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Why Does College Education STILL Matter?
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (surely there are others too) never finished college, yet ended up doing alright? We can all agree with that. So the question you could ask yourself would be, why bother with a college education?; Why go through all the trouble taking those dreadful SATs, filling long college admission applications, applying for financial aid and loans (and pay them back for the rest of your lives), when college education might not matter anymore.
The answer is surprisingly simple and straightforward, college education still matters. Education, especially post high school education has been a one-way ticket to success for many of us. Whether you voted for Bill Clinton or not, you cannot deny him the fact that he made it and became the most powerful man in the world back in 1993.
Coming from the backwaters of Arkansas, he put himself through college, later won the Rhodes Scholarship, and ultimately graduated from Yale Law. This is not to imply that college education is exclusively for future presidents, the point is that college education matters period. It helps one break out of a vicious cycle, a self-feeding, never ending grind called poverty. Bill also met Hillary at Yale, so yes college has played match-maker as well. Not a bad deal then?
It would be just downright hypocritical to keep on praising college education while knowing that it costs a fortune now. I hate to bring Bill Clinton into this narrative again but is it that hard to believe that when he went to Georgetown and Yale, even then these premier institutes were beyond the reach of many. Apart from not buying you love, lets face it, money can buy you pretty much everything else. Whether you need that new Samsung Note 3 or the latest version of iPad, you need money. And where does that money come from? You guessed it, college education. Don't agree? Visit the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and see for yourself what hottest jobs are for college graduates in 2014. And while we are at it, lets slay the "Bill Gates- Steve Jobs dragon" once and for all. They were two highly smart, EXCEPTIONAL individuals out of a population of over 300 million. Do the math yourself; the numbers are stacked against those who do not go to college and graduate.
College education is all about making the right choices. An educated person is better trained to make the right choice because he/she is better at telling right from wrong. Education also instills self-confidence, so that a person can face the real world and take actions wisely. Post high school college education then is all about empowering yourself to make those choices. To be in the daily grind of that vicious poverty circle is not your choice. It is only by putting yourself through college that you can make those decisions which may not only give you social stature but also economic stability. Surely, education is expensive these days, but if you have the brains of Bill Gates and the charm and intelligence of Steve Jobs, then maybe you can get away without getting a college education. In the end I'm just going to mention what Aristotle said: "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment.