Is Education Worth It?

I've had plenty of discussions with many people about this topic. We all wonder whether education is really worth it.

• You spend at least 4 years of your life studying - often times, staying up all night to cram for a test or finish that research paper.
• You end up in debt from student loans or other means of paying for school because you don't qualify for financial aid, you don't get enough financial aid to cover all your costs, or you missed the deadline to submit your application for financial aid.
• According to the government, your parents make too much money for you to qualify for financial aid, but in reality, they barely have enough to cover the cost of textbooks.
• You work several part time jobs, or a full-time job, or a combination of both just to pay for your tuition or some of it, while going to school full-time or part-time. Regardless, you still have to study for that exam, read the 10 chapters the professor assigned, or write that 20-page paper or 1000-line program for a class right after you get out of work.

When you graduate and get your degree, you realize that...

• Someone without a degree is making so much more money or the same amount of money as you do, but they're not burdened with student loan debts.
• You realize that your degree might have gotten you a white collar job, but people can do just as well or even better without that degree.
• You wasted at least 4 years of your life studying for a lot of things you can barely remember and barely use in your job.
• People who did not bother go to college have had a head start with their careers, so they're already experienced workers by the time you graduate.
• All the internships and part-time jobs you did while in school might have made your resume look good, but nothing beats 4-years of work experience, so you find yourself unqualified for many job opportunities, and you end up applying for entry level positions.
• You have to go back to school and get your masters or PhD to move up, to get promoted, and/or get a raise.

You go back to school and take more classes for that graduate degree, and unfortunately for you, your employer doesn't want to pay for you to get that higher degree...

• You spent another couple of years or so of your life studying and most likely, working at the same time.
• You got your degree, and you indeed get that promotion or pay raise you wanted, but you soon realized that you're much deeper in debt with student loans.
• And you're in so much debt that you're not even sure how and when you're ever going them all off, even with the pay raise or promotion.

Sometimes, a degree/diploma might just be a status symbol. Unless you have parents who can afford to pay for your college education, or you qualify and receive full financial aid help, or you're getting scholarships left and right because you're super smart or super athletic, then you might want to think twice about going to school - at least here in the US, because it is one of the most expensive things you will ever spend on, second only to a house.

So do you think it's worth it?