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NBC’s ‘Today Show’ posed a question this morning that we thought was a no-brainer: Is a college degree still worth the cost? With more than half of recent college graduates currently jobless or underemployed, many are asking whether that valuable piece of paper (also known as a college diploma) is worth the investment.
Here at BIGfish, we believe–hands down–that a college degree is worth the cost and time. Here are our thoughts on why:
- College teaches you the basic skills you’ll need to succeed in any job. Sure, some classes may seem useless at the time (and some probably are – do you really need to take a class called “Technology and Culture: Virtual People?”) However, for every seemingly useless class you take, you’ll also take a class that will prove vital once you’re out in the so-called “real world.”
- Employers want to hire college graduates. Here at BIGfish, we are MUCH more likely to consider hiring you if you have a bachelor’s degree than if your highest level of education consists of a high school diploma. This isn’t snobbery by any means – we just fully believe in the importance of a college degree for one’s educational and personal growth. On top of that, college provides students with countless learning opportunities, including internships and extracurriculars, to obtain the necessary real-world experience it takes to land a job. Having experience working with clients under the direction of an advisor or mentor is especially important for job seekers in the marketing and public relations fields.
- A college degree is statistically proven to pay off in the long run. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a worker with a bachelor’s degree will earn $2.3 million on average over a lifetime, while someone with a high school degree can expect to earn $1.3 million over a lifetime.
- For every unemployed college graduate, there’s about three times as many unemployed high school graduates. According to NPR, as of August 2012 the jobless rate for recent graduates had dropped to 6.8 percent; but the unemployment rate for recent high school graduates with no college was at 24 percent.
- Maybe this makes us biased, but BIGfish’s President, David Gerzof Richard, doubles as a professor at Emerson College! So of course we like college degrees.
Check out this cool infographic from Degree Jungle for more information, and let us know what you think – is a college degree still worth it?
