Jaden Studer

When nearing the end of your junior or senior year in high school, the question of whether you’re going to college is asked frequently. Some, if not, the majority will answer yes and go on to tell you about their future plans, but what about those that choose not to go to college, what questions are asked next? Do they ask you what your future plans are, if so, then what if you don’t have any? Are you looked down upon because you aren’t furthering your education in pursuing a degree? There are so many questions and uncertainties and that is okay, everyone walks their own path. Factors of normality, expenses, or just the question of if a degree is needed anymore come into play on the decision of if you should attend college. 

College isn’t for everyone, it shouldn’t be forced upon young adults who know what they want to do and would rather get on with their life and skip that college experience. As of 2015, only 69 percent of students graduated in the previous spring and attended college that following fall, that leaves 31 percent of those students who have chosen to go a different direction. It is becoming more normal to not attend college and the choice of doing so is becoming more normalized. In this article by Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, she furthers the question some more, “Is college really for everyone, and does a degree lead to true happiness?” The exposure of different job opportunities in high school that doesn’t require a degree could be the reason why some students choose to forgo college amongst other variables and that is where Lohmann is coming from. There are many examples, although maybe extreme examples, of people who are very successful and didn’t attend college; Steve Jobs, Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Ray. They all have very different professions but goes to show that there are so many opportunities out there that don’t require you to spend thousands of dollars and halt your life for four years. Ask around, I am sure there are more people than you think that did not attend college, and that gives you a mentor in your journey. 

The image below shows the percentage of how often college graduates use their degree or major in their job field post-grad. As you can see, it is not guaranteed that you will need your degree in your career, so seeing these statistics can make students wonder what is the point of attending a university if you aren’t even going to use it in yours future. This is something everyone who is deciding to go to college or not thinks about and wishes they had a valid answer, is getting my degree needed to be able to get a job? Everyone has a hope to be happy and successful and it is scary thinking that this decision could altar your life one way or another. Everyone’s story is different, no one is guaranteed a job no matter if you went to college or not, that is important to keep in mind. 

Is the cost of college a factor for people choosing to skip college? It is no shock that when you go to college it will be expensive and you want to make sure you get the most out of every penny while you’re there, but what about those who can’t afford to go and are forced financially to skip out on college? Almost one-fifth of students who were admitted to their top choice of college or university in 2016 but decided not to go there turned it down because of the cost of attendance. One-fifth may not sound like much, but when you think about the 19.6 million college students, one-fifth is more than you think. Imagine if the price of college was cheaper, some may argue that college should be free, but if the cost wasn’t an issue there would be a substantial amount of more college students on campus earning their degree and furthering their education. This rhetoric comes from the standpoint of cost and the effects it plays on the decision of going to college or not, which is one of the most fears high school graduates have when looking into their future. This is one of the top reasons why students choose to go a different direction after high school, with good reason, financial aid can only help so much and the fear of that debt can push young adults away from the idea. 

I recently watched a TED talk by Eric Lee called, “You Don’t Need to Go to College, but..” and his stance on the topic was that with the internet and the tools we are presented to us today, we don’t need college, with the exception of medical fields and professors. Google and Wikipedia are amazing search engines that allow us to get our hands on the knowledge needed to start our own business or how to teach you to build anything you set your mind to, so why go through college and pay the money when you can learn for free. Lee went to college and he earned his degree and he still believes there are alternative ways to go about learning how to do a profession and earn a career. The “but..” in his speech is the 4 things that college can provide you that the computer or books cannot and those are; soft skills, safe space to fail, discover yourself, and a place for ideas. Lee’s presentation hits on the primary points for why young adults choose to go to college for those 4 reasons I have just mentioned, but he counters it with the fact that those skills can be learned without it. Yes, college can be that safe space and the world won’t always be as forgiving as your professors, but you learn and you grow from your mistakes. The biggest trait that stands out to me for the people who choose to not attend college and pursue a career on their own, is their drive and perseverance. Those who choose that path don’t have a degree to fall back on, all the have is their knowledge and their character to get them through life and I think that is special in itself. 

The final question that I will leave you with is if a college degree is needed anymore? In 2010, only 62 percent of U.S. college graduates had a job that required a college degree. That is a little over half of the students who spent a minimum of four years at a college, spending thousands of dollars to get a degree that they potentially didn’t even need to get. Granted, there is the other 38 percent left that chose a field that needed their diploma and it all was “worth it”. In the end it makes you wonder what is the point of going to college if you can find a job that doesn’t require that degree. Brad Plummer, the one who wrote this statistic, is someone that believes that the job you end up with is based on where you live. The bigger the city you live in, the more opportunities you will have for yourself. Does that mean the more chance you could get a job that doesn’t require a major? No one can predict the future, you are taking a chance to start a life right out of college and those who do will find their way, college or no college. The ones that do choose college will say it’s the “college experience”, which is important to most, but some could say they like the challenge and they think it prepared them well for the real world. Everyone has their reasons as to why they attend college, but the choice to not attend college shouldn’t be frowned upon. 

The nature of this conversation is very controversial and is highly talked about because it is the future of so many lives. The information given is all on the side of “your life, your choice” and I think that is how it should be. College is a choice, it is not required, getting that degree doesn’t guarantee you success in the world, it can only potentially open more doors for you. No matter what path you choose to pursue towards your future neither should be looked down upon nor questioned because that is the path you are destined to take and that should be your decision and your decision only, no questions asked. There are thousands of jobs out there and at the end of the day, if you have that drive and ambition to be successful in life and you work towards your goals and achieve them then you can go back and answer the question, is getting a degree necessary? 

Work Cited

Study Shows How Price Sensitive Students Are in Selecting Colleges, http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/23/study-shows-how-price-sensitive-students-are-selecting-colleges. 

“Is College Necessary?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 2 Apr. 2018, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/teen-angst/201804/is-college-necessary. 

Plumer, Brad. “Analysis | Only 27 Percent of College Grads Have a Job Related to Their Major.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Aug. 2019, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/05/20/only-27-percent-of-college-grads-have-a-job-related-to-their-major/. 

TED, http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_lee_you_don_t_need_to_go_to_college_but.