Is College Worth the Expense

College Is Still Worth the Expense

Is college still worth the expense? According to Draeger, (2009) “Yes, It’s Still Worth It”. If you look at the work force today the higher paying jobs are filled with college grads while the lower paying jobs are filled by non college grads. Surveys conducted by the US Census Bureau show a connection between earning power and education levels. The rising cost of college should not be a deterrent for college students to further their education.

There are five categories or zones to classify US jobs this was developed by The Occupational Information Network for Department of Labor to show the discrepancies between zones that require high skill and education (zone 5) to zones requiring lower education and skills (zone1) and the data is dramatic. Study shows that low income students are usually right in the middle of urban America where the highest zone 5 jobs are available. In the report Washington DC was used as an example it shows that 75 percent of zone 5 job holder have a Bachelors degree but unfortunately 40 percent of high school students fail to earn a diploma and never make it to college.Those who do graduate high school in order to be available for this market low income students would have to take advantage of student loans to meet the higher education levels required for the zone 5 jobs. The average student loan these days is around $20,000 or more. The message being sent out to students these days is to graduate with as little debt as possible however in order to secure your financial future you may have to take the plunge and become moderately in debt to do so (Draeger, 2009). Again going back to the question being asked earlier is college still worth the expense? “Yes, It’s Still Worth It” Draeger, (2009).