Higher Education Wasted Or Worthwhile - 2800 Words

Ross Landry English 1A – Rebecca Quinn Term Paper Draft 11/25/14 Higher Education: Wasted or Worthwhile? You graduate kindergarten to go on to elementary school. Finishing elementary school leads directly to middle school. Completing middle school provides a lovely segue into high school. And finally, graduating from high school leads to†¦ well, what now? The sequence above describes the typical flowchart of educational development in the United States. The great thing about it is that its linear nature makes it very easy to follow. One step leads to the next, then to the next, and then to the next. It only becomes complicated after graduating high school, because then the next step is not so clear. There is a†¦show more content†¦Is it true that a pursuit of higher education is actually a better choice than getting to work right out of high school? This is written so well! If we are going to compare these two paths, then a common basis on which they will be compared is required. This basis is found by asking the question: â €Å"What is the purpose of receiving an education?† Since there are many arguable reasons to receive an education, for the sake of this paper we will narrow it down to one: to obtain an employable set of skills in order to earn income. Therefore, the basis for comparison will be which path leads to better financial security in the long run. With this basis set, we can now set the driving question this paper seeks to examine: â€Å"Does the investment in higher education yield a sufficient return to justify its cost in modern America? And if so, will it continue?† Or, to put it more simply: â€Å"Is college worth it?† The most obvious place to begin exploring this question is by looking at differences between two groups: individuals who have graduated college and those who have not. Right off the bat, the data appears to support the commonly held narrative. In 2011, the average person who had received education as far as the 8th grade level was projected t o earn $936,000 during a 40-year span of full-time working (Julian). Up next were individuals who had completed grades 9-11, who were estimated to earn $1,099,000, also during a 40-year span