There are lots of advantages of going to college and getting your bachelor's degree. With the amount of online success stories building up these days, some might think that it's an easy path and skipping college is okay. Going to college has its advantages and the positive factors beat out the negatives any day.
- More Money: There's a reason why I put this first. In this world, it takes a decent salary to live comfortably. Anyone can get a job paying just enough to support yourself in a tiny mousehole apartment. Having a college degree opens more opportunities to higher paying jobs, even if your field has nothing to do with what you're applying for.For example: If you have a degree in Philosophy and you've always had a thing for finance, who do you think will get the job when applying, person A or B? A) Somebody who doesn't have a degree and loves finance but has nothing to prove his worthiness or, B) somebody with a college degree who has demonstrated that he/she has devoted time and effort to successfully achieve a goal.
- Increased Knowledge & Skill set: College is a period of communication and interactivity with your professors and classmates. The skills you can learn such as a writing efficiently, speaking and presentation skills are vital for career success of any kind. Whether you choose to attend a 2 or 4 year program, you will learn how the real world works. Professors and students share experiences that will sometimes put an end to things you've always wondered about. Professors are there to help - it's their job! Most professors find it self-fulfilling when they truly help a student understand and achieve something great. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a quality education. Little things that are learned during the college experience is what helps people get through certain steps in life. Continue for more...
- Security: Having a college degree allows you to communicate and get into conversations without embarrassing yourself. I have observed people without degrees getting insecure and uncomfortable in group conversations when the topic of college came up. Not only does a college degree give you job security, but it also rids self insecurities as you would have a sturdy accomplishment to back you up when needed. A majority of hiring companies look for college degrees when hiring. Even if your field of study has nothing to do with the job, your chances are still much higher than someone who has nothing.
- Social Interaction: The social benefits that one can gain throughout their college experience is truly priceless. There is no better place than college to be around like-minded people to share ideas and thoughts with one another. Networking is very important for many reasons because in this world, everyone knows somebody who knows that person that's hiring at their workplace. One other major point worth mentioning is learning how to deal with people. The level of interaction that goes on with different people helps you understand how people think and operate - without this skill, one would be lost. On top of all that, making life-long friends is always a plus.
- Student Benefits: In terms of the financial perks of going to college, the resources and price cuts available to you are great! You can get discounts on computers, software and even hardware. Most colleges provide student facilities free of use - which makes computer labs and equipment easily accessible. Personally, I saved over $1500 on the Adobe CS3 Master Collection because of my student status. There are websites like Academic Superstore that serve students well. Companies like Apple give academic discounts on their computers. For a college student, saving every penny is top priority (or is it?). To roughly round this off, there are a lot of groups and associations in most colleges that provide all sorts of aid and benefits to students. Who wouldn't want to learn about real-world writing skills, interview tactics, and resume refinement?
This list may not cover every detail but, overall, the topics that have been covered are pretty imminent throughout a college experience. Note: Not everyone goes through the same thing in college, just as every person interacts differently with various adventures.
If you think there are things worth additing to this list, feel free to add to the comments section below. I'm curious to see how other people view college, and what they think of it. Thoughts appreciated. 🙂
UPDATE 3/11/09: Due to the increased popularity of this article, I have written a followup listing more reasons to finish and/or go back to college. Click here to check it out!
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Student benefits is right on. Except with Apple hardware I think you get better deals with a Student Apple Developer Connection membership than they offer through university discounts. Minus the free iPod, of course.
Don't forget to visit http://www.studica.com to get top discounts for current students on software and music products. As a student you are ENTITLED to AMAZING prices on everything from software to home recording equipment to guitars and amps, etc... Take advantage of your student status by visiting http://www.studica.com!
I don't think that I agree with all the points that you make here Lasha.
* More money:
As you know I don't have a college degree yet I am in a well paid job writing software for the radio industry. I know that there will be opportunity for advancement and other better employment opportunities in the future.
* Knowledge and skill set:
I agree that you learn many things while studying, and you can pick up ways of thinking and skills from your professors (for better and for worse) but I don't believe that doing your college course prepares you for real world experience. Real world experience prepares you for real world experience, many theoretical things don't apply in real life.
The major benefit to college is that I find that sometimes I do sometimes face concepts that I might have spent time on in college. Having the past experience would make it easier to grasp these concepts today.
By the way, any good interviewer should know a good candidate by interviewing them, irrelevant on whether they have a degree or not. I believe that the interviewer will pick someone based on their skills, not what degree they have.
* Security:
Saying that having a degree lets you get into conversations without embarrassing yourself is absolute nonsense. I've met plenty of people who have degrees that hardly know a thing, they're the ones embarrassing themselves.
Sometimes I get self conscious when talking to people who have degrees, especially when I've only just met them. Not having a degree does give people a false impression of your skills and I find myself not wanting the subject to be raised, but it's something that I am gradually becoming more confident with because I know it's only a perception.
Also, I feel perfectly comfortable in my job, the people I work with know what I am capable of and I don't think I am going to get fired because of a lack of college degree.
* Social benefits:
Totally agree, there are big benefits socially. The interaction with like minded people is something that I never had much of.
* Student benefits:
Getting cheap software, hardware, travel, movie tickets, etc can help with finances, I don't believe it's something that should be should be classed as one of your 5 reasons for finishing college.
Especially since you're paying tens of thousands of dollars for your degree in the first place.
>>> Anyhow
Being 26 now I do have the ability to start looking at my life in hindsight I if I were transported back in time to when I was 18 and just finishing year 12 I know I would do things much differently.
I struggled for years and years with my business, and while I learned a great deal from it, and I do believe I've gained abilities that I'd have never gained from a degree from the experience, it would have been easier to get where I am now if I had have gotten a degree instead of getting full time jobs in various fields and then running my own business for a few years.
While I don't really agree with all of your article, I do agree that having a degree is a benefit. In vocations such as mine it's not essential but in several other vocations it's extremely important.
Having a degree also makes it easier if you want to live and work in other countries for a while.
Nic, there are many different paths people can choose to achieve desired results in their lives. It's unfortunate that people who have degrees are still idiots and don't know much about what they're doing, but you can't forget about the fact that there people who truly learn and grow from their college experience.
You are, indeed, a perfect example of someone who can achieve a comfortable lifestyle while being as educated as anyone else, if not, even more! The things that I have seen you accomplish in the last few years is inspirational to me, and gives me hope and motivation for success.
Education doesn't always cost an arm and a leg. Financial aid services from the govermment help MANY people in the US - I'm not sure if it's the same for Australia and other countries. Benefits that some students gain from being a student can be VERY useful and important to them, because they may not have the funds to provide these things to themselves on their own.
In terms of security, I completely understand where you're coming from. A "degree" doesn't mean that the person is any more or less qualified to talk about a subject matter. For someone that doesn't have much to back themselves with, unlike yourself, they would need all they can get to fall back on.
As I have already agreed on, people can live happily and achieve amazing results without a college degree, but unfortunately, that's not the case with everyone.
Lasha, interesting article...
Having a degree, may appeal to many, but at the end of the day there are so many different variations out there.
I work with someone who spend time in jail, he makes about 10K a month, he has no degree. We have another guy who does the same thing and doesn't even make half of what the other guy makes. And he went to school for it.
Degree or no degree, when u know your stuff, it shows.
Sometimes a degree locks you into something you may not even like. As in my case.
I think that before, people commit to a particular field, in which they want to acquire a degree, they should spend some time in that field and see what it's like in the real world, because as Nic said, we don't live in a bubble.
🙂
4) Meeting girls.. 😛
7) Because your parents make you
Why would you consider student benefits as a plus on this list? The amount of money one dishes out for college supercedes any benefit bestowed by menial discounts.
The cost f college tuition has in the past fifty years increased by 500% more than the rate of inflation. It is a complete rip off. If I finish college I will never pay back my student loans, never, not a million years. I'll rather shoot myself.
Do you even plan to WORK after college? Doesn't seem like it!
The point of going to college is to find a career path that you're comfortable enough with to do for a very long time, potentially your whole life. During that time of working in your field, you're expected to make your way up the ladder and gradually make more money.
Without college, unless you find something you're VERY good, you'll just be working odd jobs, making scraps wherever you can, and probably living with your parents (or with someone else willing to tolerate your lack of sufficient income).