Argumentative Essay: Is A College Education Worth It?

Is A College Education Worth It? Once clear trend throughout American history has been the relationship between individual economic stability and education. In the 21st century, there has been a steady increase in the number of jobs requiring some form of post-high school education. At the same time that more and more Americans have been pursuing an education beyond high school, the costs of that education have grown dramatically. It’s this tension between the high costs of college and the perceived value of post-secondary education that has generated a debate. Is college worth the high cost? Will a college education pay off in the long run even if it means going into debt? Some argue that a college education should not be touted as a financial investment. For example, George Leef, Director of Research at the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, says, "If a college degree were a regulated investment opportunity, it would have to bear the standard warning that past performance is no guarantee

A 2016 study by Georgetown University found that 99% of job growth between 2010 and 2016 went to workers with some form of a post-secondary degree (Carnevale, Jayasundera, and Gulish). Furthermore, even during the recession of 2007-2010, jobs requiring some college grew. According to the Lumina Foundation, jobs requiring college degrees grew by 187,000, while jobs requiring a high school degree or less fell by 5.6 million (Lumina Foundation). Based on this data, it is clear that the sound bet for anyone seeking future economic stability is more education. Any young person who is realistically looking at trends in technology, education, and economics will see that the time and money spent on learning more probably will result in earning