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8 REASONS:

WHY YOU
DON’T NEED
HIGHER
EDUCATION
BY ASHLEY BUSH
8 REASONS:

WHY YOU DON’T


NEED HIGHER
EDUCATION
BY ASHLEY BUSH
PROLOGUE
‘COLLEGE IS A MUST’. THIS IS WHAT
EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY OUR TEACHERS,
HAVE BEEN TELLING US FOR YEARS. BUT IS
IT REALLY? GETTING A HIGHER EDUCATION
ISN’T FOR EVERYONE. IF YOU’RE STILL ON
THE FENCE ABOUT WETHER TO GO OR NOT
I’VE LISTED 8 REASONS ON WHY YOU
SHOULDN’T.
These reasons include:
1. It’s expensive
2. It takes a long time
3. No job guarantee
4. College is hard
5. Doesn’t prepare for the workplace
6. You never liked school
7. Dont know what to do
8. Your job doesn’t require a college degree
1.
IT’S EXPENSIVE

U
sually when it comes to college we think about how
we’re going to pay for it. Countless studies have shown
the massive increase of both tuition and student debt
when it comes to college. “College tuition has more than
doubled since the 1980s. Millennials are facing unique
financial struggles previous generations weren't, like having
to save longer for increased housing costs, something that
hasn't been helped by the burden of student-loan debt.”
When going to college getting a loan is a high possibility.
Over 69% of students take out loans and 14% of parents had
to do the same to pay for their child’s education. The current
amount of the Unites States student-loan debt is up too over
$1.17 trillion.
“MILLENNIALS ARE FACING UNIQUE
FINANCIAL STRUGGLES PREVIOUS
GENERATIONS WEREN’T”

With the increase of the expense of college growing


each year, the longer you wait to go to college the more
expensive it might be in the end. “A recent Student Loan
Hero report found that while wages have increased by 67%
since 1970, college tuition has increased at a faster rate,
continuing to deliver a fair amount of sticker shock.”
2.
TAKES A LONG TIME

O
n average the normal student doesn’t compete their
degree on time. “According to Time, more than 60% of
students take an average of six years to graduate from
college”. It also depends on the type of degree you are
pursuing. With a harder degree your classes may be more
intense, making the 4 year dream more and more
unachievable. With this long time spent in college you can
miss out on other opportunities during this time in your life.
As well, most students work during their schooling. This
means they are working 40+ hours a week as well as
homework on top of this.

“MORE THAN 60% OF STUDENTS TAKE


AN AVERAGE OF SIX YEARS TO
GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE.”
3.
DOES NOT GUARANTEE A JOB

G
etting a job after college can be a difficult task in itself.
Just because you get your degree there is many reasons
as to why you won’t get a job. Less than 20% of
graduates leave campus with a job.
Even having the degree doesn’t make you an expert or
experienced in the field. Jobs see degrees on most all
applications but they also need to see the skills that you bring
to their company. This can include experience, a portfolio,
and personality.

“IN AN INTERVIEW, POTENTIAL


EMPLOYERS WILL MOST LIKELY LOOK
FOR A DEGREE AS A BASELINE
QUALIFICATION, BUT BELIEVE ME,
THEY’RE MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN
LEARNING WHETHER OR NOT YOU’RE A
CAPABLE HUMAN.”
4.
IT’S HARD

L
et’s understand one thing, college is not easy. Students are
generally expected to spend a couple hours after class time
to study and do homework. The general class load is 15
hours, this makes the students needing to spend 30-60
hours on outside homework and studying. This doesn’t
include the hours working students already have with their
jobs. With that many hours of work students need to have
constant discipline to work and learn.

“BEING UNPREPARED FOR COLLEGE IS


VERY COMMON, 75 PERCENT OF
STUDENTS ENTER COLLEGE NOT BEING
PREPARED.”
5.
DOESN’T PREPARE YOU FOR THE
WORKPLACE

W
orkplaces in today’s world are complaining on that is it
difficult finding those suitable for the workplace. Jobs
are looking for those with experience and can work
directly once hired. Those who have been spending
the past 4+ years working on their degree are not able to get
the experience these jobs are looking for.

“ON TOP OF THE FACT THAT WORK


EXPERIENCE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS
HAS DECLINED DRAMATICALLY, VERY
LITTLE OF THEIR TYPICAL HIGH
SCHOOL OR COLLEGE STUDIES
PREPARES STUDENTS WELL FOR THE
WORKPLACE.”
6.
NEVER LIKED SCHOOL

I
f you’re never liked school then thinking about continuing
your education might be harder for you than others. Often
people attend college because it’s whats pressured of
them, not what they’ve actually wanted to pursue. We’re
told throughout high school that this is the next step of our
lives and is what most of us go into right after getting our
diploma.
Unfortunately those that do attend school even after
knowing it’s not for them underestimate how bad it can be.
College is harder and more strenuous than high school was
with constant exams and overflowing homework. This is one
reason why students drop out from college.

“THEY GET TO CAMPUS AND ARE READY


TO LEARN ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT
COLLEGE ISN’T A GOOD FIT FOR THEM.
IF YOU KNOW YOU DON’T LIKE SCHOOL,
COLLEGE PROBABLY ISN’T THE BEST
CHOICE.”
7.
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TAKE

W
ith so many options out in the world of what you can
do it becomes difficult to suddenly decide your lives
purpose right out of High School. With this you could
spend a could years attending school to complete your
generals and still not know what to do. With over 500 options
to choose from it can get stressful. Roughly 20-50% of
freshman students are undecided in their major. Once they
have been to college there is a 75% chance that they
changed their degree at least once.
This could be thought of as a waste of time as you are
spending money to attend classes yet don’t know what you
want to go into and that is understandable. Those who don’t
know what to pursue after taking countless quizzes and lists
to find out sometimes declare a basic or popular option. This
includes; communications, business, phycology, computer
science, liberal arts, english, or biology.
8.
YOUR JOB DOESN’T REQUIRE A DEGREE

A
degree can look good on paper but when it comes to the
skills you might need for a job, working in the field is your
best bet. Some jobs don’t care for your degree, instead
they are looking for more important things such as;
certification, experience, and/or training.

“THE GROWTH IS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT


THE DEGREE IN HAND; SOMETIMES, IT
DEPENDS ON YOUR SKILLS AND
CAPABILITY
TO COP UP
THE
THINGS
AROUND
YOU.”
SOURCES
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Study.com. 2021. Why Are Students Taking More Time To


Finish College?. [online] Available at: <https://study.com/
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Perna, L. and Odle, T., 2021. Recognizing the Reality of


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2021].

Singletary, M., 2019. College degrees don’t always prepare


applicants for a job. Employers demand them anyway..
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Knowledge@Wharton. 2015. Why Recent Grads Aren't


Prepared for Work. [online] Available at: <https://
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-recent-grads-
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Busteed, B., 2021. Why Aren't Graduates Ready For Work?


They're The Least Working Generation In U.S. History. [online]
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