only ones that mean anything. I know someone that went to The University of Alabama and majored in communications. Nothing wrong with that, it's just that person couldn't find a job for that degree and is now working at Academy for minimum wage. Four years costs around $50,000 so it would take an extremely long time to pay off student loans and debt. So unless you know 100% there will be a job in your field it would almost be smarter to not go to college.