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Daniels, Victoria

Mrs. Rosenfeld

English 115

2-25-17

Is College Worth the Commitment/Investment?

Since the beginning of the new millennia, it has seemed as if society had given the route

of college a much different view when compared to the past few decades . The new vision that

was taken up seems to state that if one does not immediately continue their education from high

school into university straight away, they are throwing their future away. They do have trouble

finding and keeping steady jobs and are paid significantly lower wages when compared to their

bachelor or master-degreed coworkers. However, there are millions of students who spent four

plus years studying and paying for higher education that also have their fair share of challenges

to face post-graduation day. As of 2016, an estimate of over 44 million college graduates

gathered around an average of $37,000 worth of student debt, with expectations that it will grow

exponentially within the next few years (Student Loan Hero). Not to mention that almost half of

college students drop out of school within the first two years of their education. As the college

tuition continues to raise its price every year, alongside a tougher stigma of needing a degree,

new generations of students will be faced with the problem of whether or not they are mentally

and/or financially ready for attending university. Although, in many ways, not attending college

has its consequences when someone begins their life out in the real world, incoming students

need to take a step back and ask to themselves if it's worth it. They would need to wonder if

attending university, getting a degree that gives no guarantee of earning their intended career,

will be worth the struggles of paying off thousands of dollars in debt.

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The pressure of attending university has always been a heavy weight on incoming

students, but it seems as if it is more high and demanding now than it ever was. Not everyone

wishes to spend an extra four-plus years after high school graduation, for extra educational

material that could have, should have, been taught beforehand. High school never gave much

thought to teach upcoming adults the necessities of life, techniques and knowledge that would

help ease the transition from youth to adulthood and prepare for whatever may be thrown.

College may be the place to get all the information that was missed out, but with a large chunk of

students already despising the educational system of their high school or in general, returning to

school would be the last thing they would put on their to-do list. Even if they were to have a few

years to think, a handful would still refuse to return, as they believe a college degree is not

worthy to be the highest priority for someone to have; "the fault lies in the false premium that

our culture have put on a college degree" (Pharinet 687).

There are a handful of people who chose not to attend any further schooling, and they

give their reasoning to why. Unfortunately, not many other students have the same amount of

confidence when addressing the same problem. In order someone to attend university, there must

be a choice made between the student and their parents/guardians, mainly due to the fact they are

the ones paying for enrollment. Many parents vocally wish, and sometimes force their child to

attend university, as they believe it is the best option and route for their child. Although, for

most, the decision is mutual between the two parties, some parents don't realize the effect of their

actions onto their son or daughter may be doing to them. Many kids don't want to go to college,

whether they are not ready to leave home or handle the amount of work, or for any other reason.

Parents may be pressuring someone to go and leave for university, having no idea what the child

may be feeling or disregarding any problems that they may have on the matter. Some may have
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mental illnesses that have not been (properly) diagnosed that could drag the kid through tough

times, some may be allowed to move away a great distance only to find they weren't ready in

being on their own. Many problems could arise when a parent decides their child's future for

them, not really bringing into mind that the two don't think exactly alike, that one may want to

do something else with their life, but is unable to speak their mind.

Heading into college is a much different experience when compared to the other lower

grade levels, as a lot more is expected of the person in terms of maturity and future plans. Not

only are students expected to decide on what they are to do with their future at such a young age,

but to mature themselves into an adult life within the same time span as well. It seems to be a bit

much for a group of individuals who have, for a majority of the time, been seen and thought of as

children up until the last day of senior year. By graduating high school, incoming freshman can

now call themselves "adult" and start doing adult things, such as moving out or finding a job. For

many high school graduates, going to college is the most adult action to make, to prove they are

able to do anything and defy any expectation against them. No one is stopping them from

entering college, that's for sure, and don't expect anyone to stop them from going; yet, that is

exactly why most of these students realize what a huge mistake they had made, only realizing a

bit too late to do anything about it.

Of course, when someone thinks of college, they think of finally moving out of the house,

finally living an independent live away from mom and dad. However, it is due to this new sense

of freedom and lack of supervision that result in the increase of mental illnesses and disorders

found throughout college students. Not to say that these problems cannot happen or be diagnosed

before college, as they do appear in younger age groups; it is the fact that a student's lack of

knowledge on the subject, or the need to keep problems away from burdening others that make
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the numbers of addiction, anxiety and other issues reach such high percentages throughout the

country. In studies conducted by the company of Learn Psychology, a group of seven experts

gathered up loads of information from mental health programs in universities around the U.S.,

from issues of drug/alcohol addiction to eating disorders to many other issues many students face

during their time in school. 49% of full-time students have been found to excessively drink

and/or abuse illegal and prescription drugs, with around half of them meeting the "medical

definition of drug addiction" (Carroll, Psychology). Over half of college students claimed to have

felt depressed, suicidal and/or stressed during the school year, a majority of which claim to have

depression than the other two. Of those students, the universities mental programs diagnosed

13% of them for problems of anxiety, depression/suicide and other issues, including sleeping

disorders or psychotic/bipolar disorders. Many of the experts conducting these studies believed

the causes for these growing numbers come the struggle of students finding their footing in the

real world, with or without any help from anyone. Many students began living on their own, with

the pressure of paying rent and finding jobs to pay the finances over their heads, too scared or

stubborn to ask for help of others. The pressure of keeping up with grades and not disappointing

any family members are also a few other main reasons for the rise of stress levels, along with the

fears of what and where their life will go once college is finally over. No one knows what the

future holds, which scares myself and other students who are still figuring out where they are

placed in the world. And with only 18% of students building up courage to ask for help with their

problems, that leaves a majority of the student body full of non-diagnosed illnesses and no way

to tell if someone is about to reach their breaking point.

With the ever growing tuition cost for both four-year and community colleges, it seems

almost impossible for anyone to graduate with any degree without any debt to pay off. Incoming
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students have been told to join sports clubs or community organizations, a piece of advice given

by both parents and college counselors. It was one way to individualize an application for its

competitors and, hopefully, act as a way to obtain any kind of scholarship that could slowly pay

bits of one's tuition cost. Though effective for some, not many other students have the heart,

energy or even the interest. It's a common sight to see students apply for all kinds of aid to help

paying for their outrageous tuition cost. Even as everyone fights to obtain some financial aid,

hoping for enough to cover a small portion of his or her tuition, there is always a nagging

thought that the given amount of aid may not be enough to help students through how many

years they may need. Unless under very specific circumstances, that is the case for many appliers

for FAFSA, who would then need to plan a way to pay off the remaining cost of tuition. Some

may even restore to applying for student loans, myself included, as there is no other way to gain

enough to pay the full tuition for the semester, let alone the year itself.

As stated before, U.S. graduates have gathered up an average student debt of over

$37,000 within the year of 2016, an increase of "six percent from last year" (Student Loan Hero).

With all the money calculated, it results in a total of $1.3 trillion in which needs to be paid off,

with it being expected to continuously increase throughout the next years, decades even.

According to his article "Is College Worth It?", author David Leonhardt explains how for those

"among the four-year college graduates who took out loans, average debt is about $25,000", an

amount that would take an estimate of nearly twenty years to pay off. Leonhardt's article was

published in 2014, with the average amount of debt a student can received being 12 thousand

less than what the average is today. Not to mention, it would've taken almost twenty years to pay

off the debt of 2014. Now with $37,000, and tuition pushing for much higher costs, future

generations of college students may be faced with their own debt situations much longer than
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previous graduates. Unable to pay for tuition and stacking up debt money is a possible main

reason why 50% of students drop out within the first and second years of university, why the

numbers of graduating students are so low. No one wishes to stress over money and the

possibility of not being able to pay for it when the time comes, which is understandable why

many just decide not to continue their education. It seems the better idea to stop the excessive

flow of debt and leave, rather than continue on and let the total sum up to a ridiculous number

one would be unable to pay off within either their employment life or their lifetime, no matter

how decent the job they may have to help; "why pay so much for the hopes of securing your

future when at the end of the journey begins an upward struggle to pay off a large sum of student

debt?" (Sundial)

College is the best example of a double-edged sword, or at least that's what I've always

believed. There are many positive things that come out of it, so many in fact, the negatives are

usually ignored or glossed over until they creep up behind you years after you thought it was all

over. In many ways, college opens many opportunities to a person willing to spend four-plus

years earning a degree in whatever field of work they wish to enter. Yet, the struggles some

people face and think about when regarding college seem to make them think if attending is such

a good idea. Not everyone is suited for a college environment, some wish to wait in between

high school graduation and their first year, while others decide to go at all. With more money and

problems appearing ever year within a campus, it makes sense for anyone to stop and think if

college is really worth all the trouble, if they have the mind and money to commit to all four

years for a future that is not guaranteed.

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Works Cited
Carroll, Scott, MD, et al. "College Student Mental Health." Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb.
2017. http://www.learnpsychology.org/mental-health/

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandel. Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology.
Boston:Bedford/St.Martin's,2016.Print,pp.35,6878.
Leonhardt,David."IsCollegeWorthit?Clearly,NewDataSays."Kirszner,pp.336.
Pharinet."IsCollegeforEveryone?"Kirszner,pp.68992.

Ratana,Calvin."StopTreatingCollegeAsABusiness."TheSundial.N.p.,30Oct.2013.Web.
27Feb.2017.http://sundial.csun.edu/2013/10/stoptreatingcollegeasabusiness/

"U.S.StudentLoanDebtStatisticsfor2017."StudentLoanHero.N.p.,n.d.Web.25Feb.2017.
https://studentloanhero.com/studentloandebtstatistics/