1 Lopez Daniela Lopez English 114A Eric Dinsmore November 7, 2013 Is College Worth the Money?

Is College worth all the headaches and long sleepless nights? In todays society we could say college is a necessity. We have been raised to believe that college is the only way to be successful in life. For instance, if we want higher pay or a better life, we go to college in the hopes of getting a degree that will land us a successful job. If we choose to skip college, we are considered inferior or less intelligent. Like David Kellet once said, School is learning things you dont want to know, surrounded by people you wish you didnt know, while working toward a future you dont know will ever come. Thus, we are made to believe school is the secret key in life that will open many doors for us, but is college really worth the money? Many people have managed without a college degree and lived prosperous and successful lives. For example, the rapper Eminem was in 9th grade for 3 years and never graduated high school, let alone attended college. Eminem makes at least one hundred and forty million dollars a year stringing words together to tell a story. Another example is Ellen DeGeneres. She has made a career of telling witty jokes without having gone to college. Therefore, while a person with a Bachelors Degree makes an average of forty five thousand dollars per year, entrepreneurs and entertainers like Eminem and DeGeneres are making millions without having costly loans looming over their lives as the cost of a college education. This discrepancy really puts to question the necessity of

2 Lopez college and its worth if one can apparently be far more successful without it. However, celebrities and entrepreneurs are an exception and not a majority - most people are not successful without a college education. Moreover, many people argue college is not worth going to because your spending four years studying when you can spend four years getting work experience. That is one of the big cons of going to college because not only are you not getting valuable work experience, you are also paying for college instead of earning money. As a result, you are more in debt after going to college than before you went. Yet, this argument is not entirely accurate. A college education can pay for itself in the long run and a college graduate will generally make more than a high school graduate save for the few exceptions for entrepreneurs and celebrities. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2009, a high school graduate earned a median of $30,627 a year, whereas college graduates earned higher income, a median of $56,665. This proves that going to college will get individuals higher pay upon graduation. Additionally, there is a lot of free money out there for college students - the state and a lot of private companies provide scholarship opportunities. Therefore, in the end, college may turn out to be free, or at least in the long run, college graduates are making more money that will enable them to pay off their education debts more easily. Furthermore, there is evidence that college is worth attending in this economy because eventually there will no jobs for a person with just a high school diploma. According to a study in 2010 from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 60 percent of all jobs in the country required higher education. Jobs that only require a high school diploma are disappearing slowly while those requiring a higher

3 Lopez education are increasing. The Georgetown study predicted that by 2018, 22 million new jobs would be created that require college degrees, but a least 3 million fewer people would earn college diplomas or bachelor degrees. With this said, going into the future having a college degree is a necessity to be competitive in the job market. Yet, getting a college degree is not just costly, it can be challenging with all the distractions for a new student. For instance, many students get carried away by the desire to socialize and fit in through parties, and fraternities and sororities. Moreover, many individuals are exposed to drugs for the first time and curiosity gets the best of them. Others just get overwhelmed by all their options and get lose sight of their educational goals and turn going to school into a career itself instead of graduating and moving on to the workforce. Still, the real world poses these same dangers. College gives students the opportunity to face challenges that will try to distract them from their career goals so that they have an opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them, or learn from the mistakes of others. Jeph Jacques said, That's what college is for - getting as many bad decisions as possible out of the way before you're forced into the real world. I keep a checklist of 'em on the wall in my room. While there are some dangers to going to college, they are no worse than the ones that students will be exposed to once they finish school, thus going to college is still worth the tuition. Additionally, not only does a college degree increase ones earning potential, a higher education also makes individuals more aware of what their world. Studies have shown that a person with a college education is more culturally aware than a person without a college education. According to US News, The diversity in college enhances social development- interacting with people from different cultures widens your social

4 Lopez circle by expanding the pool of people with whom you can associate and develop relationships. Thus, with more individuals with a college education, there could be less discrimination between people because they can be more open to each others differences. Additionally, US News also stated, Interactions with people different from ourselves increase our knowledge base. Research consistently shows that we learn more from people who are different from us than we do from people who are similar to us. Therefore, not only does a college education make us more well-rounded and accepting individuals, it also gives us that ability to continue to learn even after we are done with school. Thus, having a College degree does open many doors in life. While it may cost a lot of money to get a higher education, the long term benefits make the cost worth it. A college degree doesnt stop at the potential for higher pay, it also provokes thought and understanding of our diverse culture. In the end, paying for college is worth it despite any of the cons that may be associated with it.

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Works Cited Akhavan, Kambiz. "Is a College Education Worth It? Ne Website !rom "roCon.org #esearches the "ros and Cons." Is a College Education Worth It? Ne Website !rom "roCon.org #esearches... "# Ne s ire, $ %ct. &'$(. Web. $) Nov. &'$(. "College Education * "roCon.org." "roConorg +eadlines. N.,., - Nov. &'$(. Web. $) Nov. &'$(. ".ast .acts." .ast .acts. N.,., n.d. Web. $) Nov. &'$(. /hose, 0ia. "Is College Worth the 1one2?" 3ive4cience. N.,., ($ 1a2 &'$(. Web. $) Nov. &'$(. 5acobs, 5erem2 4. +2man6 32nn .. "Wh2 7oes 7iversit2 1atter at College An2 a2?" 84 Ne s. 8.4.Ne s 9 World #e,ort, $& Aug. &'':. Web. $) Nov. &'$(. 4mith, Kalen. "Is /oing to College and /etting a 7egree Worth It?" 1one2 Crashers. N.,., n.d. Web. $) Nov. &'$(.

6 Lopez 7aniela 3o,ez English $$;< 4te,hen 0o,! 5anuar2 &;, &'$;

Although e rote several essa2s on various to,ics last semester, I !eel that m2 strongest riting as in =Is College #eall2 Worth It?.> In m2 o,inion it is m2 best ork 2et because I not onl2 e?,ressed all o! m2 ideas to su,,ort one central ,oint, I also took more time to edit the essa2 to make sure I as not being redundant and that I caught as man2 grammatical errors as ,ossible. Aside !rom the technical as,ect o! the essa2, I also !elt that the sub@ect matter as relevant and hel,!ul to someone like me, ho had been eighing the ,ros and cons to getting a college education. "erha,s because I reall2 cared about the issue, I as able to reall2 e?,ress m2 ideas com,letel2 and in a more organized !ashion6 something I have al a2s had a ,roblem ith. "rior to this essa2, I struggled ith ,utting m2 thoughts on ,a,er in a a2 that made sense to a reader. It is one thing to have a conversation ith a ,erson and @um, !rom to,ic to to,ic, and Auite another to rite about it and have someone read m2 thoughts and o,inions on a sub@ect. In this essa2 I reall2 orked on outlining m2 main arguments !irst so that during the riting ,rocess I ould cover all m2 ,oints in a a2 that made logical sense to a reader and also ,resented the strongest argument !or m2 ,oint o! vie . <2 doing this, I !eel that I im,roved in making m2 ,oint, in this case, that ever2 individual that is not a celebrit2 or entre,reneurs should $''B consider going to college because most ,eo,le are not success!ul ithout a college education. 0here!ore, m2 =Is College #eall2 Worth It?>

7 Lopez essa2 has been m2 strongest essa2 so !ar because I as able to outline m2 su,,orting arguments that su,,ort m2 main argument that most ,eo,le should go to college in order to have a chance at a success!ul !uture. In addition to organizing the essa2 much better than m2 other ones, I gave concrete e?am,les throughout the hole essa2 to su,,ort and strengthen m2 main ,oint. .or e?am,le, on the second ,age, I gave the e?am,le o! ho much a ,erson ould earn ith and ithout a college education. <2 ,roviding this in!ormation, the reader has a more concrete idea o! ho a college education a!!ects an individualCs income. I could have @ust said that college degree holders earn more mone2, but b2 stating an e?am,le o! ho much mone2 is actuall2 made, the reader can make u, their o n o,inion as to hether that reall2 is an amount that merits all the cost o! a college education. 0he e?am,le also enables the reader to ask and ans er im,ortant Auestions, such as, =Will I be able to live o!! that income a!ter student loans?,> =Will I ever be able to move out o! m2 ,arents house?> and so on. Also on the second ,age, I gave the e?am,le o! the stud2 b2 /eorge 0o n 8niversit2 hich sho ed that onl2 about -'B o! all @obs reAuire a higher education. 0his e?am,le also hel,s the reader evaluate hether college is reall2 necessar2. "erha,s the readerCs desired occu,ation is ithin the other ;'B and college is @ust an unnecessar2 added e?,ense. 0he use o! these concrete e?am,les also enabled me to not @ust ,resent m2 argument, but to also ,resent the argument !or the other side. While I su,,ort that college is orth it and even necessar2 !or the ma@orit2 o! individuals, I recognize ithin m2 essa2 that there are disadvantages to ,ursuing a college education. .or e?am,le, on ,age (, I state that getting a college degree is not @ust costl2, but also challenging due to

Lopez all the distractions, drugs, ,arties and etc. Det des,ite this argument, I as able to counter it b2 recognizing that these obstacles do not make college an2 less im,ortant, it is @ust u, to the student to remain motivated and !ocused. 7es,ite being m2 best essa2 as o! no , I still !eel that there are several areas that can use im,rovement. 0he most im,ortant im,rovement I need to make is in structuring. While I am getting better, and this essa2 is evidence o! that, sometimes it is hard !or me to kee, m2 argument !ocused instead o! @um,ing back and !orth bet een ideas. 4econdl2, I could also im,rove m2 sentence structure and grammar. 7uring m2 edits I !ound a lot o! s,elling and ,unctuation errors. I also !ound run*on sentences and !ragments. "art o! the ,roblem is that I still rite m2 essa2 as i! I am having a conversation instead o! being more !ormal. I also !elt m2 essa2 as a little short and that I could have said much more and made a much stronger ,oint in m2 essa2. Alternativel2, I could ork on making better arguments and ,roviding stronger e?am,les. .or instance, I could have done a lot better b2 being more s,eci!ic hen I made an argument or gave an e?am,le. I could also have e?,anded some o! m2 ideas hich ould have made stronger arguments. 3ast semester I learnt a lot o! things about ho to rite an essa2 that I asnCt a are o! be!ore and as able to make im,rovements in certain areas m2 riting. %ne o! those things that I learned as citing Auotes correctl2 to avoid ,lagiarism. Another thing I !elt m2 ,ro!essor reall2 hel,ed me ith as coming u, ith a thesis. 0his is still a struggle because it is di!!icult to come u, ith an argument that can have at least t o to three su,,orting arguments to rite a hole essa2. I have al a2s had this ,roblem because I canCt ,ut all m2 ideas in one sentence and 2et I ant to ,ut ever2thing in m2

! Lopez thesis. +o ever, m2 ,ro!essor said to =,ut all 2our ideas on a ,a,er and thro out the ones 2ou canCt elaborate on and the small ideas because the big idea is the one that 2ou can get a hole essa2 out o! .> 0his as the best advice because it hel,s me get out all m2 ideas that at !irst I think are brilliant, but then I can cross them o!! as not being good in !avor o! stronger ideas. Aside !rom thesis riting, I also learned ho to correctl2 do m2 orks cited ,age. .or e?am,le, I asnCt a are that it had to be in al,habetical order. or ho to tab it. 0here!ore, m2 =Is College #eall2 Worth It?> essa2 has been m2 best essa2 since I have a,,lied hat I learned in class about thesis riting, citing Auotations, riting a orks cited ,age, editing, and organization. As I continue to rite more essa2s I ho,e to see more im,rovements in all o! these areas.