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Steven Chase Eure

Jennifer Newhouse

English 112

11 December 2021

College: A National Debate

The discussion of college becoming more accessible to all citizens wishing to pursue a

form of higher education has become a vast debate over the past decade. Whether building a

strong foundation the future or striving to be accepted into a dream career, pursuing a higher

education such as a college degree is a great option and should be more accessible to those who

cannot achieve such education. That being said, making college more accessible and encouraging

more individuals to pursue a degree is an easy way to pave a foundation for one’s future,

increase in availability for jobs of all passions, and increasing life’s earnings compared to those

without before mentioned education.

In the past decade mainly, the two main issues of achieving a higher education, after

graduating from a standard high school, have been the constant cost increase of a basic college

education and the Opportunity Gap that exists between those with higher education and those

who pursued a trade. Sadly, college tuition alone has skyrocketed over the past ten years with a

whooping twenty-five percent according to an article written by Abigail Hess with cnbc.com.

(Hess) As a result, with the steady rise of college tuition costs, many students have either

dropped out during their process of earning a degree or reconsidered obtaining a degree and

rather focus on a trade that can financially support themselves for the time being. Consequently,

many lower income bracket students struggle to find any further education after the initial
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graduation from a basic education. In a report discussing the Opportunity Gap that currently

affects society, Isabell Sawhill reports:

America faces an opportunity gap. Those born in the bottom ranks have difficulty

moving up. Although the United Sates has long thought of itself as a meritocracy,

a place where anyone who gets an education and works hard can make it, the facts

tell a somewhat different story. Children born into the top fifth of the income

distribution have about twice as much of a chance of becoming middle class or

better in their adult years as those born into the bottom fifth. (Sawhill)

This report helps solidify the issues of a dramatic increase of college tuition paired with

an uncontrollable gap between those born in more fortunate circumstances.

Moving past the aforementioned issues of obtaining higher education, a possible

solution to these roadblocks would be to consider making a post-secondary education

more accessible to those who cannot obtain it. By lowering the overall cost and debt of

both college institution and degree expenses, these changes would heavily impact the

nation’s economy and job availability as well as an increased standard of living for those

who previously could not afford higher education. Changing the cost of college expenses

alone such as housing, books, and instate/abroad rates would encourage many students to

pursue higher education therefore severely impacting the state of the economy in a

positive fashion. As mentioned before, making college education available to those who

do not have access would cause job availability to skyrocket due to the influx of degrees

with more educated, qualified students looking to begin a life-long passion. With these

few benefits in mind, making higher education accessible to all would positively affect

the economy and help it prosper.

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Coupled with the positives mentioned in the previous paragraph, having more

affordable educations allows many people to pave great foundations that an individual

could build on as the future continues. According to an article published by agb.org,

those who have attended college are twice as likely to operate a small business and in the

last two decades, universities nationwide have contributed to approximately eleven-

thousand business ventures. (AGB) To further this information provided by agb.org,

“From 1996 to 2015, technology transfer from universities sparked development of more

than three-hundred-eighty-thousand new inventions, contributed five-hundred-billion to

the national GDP, and supported 4.3 million jobs.” (AGB) Keeping that information in

mind, obtaining a higher education is an amazing way to expand on skills and build upon

a foundation to aid an individual in future endeavors. The foundation provided by

obtaining a degree would also help in securing job openings in desired positions, which is

extremely helpful in high positions or competitive careers. Furthermore, with the increase

of obtained higher education, universities would promote a higher educational standard

because of the influx of degrees. This means creating a more educated economy that has

higher wages and a better standard of living for all citizens with the idea of a more

accessible college education.

In Addition to paving the foundation for success, the increase in job availability is

another major upside to an more obtainable college education. With more students

obtaining the degrees they are passionate about, many students with degrees are finding it

easier to snag jobs in their specific passion due to the boost of the college degree.

According to aplu.org note that “the average graduate is twenty-four percent more likely

to be employed and average earnings are thirty-two thousand dollars higher annually and
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one million dollars higher over a lifetime.” (aplu.org) With this information in mind,

many students who graduate are proven to have more job availability over those who

only graduated with high school diplomas. This would mean that if college were more

accessible to those who could not afford it, everyone in the economy who actively

pursued a degree would have increased job availability in their careers. Degrees also help

acquire jobs ahead of those who do not have them is because it shows character.

According to Fremont.edu:

One of the main reasons college grads get hired over prospects without a degree is

not because of the degree itself, but because they have proven they can see things

through until the end. It also proves that they are willing to go beyond the bare

minimum, the bare minimum in this case being high school. A degree shows

motivation and determination, assets that many people don’t think or care to have.

It also proves that they have a willingness to learn and continue bettering

themselves. (Fremont)

The cause of this, from a business perspective, would be to hire an individual that already

has the proof that they will learn and continue to grow in a position whereas the company

or trade going on a whim and hiring someone with no experience or record of education.

In Addition to paving strong foundations and increasing job availability, earning a

degree also allows graduates to increase their overall life’s earnings compared to those

without. According to collegepossible.org graduates earning a four-year degree boasts a

personal benefit of $2.3 million in total lifetime earnings for graduates, which is

approximately eighty-four percent more than those with only a high school diploma.

(collegepossible.org) This statement shows that most college graduates who graduate
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with a degree generally make more in a lifetime than those who go without an education.

Another source even further explains in an image that focusing on the most recent

graduates there is very little evidence that degrees are not worth achieving. (Scott) To

even further demonstrate the vast difference of income based on degrees, this chart

provided by northeastern.edu visualizes the average annual salary determined by

education level. (northeastern.edu)

As the reader can see from the graph above, those with or less than a high school diploma

struggle to earn anywhere near the amount of money annually compared to those who

achieved postsecondary degrees. Although it is a sad realization, the graph demonstrates

that individuals with a GED earn the lowest salary of approximately $30,784 per year and

also carry the greatest risk of unemployment with an average unemployment of 5.4%.

(northeastern.edu) With this information in mind, those who do not have a degree would
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earn major benefits including an average increase in annual income along with greater

job security and allows individuals to further pursue a higher education should the person

decide to and achieve even higher benefits associated with better degrees.

Although making colleges more accessible nationwide to those who cannot afford

the expenses has many substantial benefits, several drawbacks to this solution are

evident. The first major issue with offering more accessible college would be the massive

increase of taxes charged by the United States Government. These taxes would be

immense on the citizens of the United States somewhat like how free healthcare in

Canada caused their taxes to go through the roof. According to a detailed document titled

College: Who Profits? written by Herbert London, the documents goes into the

accountability of financial aid and who actually profits from a degree, it states:

With tuition costs rising to the amount of money available in federal student aid

programs, increases are inexorable. As a consequence, an ironic condition has

resulted: the more aid one receives with tuition increasing accordingly, the more

aid one has to have-in an unending cycle. Intended to make college study more

affordable makes things worse or maintains a pave equal to tuition rates. Rather

than consider elasticity of demand based on cost, tuition is a function of federal

funding-or what they can get away with, among elite institutions. Between 1982

and 2007 the period of dramatically increasing federal assistance, college tuition

rose more than 400 percent (about four times the rate of inflation). (London)

Though outdated, the information from the excerpt puts into perspective just how

expensive more affordable college affects the taxpayers of the United States. Although

unpleasant, the taxes forced into the economy would somewhat be negated in the future
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because of the substantial increase in the economy due to new job positions, increased

employment rates, and other beneficial factors to the economy.

Although High Taxes would be the main issue with making college less expensive

to encourage students to obtain higher forms of education, another issue of this solution

would be that there is no guarantee to obtain a job even with a postsecondary education.

Sadly, many students today find passion that are not in high demand causing them to go

through school and end up wasting years of expensive education for a degree with no

value. According to a document labeled Making College Worth It: A Review of the

Returns to Higher Education, earnings of students truly depends on the program of study

and degree they continue to strive for. (Philip) This consequently is a depressing reality

where students may only succeed by pursuing high demand careers rather than their

passions just only to earn a better standard of living. In a documented article written by

Andrew Potter, he goes in depth on how his worry that students who focus on humanities

instead of other, more important, careers may have a negative impact on the economy in

the future. (Potter) This continues to prove that although a degree is worth attaining, it

may be best to weigh your options as a student and decide what passion to pursue.

Although everyone is different, the harsh reality of obtaining a degree is that there is not

always a guarantee the field you put life’s work into will yield a stable job someone could

support themselves with.

In conclusion, with society constantly changing in today’s time and the debate the

now questionable debate involving whether a college degree is needed or even

encouraged to become more accessible they are many solutions to combat this argument.

One specific way is to make college more accessible to those who cannot afford a higher
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degree and several reasons it helps students is that it paves a great foundation, increases

an individuals job opportunities, and increases lifetime earnings. This solution to the

decade old question also helps reduce the well known opportunity gap between those

with and without education all while reducing the overall cost of Colleges. With this idea

in mind, making college more affordable for lower income bracket students will

encourage many students to obtain degrees making the economy proser in the future!

Works Cited:

1) Oreopoulos, Philip, and Uros Petronijevic. “Making College Worth It: A Review of the

Returns to Higher Education.” Future of Children, Spring 2013, pp. 41–65. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1353/foc.2013.0001

2) London, Herbert. “College: Who Profits?” Academic Questions, vol. 26, no. 3, Sept.

2013, pp. 360–365. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s12129-013-9366-3

3) DALY, MARY C., and LEILA BENGALI. “Is It Still Worth Going to

College?” FRBSF Economic Letter, vol. 2014, no. 13, May 2014, pp. 1–

5. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.ezpdccc.vccs

4) CARLSON, SCOTT. “Should Everyone Go to College?” Chronicle of Higher Education,

vol. 62, no. 34, 6 May 2016, pp. A22–A25. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-

com.ezpdccc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=115132016&site=ehost-

live&scope=site

5) Potter, Andrew. “Should Everyone Go to University?” Maclean’s, vol. 119, no. 45, Nov.

2006, p. 55. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.ezpdccc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=23078509&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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6) Horowitz, Jonathan. “Relative Education and the Advantage of a College

Degree.” American Sociological Review, vol. 83, no. 4, Aug. 2018, pp. 771–

801. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0003122418785371

7) Sawhill, Isabel V. “Higher Education and the Opportunity Gap.” Brookings, Brookings,

28 July 2016, https://www.brookings.edu/research/higher-education-and-the-opportunity-

gap/.

8) “Higher Education Contributes to a Strong Economy.” Higher Education Contributes to

a Strong Economy, 5 Mar. 2021, https://agb.org/guardians-campaign/higher-education-

contributes-to-a-strong-economy/.

9) Edelson, David. “How Do College Graduates Benefit Society at Large?” Association of

Public & Land-Grant Universities, 14 Oct. 2016, https://www.aplu.org/projects-and-

initiatives/college-costs-tuition-and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/societal-benefits.html.

10) “The Economic Impact of College Degrees.” College Possible, 24 Aug. 2018,

https://collegepossible.org/news/the-economic-impact-of-college-degrees/.

11) Hess, Abigail J. “The Cost of College Increased by More than 25% in the Last 10 Years-

Here's Why.” CNBC, CNBC, 13 Dec. 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/13/cost-of-

college-increased-by-more-than-25percent-in-the-last-10-years.html.

12) Stobierski, Tim. “Average Salary by Education Level: Value of a College Degree.”

Bachelor's Degree Completion, 10 Sept. 2021, https://www.northeastern.edu/bachelors-

completion/news/average-salary-by-education-level/.
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