What is college good for?

Every year more and more people question why they should attend college. They ask “Is it worth it?” As the price of college continues to increase people will continue to ask these questions. If I weren’t on scholarship I would certainly be doing the same thing. Seeing people $40,000 in debt is a bit of a “Debbie downer”. But what people should remember is that college educates the whole person, allows you to figure out what career path is right for you, and makes it easier to find a job.

            In an article by the New Yorker, Louis Menand said, “College exposes future citizens to material that enlightens and empowers them, whatever careers they end up choosing. He prefaced this quote by saying that when people enter college they choose a career path by how much success and financial rewards it will bring. I agree with his statements because people are only worried about how much money they will make and not becoming a more well rounded person. In college it is required to take general classes as a freshmen. These classes allow us, as students, to learn more and make us more literate and cultured beings. In an article by the Daily Beast it points out that “Being able to engage others intelligently about art, music, and politics may actually make you an enjoyable person to be around.” You never know when you’ll have to pull out some random knowledge to better your conversations had with others. The music and history classes may seem random at the time, but you may decide you like these classes and want to continue to study them.

            When students first enter college they think things like “I’d like to be a doctor because I would make a lot of money” or they automatically choose to major in Business because they think that degree will allow them to make lots of money. With the whole doctor scenario I personally don’t think that a lot of people realize how long they have to be in school or how much time it takes to actually become a doctor. In an article by the Huffington Post it says “Studies show that nationally, 60 percent of students graduate in majors different from those in which they began.” People really have no idea what they want to do when they first enter college. During the first year you have plenty of opportunities to go to Major and Minors fairs or talk to professors in different fields so you can learn more about what your interested in and really get a feel for what you’ll be learning in the coming years. Once you get the degree in what you chose it definitely helps you get a job in that field.

            Getting a job is hard in this economy but if you have a degree it makes the search much easier. On About.com it says “Having a college degree is becoming increasingly important in the job market. Consequently, having a degree now will open doors for the future, which will in turn open more doors and make you more marketable later ... and the cycle continues.” When it says it’ll make you more marketable it means that you would be a valuable asset to the company and that you’ve had training that’ll put you a leg up.

            All these points are important to remember when we ask ourselves all those questions about whether or not college is good. Not only will it help in finding a job, but it also educates the whole person, and helps us find the right career path.