If you read as much as I do, or even if you only read this blog, you may have begun to wonder if a college degree is worth the effort and the cost. I have begun to wonder that and I have a PhD and teach folks getting a college degree.
I can certainly argue that my CC students, who are from inner city schools and historically and actually underprivileged in both education and experience, will gain a significant boost from a college degree. But what about the rest of students? What about children of the wealthy who grew up in homes with hundreds of books and who attended elite schools?
According to one blog post, a college degree helps them too.
Those with a college degree are in significantly better shape than their peers, with 88 percent of college graduates employed in 2010. And, in addition to having a better chance of finding a job, they are making more money. The average weekly earnings of those with a college degree was almost double the earnings of those with only a high school diploma, at $581 versus $305.
Update: This makes me feel better about encouraging college for everyone AND having a job that is dependent on people going to college.
And, while I was thinking about other things and looking for something else, I found a graphic that showed which degrees paid more. So, just in case your students ask or you wanted to know, here it is again.
Beyond the earning potential, college has value in helping students develop critical thinking skills that will make them more productive citizens. I have heard many of my community college students say that they just trust the government to do the right thing, or they don’t know enough to do anything about perceived injustice. Without education for the majority of US citizens, we run the risk of a handful of ivy league graduates running the country unchecked.