This article has a list of lots of career paths and what percentage of the people in those career paths earned a college education. "Jobs at the top of the list are good bets for people with no degree. Jobs at the bottom of the list are bad bets" at the top of the list is an air trafic controller with 32% of workers who got a college education, to an optometrist with 100%. It is a pretty long list but there is still a pretty good amount of jobs that do not require a college education.
But these jobs, although may not require a college degree, are they careers that anybody would want to spend their life doing? We also have to take into consideration that the careers I believe should be sometime people are willing to do for a good amount of time. The time and money spent on college should not be the only weighing factors. Recently, for me, there has been constant advertisement about college, that it opens up more options.
Why Should You Go To College?
McGuire says an important reason to go to college is for the opportunity it provides. "As opposed to generations of the past, high school graduates today are unable to obtain the number of high-paying jobs that were once available." The college expectations in society have changed over the years because of employment availability. It seems as though it is becoming more and more of a struggle to get a well paying job in the U.S. because this new expectation/requirement is a college degree.
McGuire also discussed in his article a topic that came up in my interviews; connections. "The more connections which are collected during your college career, the more options you will have when you begin your job search" College seems to be the time where a student having decided a career path, meets with people in this field, giving them a greater chance of success in this field of work. But connecting back to my interview, it seems as though you need these connections to get into college to begin with. Everything seems to be a competition of who you know and what connections you have more than the work you have done.
How Does Having a Degree Vs. No Degree Effect Employment Opportunities?
Similar to the first website I researched, this website provides a list of careers that do not require a college degree but it still makes a point to say that a college degree makes finding jobs easier. "While there are Employment Opportunities available to those with and without a degree, earning a degree can lead to higher paying positions, more options and more opportunities for promotion."
This website also demonstrates that the higher the amount of eduaction one attains, the less chance of facing unemployment issues, "However, the unemployment rate for those without a degree is higher than for those with one...Unemployment rates by amount of education, according to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), www.afb.org, are: Less than a high school diploma: 6.8 percent [up to] Doctoral Degree: 1.4%"
Overall, these websites convey that college is a necessity in obtaining success in the work force. These sources talked very breifly about the change between generations, how in the past, the majority of students were not expected to continue education after high school to get a well paying job.
Competition in College Admissions:
There are more students applying to schools now than before. "this is another year of historically high numbers of applications at numerous schools...In addition, the advent of online applications has led to students applying to more schools, especially top students who are aware that their preferred schools are competitive." Recently there has been more competition for colleges. There is more demand for higher education in society. Because the majority of students now are going to college, everyone is expected to try for college even if it does not seem necessary for the student's choice in their career path. As seen in previous websites, going to college opens up more options, it leaves room for someone to change their mind. It also allows for higher paying jobs even though the cost of college is increasing.
It seems as though competition is increasing by the year, "Statistics from the 2006-2007 application season indicated that college admissions have become more competitive than ever," the top, most rigorous colleges' acceptance rates are decreasing,"The acceptance rates at Yale, Harvard, and Columbia fell below 10 per cent for fall 2007 admissions. Princeton's acceptance rate just cleared 10 per cent, and Dartmouth's was just over 12 per cent...there's no denying that admissions to top colleges and universities are highly competitive, and likely to remain so for years to come."
Works Cited
"Are College Admissions Getting More Complicated." College Admission. 2009. Web. 2 Mar 2010.
"The Best Career Opportunities, "College Degree Not Required"." CityTownInfo.com. 2007. Web. 24 Feb 2010.
MGuire, Jeff. "Importance of College Education." College View. hobsons, Web. 24 Feb 2010.
"How Does Having a Degree Vs. No Degree Effect Employment Opportunities?." DegreeDirectory.org. 2010. Web. 24 Feb 2010.
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