Does Having A College Degree Make You More Successful?
There is a huge discussion these days about if college is really worth it. Many people would say yes, and a shocking amount would say no. Thanks to Social Media, people have been sharing their stories on how they are self taught and didn’t get a degree in the current industry they are working in, to prove the “you need a college degree”, stigma wrong. You would assume that if a teenager is to graduate from High School, they would want to attain a degree within 4 years.
In today’s society, the argument could go both ways as there has been an influx in community college options, influencer marketing, UGC, Drop Shipping, and Real Estate- which are all terms that can be associated with entrepreneurship. For example, you don’t need a college degree to get into any of these “careers”, but the addition of a bachelor’s degree behind someone’s name would consider them to be a credible person. Without a degree, a person who is self-taught would need to have a list of achievements and or projects in their career before being taken “seriously” in society. The correlation between a High School graduate and a College Graduate seems to be in the negatives, essentially meaning that even if the number of High School graduates increases, doesn’t mean that College graduates will. This inverse relationship can be discussed through looking at another variable; unemployment.
In the state of California, the average cost of living is higher than most states, so the average salary will be higher, and most people will have to bring in a decent amount of money to even be able to afford an apartment. Being employed is one of the major factors in arguing if getting a college degree is actually “worth it”. When considering going to college, students have to look at an abundance of factors. These factors can be anywhere from tuition, to location, as living somewhere for four years of your life should not be taken lightly. There is also a side where High School graduates will choose to attend community college for the first two years to save money on tuition, instead of attending a four-year university right away. In most cases, most students move onto a four-year college after two years, but for the ones who don’t will show how there is a positive correlation between unemployment and High School Graduates.
The correlation between High School Graduates and unemployment rates in the state of California can be seen as a positive correlation. This correlation shows that when kids graduate from High School, unemployment rates also rise. This could be from the lack of education that a High School Graduate may have- this does not imply that they are not educated, rather, they lack another 4 years of niche education from a university where they could study something that could further set them up in the future. This positive correlation has a slope of 0.2, which illustrates a strong correlation between High School Graduates and Unemployment rates.
On the other hand, College Graduates and unemployment have an inverse relationship. So, just as High School Graduates and College Graduates have an inverse relationship, so do College Graduates and Unemployment rates. This inverse relationship would go to show that even though Unemployment Rates are going up, College Graduate rates are going down; this could mean that LESS College Graduates are unemployed compared to those who just have a High School Education. Unemployment isn’t the only thing that can determine whether a College Degree is better than no College Degree- that being income.
When looking at the Median Income in the state of California, a major factor when comparing median income between the degrees is that again, the cost of living in California is higher than most states. That being said, can a High School graduate make more than someone with a Bachelor’s Degree?
In California, there are a variety of Universities in which a student can attend; those ranging from 10,000 a year to 80,000 a year. These financial factors play a huge role into whether someone attains a college degree or not. The median income of a College Graduate seems to be a positive correlation in the state of California which means that the higher median income of an individual would be with someone with a College Degree. On the other hand, the lower the High School Graduation is, the higher the median Income is. This inverse relationship would prove to show that having a College Degree is still extremely important in order to have a decently high median income.
Whether the world thinks having a College Degree is important or not important, it is still valid to explore all options of career choices before shutting down further education. That being said, school isn’t for everyone, and any career can be as big as one can make it.
