Is College the Best Option?

During times of economic hardships people usually question all ideals and institutions in their quest to overcome the hardships. As such, hard economic times in the contemporary world have made various parties question the impact of college education on the intellectual growth and future success of an individual. They ask whether college education is the best option. The answer is a resounding no. college education is not the best option.

People usually use two approaches when they attend college education. These include the practical approach and the intellectual approach. The practical approach refers to going to college to earn a degree with the hope that it would enable one get a stable job. Despite the fact that the latter approach is very optimistic, it has become institutionalized in the society. As such, the society believes that the time spent in college is the time that people discover their passions and actively pursue them. People go to college to discover themselves despite the fact that this is simply an idea that has been embedded in their minds. Therefore, the society considers going to college as a rite of passage that is critical in the intellectual development of an individual.

One may know many smart people who did not go to college. The smart things of these people may also have been taught in school. This implies that college education or the number of years that one has spent in school does not determine wisdom, insight, or intelligence of an individual. However, despite the above factors, most contemporary organizations are heavily reliant on the number of years that a potential employee has spent in school to determine their fitness for a certain job opening. However, despite the fact that certain careers require people to undergo rigorous training in a certain field, which can only be achieved under a college or post graduate environment, not all careers require a college education. Careers that require rigorous training in a college or postgraduate environment include careers in medicine and nursing. This notion has made various employers assume that college education is critical the performance of a certain of a certain job when it is in fact not necessary.

Placing too much emphasis on college education also makes people who do not have a college degree have a low self-esteem. The lack of self-confidence has a negative impact on their ability to become successful. When people who not have a college degree attend job interviews that require candidates to have a college degree, they may spend a considerable amount of time apologizing why they do not have a college degree instead of focusing on their skills and experience they have developed on the job opening in question.

College education is not the best way for some people to learn. It may be a waste of time if they are pursuing courses that they are passionate about. In the contemporary world, most people focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses while ignoring liberal art courses. Despite the fact that STEM courses are critical in the development of any economy, they are not the only courses that students may pursue. Most parties have the notion that college graduates that have liberal arts degrees would find it hard to get good jobs when they graduate from college. They claim that employers do not like hiring people who have degrees such as philosophy and French. However, the fact is the recession has affected the job market in all major fields. They claim that liberal arts are irrelevant among low-income college students; they are only relevant among more affluent college students.  However, liberal arts have the broadest range of discipline among all college degrees.

In the contemporary world, having a college degree does not matter. This is due to the fact that most people do not have high intellectual development when they are in college. Therefore, they may engage in activities or enroll in courses that would not benefit them in the future. In addition, most college students forget what they learnt in college when they graduate. This raises the question as to why people should spend thousands of dollars in acquiring knowledge that they would not use in their life after college. However, various scholars claim that college education is not simply learning about the content taught in class. It involves learning how to think. However, this is not a viable reason to rationalize the price tag of higher education.

Most colleges claim that the aim of their education system is to ensure that its graduates have knowledge on a wide range of topics and approaches. Despite the fact that this is an excellent notion, it is not practice is not ideal in most colleges. In the contemporary world, college students spend more time and money in acquiring their degrees that in the past. This is partly due to the fact that general education accounts for a significant amount of their time. Most students are simply in class in order to pass exams instead of learning from the class. The students’ blood, tears, and sweat to pass these classes has a significant impact on their health and savings. However, it is a fact there are students who have left college with positive experiences. College education has not been beneficial to the vast majority of other students. This has made them question the validity of their education. In the past, an individual who had college education demanded a great deal of respect. However, in the contemporary world, college education is simply a requirement that may or may not enable an individual get a stable career. The fact that college education makes graduates incur crippling debts without increasing their job prospects is worrying. However, most politicians still claim that college education helps in improving the lives of people by providing them with stable jobs. However, the job market shows that college education is wasted time.

The spiraling of the cost of higher education is not simply the making of institutions of higher education. The government has played a critical role in the spiraling of the costs of higher education. The government has failed to support colleges in a manner that would enable provide accessibility and affordability that students need. Education is simply not a priority of the American government. Setting up of small, residential colleges may help in reducing the costs of higher education. Small community colleges are usually more committed to expanding need-based financial aid to students. In addition, the net cost of attending a small community college is lower than that of attending a large university. This ultimately reduces the costs of higher education. However, one can only hope that higher education institutions would formulate innovative strategies that would enable them cut costs. Otherwise, the institutions should brace themselves for tough times ahead.

A close examination of the current job market shows that the “education for all” trend in education that is advocated by politicians is neither economically viable nor advantageous to all students. Politicians generally believe that college education is critical in a high-tech American future. Therefore, the education system should produce as many graduates as possible to meet the future job market needs. However, only a fraction of future jobs would require a college degree. The job market demand of bachelors degree is cannot meet the number of college graduates who graduate annually. Graduates in even some of the top universities in the U.S. are finding it hard to find employment. The current education system is failing students since enough is not being offered. Students are not offered sufficient guidance. In addition, the content of curriculum does not meet the contemporary needs of students. This is despite the fact that college education is not the ultimate goal of the students. The common notion among members of the society is youths who do not have a college degree would end up flipping burgers. They would miss out on many good jobs. In so doing, the society neglects the fact that many good jobs require people to undergo on-the-job training instead of a bachelor’s degree. Therefore, people who are not suited for college education but go on and attend college education have a high likelihood of losing the good jobs. In such an instance, they may actually end up spinning burgers despite the fact that they have a college degree.

Despite the views of this paper that college education is no longer critical; people who can go to college should ensure that they attend college if they desire to undertake activities that require learning in a college environment. However, failure to afford college should not make one be disappointed with life. It is possible for anybody to have a great life even without college education. College is a time that offers students a great opportunity. It may have a significant impact on their success. However, the current structuring of the education system makes it be the root of failure of a significant number of students.