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Are parents justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education?
Are parents justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education?
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| Yes | 67% | 287 votes | Total: 429 votes | |
| No | 33% | 142 votes |
Yes
by Charles Ray
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Add to FavoritesAre parents justified in pressuring their kids to go to college? Rugged individualists would argue not, firmly believing in the individual's right to make such decisions. After all, some maintain the economy has only so many jobs for college graduates, so why endure the financial burden of a college education if you don't feel it's for you?
Statistics provided by The National Association of Colleges and Employers however, tend to indicate that getting at least an undergraduate degree is a good investment in an individual's future.
First of all, for increasing numbers of jobs in today's market place, a college degree is the ticket for admission. Once hired, a degree determines an individual's lifetime earning potential. A recent survey shows that lifetime earnings for college graduates with a bachelor's degree average $2.1 million, compared to $1.2 million for those with only a high school diploma, nearly two times higher. Average earnings for people with a college degree rose 7.6 percent during a period when lower income earners saw their wages stagnate, and in some instances, actually decline.
A survey in 2000 showed that the average annual wage for a high school graduate was only $31,900, barely above the poverty line. Workers with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $52,200, and those with a master's degree earned an average of $62,300.
The benefits of a college degree are more than mere economics. The skills and discipline gained from a college education better prepares a young person for the ups and downs of the working world. The bottom line financial benefits, though, are not to be scoffed at. When companies send jobs offshore to take advantage of lower wages and production costs, workers with less education are often the first to be laid off and the last to be rehired when economic conditions improve. Even for low paying jobs, an individual with a college degree has an advantage over a high school graduate.
Parents have an inherent responsibility to prepare their children adequately to face an uncertain future. Parents want their children to do better than they themselves did. A college education is one of the best tools to help achieve that goal.
Are parents justified in pushing their children toward college? Not only are they justified in doing so, but in the final analysis, one could argue that it is a moral imperative that they do so. To do less is to condemn the child to a lifetime of missed opportunities
Learn more about this author, Charles Ray.
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No
Is college the answer for everyone? It must be because I teach in a technical high school and though our students are training for specific trades such as plumbing, HVAC, and electrical, we keep telling the students and their parents our academic curriculum will get them into college. We seem embarrassed to be a trade school. Why should my students go to college? Why do we seem to respect and regard more highly doctors and lawyers? Is it because they have degrees?
Why did I want my son to go to college? Why did my father want me to get a university education? Why did my father's parents admire him for using his GI Bill to get a degree? The answer is simple; we believe the college degree means a better job. And by better job, we mean that we earn more money. Do we?
My tuition, room and board in 1971 totaled $2,700 for the year. I had no college loans to burden me as I entered the work force. I secured a teaching position for $12,000 per year, approximately what it cost for my four years. Today's college education often exceeds $100,000. What sort of return is there for that investment? Would a financial planner see today's college education as a wise purchase as compared to years past? What sort of job does one find to make it worth my while? What is the average annual salary for a college graduate? What security is there for them in today's economy?
If you choose the corporate route looking to climb the corporate ladder to increase your income, moving up the ladder often means a move around the country. You never pay off a mortgage. You are always securing another. You repair your "new" home and should get a reprieve for ten to twenty years, but you move again and repeat the process. Your promotions really cost you. And what if you are downsized or your job winds up offshore?
Why not a trade instead of college? Perhaps years ago the white collar worker made more money than a blue collar worker, but is that still the case? Have you needed a plumber lately? $65 per hour seems to be the average. What did you pay the last time you needed your house painted? Masonry work? Masons can get anything they want; try to find one! And most importantly, I can't send my toilet or chimney to Mexico or China or India to be repaired. Job security.
There is no shame in being a tradesman. They need to be good with their minds and their hands. They have the opportunity to make more money simply by starting out of the gate four years, and in many cases these days five years, sooner. By my calculations, that makes them ahead by $100,000 as compared to the college graduate being in the hole by $100,000. So who is richer and smarter which this debate is really all about?
Learn more about this author, Karen Gilbert.
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