College 411 1

College 411

Stephanie Nevarez

University of Texas at El Paso

 College 411 2

Abstract

In the following essay the reader will learn about the benefits about college. This

essay will address why college is worth it, what the benefits of college are and how

college is for everyone. These questions will hopefully help and inform the reader about

college. To answer the questions the essay will use interview information obtained from

university attendees, university drop-outs and university professors from the University

of Texas at El Paso. To get more accurate information, this essay will also use database

information.

The essay is constructed of an introduction, body paragraphs that will contain the

questions as subheadings, and a conclusion. Within each body paragraph the answer to

the question are subdivided into the interviewees response and the database response.

This will help develop the essays credibility and help eliminate any bias perspective. In

addition, the body paragraph will contain pictures and citations relating to the topic.

Finally, the conclusion is simply a summarization of the information gathered and the

thesis of this essay restated.

 College 411 3

College is a topic that eventually catches up to everyone in life. There are so many

questions and stigmas around college that make the decision of attending college so much

scarier. However, in this essay it will explore the answers to why college is worth it, what the

benefits of college are and how college is for everyone. This essay will use both databases and

information obtained from previous interviews with professors, college drop outs, and college

attendees. This will help the reader get more informed about college and get a diverse amount of

perspectives on the topic. These interviewees are from a local college in Texas known as the

University of Texas at El Paso.

People coming into college always have doubts and wonder how things are going to turn

out. Everyone is very aware of how expensive college can be and the amount of time needed to

succeed in college is very demanding itself. Peter Zilahy once said, You have to make choices

even when there is nothing to choose from. This quote can very much apply to debating whether

to attend college, especially with the social pressure instilled on children to always pursue to

expand their education.

When colleges first started out in America, it was looked upon as a luxury more than an

actual economic requirement to have a better way of living. It is because most jobs up to around

the 1950s were able to be practiced without a college education (ProCon, 2016). Considering the

literal worth of college and the academia worth of college the essay will proceed to answer why

college is worth it through an economic stand point.

Why is college worth it?

This is a very common question asked before going into college and while attending

college. How much college cost is critical to many families that do not qualify for Financial Aid
 College 411 4

or any assistance paying for school. In some cases, college pricing keeps students from going to

their preferred college or from even attending college because of the fees and taxes. However,

when students decide that they are going to attend, some fall into the trap of loans and debt,

which is the only option for many people in order to expand their education and better their way

of living.

Interviewees response:

The first interviewer is going to be a university attendee, Sergio Moreno. He is a

freshman at Utep and is majoring in Political Science. In his interview, he was asked all three

questions, and his response to the first question was that college pays itself. He emphasized how

college is expensive but when a person is dedicated to completing their goals in college, after

one graduates, college pays for itself with all the new opportunities and new set of skills

obtained which makes getting a good and better job easier. The one struggle that he does find

about college however, is about getting a job while attending college because many companies

are not very flexible with student schedules (Nevarez, March 16, 2017).

The second interviewer is a recent university dropout, Jade Gonzalez. When she was

attending Utep her major was in Pre-Nursing, despite her 3.7 GPA, Jade found herself looking to

have more adventure in her life which led to her dropping out of college. She was asked the three

main questions. Her response as to why college is worth it was the fact that the set of skills

obtained during college help a person get a job and become a better candidate for a job compared

to someone who does not have a college education or the same set of skills.

She stated that although there are many people like her that are in debt because of school,

there are still ways available for people to pay off their debt it just depends on the persons drive
 College 411 5

to get out of debt. She started to give an example of a professor she had previously that told the

class her story of how she is 32 and debt free. This professor, according to Jade, was working

three jobs throughout the first four years of college. This professor eventually found a job after

graduating with her bachelors and only worked that one job while completing graduate school.

Jade states that she could never do that personally, but that it is a good example of how it is

possible to pay off school and be debt free (Nevarez, March 13, 2017).

The last interviewer is a statistician professor named Karly Schleicher. She works at the

University of Texas at El Paso and is a Psychology major. In her interview, she was asked all

three questions also but took on a different perspective when answering why college was worth

the money. She stated that college was in fact worth it financially because much of the money

required for college is used in various areas of the university that help the students in other areas

of expanding their college experience other than just for the paid classes.

The example she gave about the previous statement was about the resources available for

students like the Career and Math center available at Utep. In these available resources, Utep

hires tutors and people specialized in the required field to help whoever needs the help in

whatever area like career decisions or mathematical problems. Not only does it help the students

get assistance, but it also helps employ students that have the requirements needed in that job.

However, Professor Schleicher pointed out that many people believe that college education

automatically guarantees peoples jobs which in her opinion is not how college works. She

explained that to get a job in whatever field chosen by the person or to simply get a job, one must

work hard, engage with their professors and use available resources offered outside of

classrooms to be successful and get the most out of college experience (Nevarez, March 16,

2017).
 College 411 6

Database response:

According to the research obtained college is worth it. The short article about college

said, During the recession between Dec. 2007 and Jan. 2010, jobs requiring college degrees

grew by 187,000, while jobs requiring some college or an associate's degree fell by 1.75 million

and jobs requiring a high school degree or less fell by 5.6 million (ProCon, 2016, p.2). This

shows that more and more jobs are needing people to have a higher level of education now more

than ever. In the ProCon article it also explains how college graduates make up to 30,000 more

than just a high school graduate (ProCon. 2016). To sum up, in the long run college is worth

every dime invested. Not only does it pay back but there are many good benefits that come from

college.

(Cracker, 2013)

What are the benefits of college?

 College 411 7

One of the biggest stigmas around college is whether it really gives a person useful skills

to benefit from. There are various benefits to college other than just obtaining a piece of paper

allowing a person to do something. College gives a wide range of skills and knowledge that help

expand a students opportunities and horizons. College also helps shape people into being a

much more well-rounded person.

Interviewees response:

University attendee, Sergio, responded by saying that one of the benefits of having a

college education was being able to find a job in ones favored field in the future. He tells that

even though some people do not find a job right away, people that graduate from college have a

higher advantage of being more credible. His last point as to the benefits of college were about

skills outside of the academia like time management. He believes that time management is a very

important skill because it relates to every aspect of life (Nevarez, March 16, 2017).

The university drop out, Jade, responded very similarly to the university attendee. She

told that college helps people in their careers and any other goals an individual has in life. She

also believes that college helps and equips people with the skills needed for any desired field of

work. Just like Sergio, Jade also commented on how a person becomes more credible and can

move up the social scale when an individual obtains a college degree (Nevarez, March 13, 2017).

Lastly, Professor Schleicher responded very positively towards this question. She said

that college has many benefits other than just getting the required skills needed for a certain job,

she believes people get skills that cross over to many different types of careers. Her example of

this being true involved the subject of writing skills. The writing skills one learns in college help
 College 411 8

everyone no matter ones major, according to Professor Schleicher, writing skills are crucial in

most jobs and is a universal skill students obtain throughout college.

She also mentioned how college helped students get experience working with groups of

people and with technology which are both subjects that are very common in workplaces.

Moreover, she also said that having a college education helps people start at a higher pay and in

some cases, can make an individual more competitive for jobs to hire. In conclusion, she felt that

college is very beneficial in many different areas.

Database response:

The research made about the benefits of college were also very positive. According to

Rachel Beckstead (2014) some of the benefits of having a college education are better pay, job

stability, and being able to receive more benefits offered to employees like health insurance or

retirement matching. The research also included the benefits that students with children could

receive if they earned a college education, A study produced by Lancet, a reputable medical

journal, showed that between 1970 and 2009 there was a significant decrease in infant mortality

rates for women as they attained higher levels of education (Beckstead, 2014, p.1). In sum,

databases showed that college education offers many benefits to ones life.

How is college for everyone?

The last question is one that many people have debates about. It is one that many high

school graduates struggle with grasping because there are very famous role models like Bill

Gates and Tom Hanks that dropped out of college but still came to be successful. This leads the

younger generations questioning how important college really is and whether its not about

getting a college education but simply a cause of dedication to what one loves to do. In this next
 College 411 9

part of this essay, the reader will learn whether the stigma about college not being for everyone is

true.

Interviewees response:

The university attendee believes that college is for everyone but says it is just a matter of

dedication that a person invests into college. He says that there are some people that can handle

five classes while some people can only handle two per semester but that, that does not affect

any other perspective of college being doable but relies more on how long one wants to take in

college. His response emphasized on how a person must be willing to be open to change and

adapting to the different environments met in college. He believes that maturity also plays an

important role in deciding whether a person is ready to take on the next big step in their life with

college (Nevarez, March 16, 2017).

In contrast, the university drop out felt that college was not for everyone. She believed

that many people are different and therefore have different ideals as to how they approach their

own goals. She believed the way one learns in college is a very specific way of learning which

ultimately hinders the people that learn through different approaches. She also said how many

people want different things in life and what successful might mean to one person is not what

another person defines as successful. The example she used for these opinions was her own

story. She dropped out of college because she was not being fulfilled in life and wanted more

spiritual growth compared to more zeros added to her pay check when she finally graduated

(Nevarez, March 13, 2017).

Lastly, Professor Schleicher did also believe that college was for everyone but only if the

person attending was ready, mature and willing to show initiative in school. Her response for this
 College 411 10

was like the university attendee. She emphasized on how it is up to a person to be able to succeed

in college. She said that high school systems of education burden students with believing that

college is going to be like that when college takes a lot more self-initiative.

Database response:

The research for this question showed that college is for everyone but can also not be for

everyone. It divided its answer with being able to have many good benefits that outweigh the

cost, but it also said how selectivity in school before college has a big factor on how high

school graduates view and do in college (Owen and Sawhill, 2013). It does talk about how

people can be successful in college but that high schools are not preparing students as much as

they should be. In conclusion, college can be for everyone it is just a matter of the person willing

to adapt to the circumstances.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this essay has answered the three main questions through different

perspectives which helped the reader have a clearer idea on all the 411 about college. The essay

explored how college is worth the financial investment, the many benefits that college offers and

how college is for everyone. Much of the stigmas of college are false and only opinions from

people that may have had a bitter experience with college. Although college is still a scary

conversation to carry, the reader should now be able to be more at ease with all the new

information shown on college.

 College 411 11

References

Database Reference(s)

Pro, C. (2016, August 11). Background of the Issue - College Education - ProCon.org.

Retrieved March 23, 2017, from http://college-education.procon.org/view.resource.php?

resourceID=006578

Pro, C. (2016, October 27). College Education - ProCon.org. Retrieved March 24, 2017,

from http://college-education.procon.org/

Beckstead, R. (2014, July 14). Benefits of College and a College Degree. Retrieved

March 24, 2017, from https://www.collegeatlas.org/earn-a-college-degree.html

Owen, Stephanie, and Isabel Sawhill. (May 2013). "A College Degree Is Not a Smart

Investment for Everyone Retrieved March 24, 2017, from

galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010971204/OVIC?u=j071909005&xid=cf130c8b.

Image Reference

Cracker, A. (2013). Being a monster is not easy [Characters from Monsters University

Mike Wazowaski and Sully standing in front of Monsters University.]. Retrieved March 24,

2017, from http://aiscracker.com/movies/being-a-monster-is-not-easy/

Interview Reference(s)

Interview with Sergio Moreno Directed by Stephanie Nevarez

Interview with Jade Gonzalez Directed by Stephanie Nevarez

Interview with Karly Schleicher Directed by Stephanie Nevarez