the value of college education essay

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What’s the Value of Higher Education?

Have political and fiscal debates about higher education lost sight of the value of education for individuals and society? Dr. Johnnetta Cole discusses how universities can inform and inspire.

• Dr. Johnnetta Cole President Emerita, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art; President Emerita, Spelman College and Bennett College

This interview was conducted at the Yale Higher Education Leadership Summit , hosted by Yale SOM’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute on January 30, 2018.

The value of a college degree can be measured in a number of different ways: increased lifetime earnings potential, a network of classmates and fellow alumni, subject-matter expertise, a signal of stick-to-itiveness, potentially a marker of class or the capacity to move across classes. There are also less tangible benefits, like becoming a more well-rounded individual and part of a well-informed public.

Yale Insights recently talked with Dr. Johnnetta Cole about how she measures the value of higher education. Cole is the former president of Spelman College and Bennett College, the only two historically black colleges and universities that are exclusively women’s colleges. After retiring from academia, she served as the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. In addition, she served on the boards of a number of corporations, including Home Depot, Merck, and Coca-Cola. She was the first African-American chair of the board for the United Way of America.

Q: Why does higher education matter?

I would say that we could get widespread agreement on what I’m going to call the first purpose of higher education: through this amazingly powerful process of teaching and learning, students come to better understand the world.

There might be some disagreement on the second purpose. I’d say it is to inspire students to figure out how they can contribute to helping to make the world better. Certainly, higher education is about scholarship, but it’s also about service. It’s about creativity. It’s about matters of the mind, but it’s also, or at least it should be, about matters of the heart and the soul.

Q: Has the public perception of universities changed in recent years?

Throughout the history—and herstory—of higher education, there have been doubters, those who have critiqued it. But I have a concern, and some polls tell us, in this period in which we are living, many people believe that higher education is not contributing in a positive way to American life.

That’s something that we need to work on, those of us who are deeply engaged in and care about higher education, because I think when one looks with as much objectivity as possible, the truth is, and it’s always been, that higher education contributes substantially.

Q: You’ve led two historically black colleges for women. What is the role of special mission institutions?

In my view, we still need special mission institutions. Remember Brandeis, Notre Dame, and Brigham Young are special mission institutions.

With respect to historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), not every African American wants to or does go to an HBCU. The same is true of women and women’s colleges. But for those who wish that kind of education, and if the fit is right, it’s almost magical.

I think it is as basic as having an entire community believe that you can. On these campuses, we believe that black students can do whatever they set their minds to do. On the women’s campuses, we believe that women can reach heights that have not been imagined for women.

HBCUs are not totally free of racism. Women’s colleges are not utopias where there are no expressions of gender inequality or sexism. But they come far closer than at our predominately white and co-ed institutions.

Q: One of the big issues with higher education now is cost. How do we solve the affordability problem?

The affordability question is highly complex and serious. James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed that is not faced.” I believe that this is a perfect example. Colleges and universities are not just raising tuitions so they can make big profits. Pell grants are no longer at least a reasonable response to the affordability question.

We’ve got to figure this out because, in a democracy, accessibility to education is fundamental. The idea that something as precious, as powerful, as a solid education is only accessible to some and not to others, is an assault upon democracy.

Q: You came out of retirement to lead the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Why was the draw so strong?

I’ve managed, systematically, to get a failing grade in retirement.

I grew up in the South, in the days of legalized segregation—you could also call it state-sponsored racism. I didn’t have access to symphony halls. I didn’t have access to art museums. I still remember the library that I went to in order to travel the world through books, was the A. L. Lewis Colored Public Library.

As a young girl, I fell in love with the visual arts, especially African and African-American art. I went off to Fisk University at age 15 and began to see the real works of art for which we only had reproductions in my home. From Fisk, I went to Oberlin, where the Allen Memorial Art Gallery was a special place of solace for me

The opportunity with the Smithsonian wasn’t something I sought; I was asked to apply. My doctorate is in anthropology, not art history, so I was reluctant, but they told me they were looking for a leader, not an art historian. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. The work was an almost indescribable joy.

Generally, our museums across America do not reflect who America is, nor do they reflect how our world looks. They need to be far more diverse in terms of their boards, staff, exhibitions, educational programs, and visitorship.

What the African art museum has is a unique opportunity because it can speak to something that binds us together. If one is human, just go back far enough, I mean way back, and we have all come from a single place. It is called Africa.

Here’s a museum that says to its visitors, “No matter who you are, by race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability or disability, or nationality, come to a place where the visual arts connect you to the very cradle of humanity.”

During those eight years when I had the joy of being the director of the National Museum of African Art, I would greet our visitors by saying “Welcome home! Welcome to a place that presents the diverse and dynamic, the exquisite arts of Africa, humanity’s original home.”

Q: Do you think that our education and cultural institutions are properly valued in our society?

I have to say no. Because if we did, we would take better care of them. If we did, we would make sure that not some but all of our educational institutions from kindergarten through post-secondary education, into graduate and professional schools, have the means to do what needs to be done.

If we really value all of our cultural expressions, whether it’s dance or music, visual arts, theater, when there is a budget shortfall, we wouldn’t say, “These are the first things to go.” We wouldn’t say, “Kids can do without music in their public school.” It’s one thing to say we love an institution; it’s another to care for and protect an institution. I think we can do far better.

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5. the value of a college education.

An extensive body of research has argued that obtaining a college diploma is a good deal for graduates on almost any measure – from higher earnings to lower unemployment rates. By the same token, those without a college degree can find their upward mobility in the job market limited by a lack of educational credentials: This survey finds that one-third of Americans who lack a four-year college degree report that they have declined to apply for a job they felt they were qualified for, because that job required a bachelor’s degree.

But despite the potential benefits and opportunities available to college graduates – and the potential challenges faced by those who lack a college diploma – Americans have somewhat mixed attitudes about the effectiveness of traditional four-year colleges and other higher education institutions. On a personal level, many college graduates describe their own educational experience as having a generally positive impact on their personal and professional development. Roughly six-in-ten (62%) college graduates with two- or four-year degrees think their degree was very useful for helping them grow personally and intellectually, while roughly half think it was very useful for opening up job opportunities (53%) or for providing them with useful job-related skills and knowledge (49%).

Yet even as many college graduates view their own educational experience in positive terms, the public as a whole – including a substantial share of college graduates – expresses reservations about the extent to which various higher education institutions prepare students for the workforce more generally. Just 16% of Americans think that a four-year degree prepares students very well for a well-paying job in today’s economy, and 51% say this type of degree prepares students “somewhat well” for the workplace. Some 12% think that a two-year associate degree prepares students very well (46% say somewhat well), and 26% feel that certification programs in a professional, technical, or vocational field prepare students very well (52% say somewhat well).

The purpose of college: Americans view workforce-relevant skills and knowledge as more important than personal and intellectual growth

Americans’ views of what a college education should be tend to prioritize specific, workplace-related skills and knowledge rather than general intellectual development and personal growth. Half of Americans say that the main purpose of college should be to teach specific skills and knowledge that can be used in the workplace, while 35% think its main purpose should be to help students grow and develop personally and intellectually and 13% volunteer that these objectives are equally important. The public’s views on this issue have shifted slightly in favor of skills development since the last time Pew Research Center asked this question in 2011. At that point, 47% said main purpose of college should be to teach specific skills and knowledge and 39% said it should be to promote personal and intellectual growth.

Americans who have engaged in additional schooling beyond a bachelor’s degree are especially likely to say that the main purpose of college should be personal and intellectual growth, rather than the acquisition of specific skills and knowledge. Some 47% of those with a postgraduate or professional degree think the main purpose of college should be personal and intellectual growth, while 35% think it should be teaching workplace-relevant skills.

In contrast, those with limited college experience (or no college experience at all) are more likely to prioritize the development of specific skills over general intellectual improvement. For instance, 56% of Americans with a high school diploma or less say college should be primarily a place to develop specific work-oriented knowledge and skills, while just 31% see it primarily as a place for personal and intellectual growth.

There is also a partisan element to these views, with Republicans and Democrats expressing highly differing opinions on the purpose of college. Democrats (including Democratic-leaning independents) are about evenly split on which of these objectives is more important: 42% say colleges should prioritize personal and intellectual growth, while 43% say they should prioritize the development of workforce-relevant skills. But among Republicans and Republican leaners, 58% say that the main purpose of college should be teach specific skills – while just 28% feel that the main purpose should be general personal and intellectual growth.

These partisan differences hold true even after accounting for differences in educational attainment. Democrats and Democratic leaners with high levels of educational attainment are more likely to prioritize personal and intellectual growth relative to Democrats and Democratic leaners with lower levels of educational attainment.

But Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents at all educational levels are more likely than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents with similar levels of education to believe that personal and intellectual growth should be the main purpose of college.

Along with Democrats and those who have progressed beyond a bachelor’s degree, younger adults (those ages 18 to 29) are more likely than older adults to feel that personal and intellectual growth should be the primary purpose of college: some 43% of 18- to 29-year olds feel this way, compared with roughly one-third of those in older age groups.

In addition, Americans who themselves work in the education field tend to place a greater emphasis on personal and intellectual growth as the primary purpose of college: 46% believe that this should be the main purpose of a college degree, while 35% believe that college should mainly be a place to develop specific skills and knowledge (19% of those who work in the education industry consider them equally important).

Most college graduates regard their college experience as very useful for intellectual growth; views are more mixed when it comes to job opportunities and marketable skills

When asked to assess certain aspects of their own educational experience, about six-in-ten (62%) college graduates (including those who graduated from a two-year degree program) feel that their time in college was very useful in helping them grow personally and intellectually. About half say their college experience was very useful in helping them access job opportunities (53%) or in helping them develop skills and knowledge they could use in the workplace (49%).

The further people have progressed in their college career, the more likely they are to consider their experience very useful. Those with a postgraduate or professional degree are more likely to say that their college education was very useful in each of these respects compared with four-year degree holders, who are in turn more likely than those with a two-year associate degree to say that their education was very useful across each of these measures. For example, while two-thirds of those with a postgraduate or professional degree say their college education was very useful in opening doors to job opportunities, 56% of those with a four-year degree, and an even smaller share (40%) among those with a two-year degree, say the same. And while 57% of those with more than a bachelor’s degree say college was very useful in helping them develop marketable skills, about half or a smaller share among those with a four- or two-year degree hold this view (49% and 43%, respectively).

When it comes to helping them grow professionally and intellectually, majorities of those with a postgraduate or professional degree (77%) and those with a bachelor’s degree (64%) say college was very useful, compared with 46% of those with a two-year college degree.

Americans have mixed views about the extent to which college prepares students for a well-paying job in today’s economy

When asked a broader set of questions about the impact of college more generally, the public expresses somewhat mixed views about the extent to which a college education prepares students for success in the workforce.

Two-thirds of Americans (67%) think that a traditional four-year degree prepares students for a well-paying job in today’s economy at least somewhat well, but just 16% think it prepares them very well, and 29% think it does not prepare them well. A somewhat smaller share of Americans (58%) think that a two-year community college degree prepares students for a well-paying job either very (12%) or somewhat (46%) well, while 38% think that these programs do not prepare students well.

Interestingly, Americans with a four-year college degree are generally no more positive – or negative – than those with less education about the relationship between a four-year degree and a well-paying job: 13% of those with a bachelor’s degree or more education say a four-year degree prepares people very well, as do 11% of those with a two-year associate degree, 12% of those with some college experience but no degree, and 17% of those with a high school diploma. Among those who did not complete high school, however, 40% believe that a four-year college degree does a very good job of preparing people for a well-paying job.

When it comes to assessments of a two-year college degree, about one-in-six (16%) Americans who hold this type of degree say it prepares workers very well for a well-paying job. This is considerably larger than the share of those with at least a bachelor’s degree (7%) who say a two-year degree prepares people very well, but not necessarily more positive than the views of those with less education.

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to say four- and two-year degrees prepare people very well for a job in today’s economy. For example, about three-in-ten (29%) Hispanics and about a quarter (24%) of blacks say this about a four-year degree, compared with 12% of whites. And while about one-in-five blacks and Hispanics (18% each) say a two-year associate degree prepares people very well, one-in-ten whites share this view.

These findings are consistent with previous Pew Research Center surveys that found that black and Latino parents view college as more essential for their children’s success than do white parents.

A substantially larger share of the public has positive attitudes towards certification programs in a professional, technical or vocational field in the context of workforce development. Some 78% of Americans think that these programs prepare students well for a job in today’s economy, including 26% who think they prepare students very well. Just roughly one-in-five (19%) think they do not prepare students well. It is important to note, however, that respondents were not asked about the effectiveness of certification programs instead of a college education.

Positive assessments of certificate programs as a way to prepare workers for jobs in today’s economy are particularly widespread among those who did not complete high school; 44% in this group say these types of programs prepare people very well, compared with about a quarter (27%) of those with a high school diploma and a similar share of those with some college, but no degree (22%), a two-year degree (28%), or a four-year degree or more education (22%). Certificate programs are also particularly well-regarded among Hispanics, 39% of whom say they prepare people very well for a good job in today’s economy. About a quarter of blacks (25%) and whites (23%) say the same.

One-third of Americans without a bachelor’s degree have elected to not apply for a job they felt they were qualified for because it required a four-year degree

Recent research has argued that there is a “ credentials gap ” in today’s workforce, as employers increasingly require a bachelor’s degree for positions that did not demand this level of schooling in the past. And the survey finds that 33% of Americans who do not have a four-year college degree report that they have declined to apply for a job they felt they were qualified for, because it required a bachelor’s degree.

Americans who have engaged in some type of formal education beyond high school (short of obtaining a bachelor’s degree) are particularly likely to believe they’ve been adversely affected by credentialing requirements as they work their way up the educational ladder. Some 25% of Americans with a high school diploma or less and no additional schooling beyond that have not applied for a job because of a bachelor’s degree requirement. But that figure rises to 34% among those with a high school diploma plus additional vocational schooling, to 38% among those with some college experience but no degree, and to 44% among those with a two-year associate degree. Put somewhat differently, as people receive additional formal education without actually obtaining a bachelor’s degree, they may develop relevant skills without the on-paper credentials to match.

In addition, adults younger than 50 are much more likely than older adults to have refrained from applying to a job they felt they were qualified for because they didn’t meet the formal educational requirements. About four-in-ten non-college graduates ages 18 to 29 (41%) and ages 30 to 49 (44%) say this has happened, compared with 31% of those ages 50 to 64 and just 12% of those 65 and older.

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Experts discuss whether college is still worth it

Subscribe to the center for economic security and opportunity newsletter, gabriela goodman gabriela goodman research assistant - economic studies , center for economic security and opportunity.

December 13, 2023

This is a summary of an event held on December 7, 2023. You can watch the full video of the event here .

Higher education has historically been seen as the most reliable path to economic mobility. However, with uncertainty around student loan programs, high sticker prices, and growing distrust in institutions, Americans are increasingly questioning whether college is still worth it.

On December 7, 2023, the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (CESO) hosted a virtual panel moderated by Sarah Reber, a CESO senior fellow, to discuss the value of higher education and returns to obtaining a college degree. Below are some key takeaways.

Attitudes toward higher education have shifted.

Paul Tough, a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine where he has written about these trends, started the discussion off by summarizing changing attitudes toward higher education: Ten years ago, 74% of young adults agreed that higher education is very important, down to only 41% today. This shifting perspective is manifesting in declining college enrollment, explained Tough. The number of U.S. undergraduates has declined to 15.5 million from 18 million in 2010.

Tough attributed this trend to two primary causes. First, trust in institutions is falling, and higher education is no exception. This is particularly the case among conservative voters who perceive colleges as pushing a liberal political agenda. Second, people are worried about the financial risk associated with high college costs and low completion rates.

Research suggests that average returns to college are still high.

David Deming, Harvard University Professor of Political Economy, explained that after increasing for decades, the college wage premium—the difference in average earnings between college graduates and non-college graduates—has plateaued, but remains around 65%. That is, the average four-year college graduate earns about 65% more than the average high school graduate.

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The panelists also discussed the cost of going to college, noting that financial aid is available for qualifying low-income students, though it is not always enough to make college affordable. Stephanie Cellini, George Washington University Professor of Public Policy and Economics, pointed out that while the average posted “sticker price” of college has been rising, the “net price”—what students pay after subtracting out financial assistance that doesn’t have to be repaid—is lower than the sticker price that receives so much attention. She notes that the average sticker price has actually been decreasing in recent years. (See a recent discussion of that trend here .) Still, Cellini emphasized that many students have to take out loans to afford college and then struggle to repay these loans.

Denisa Gándara, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at UT Austin, added that higher wages are not the only benefit of college attendance. For example, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that college graduates have better physical and mental health. Society also benefits when people go to college; college graduates tend to be more civically engaged, reported Gándara.

Returns vary by institution.

Cellini said that some colleges, particularly for-profit institutions, are riskier than others. For-profit colleges are generally more expensive than non-profit or public alternatives and don’t increase earnings as much. As a result, students who attend for-profit institutions tend to have higher debt and are more likely to default on their student loans. Gándara expanded on this point, saying that for-profit institutions enroll a disproportionate number of low-income, veteran, and older students. This disparity means that it is often students from more disadvantaged backgrounds that attend schools with lower returns.

Starting but not completing college can make students financially worse off.

Tough pointed out that about 40% of students who start college don’t complete their degree. These students often end up in a worse financial position than their peers who chose not to attend college in the first place.

Our college institutions are in desperate need of reform. David Deming, Harvard University Professor of Political Economy

Deming agreed that completion is too low and suggested that lack of resources at many colleges is a major part of the problem. Student support services are particularly important. As Gándara mentioned, public and other less well-funded schools enroll more low-income students—exactly the types of students who could benefit more from stronger support systems.

Community colleges have limitations but can be an affordable alternative to four-year institutions. 

Panelists pointed out the value of community colleges, an oftentimes more affordable option than traditional four-year colleges. Students can start at community college and transfer to a four-year college. However, as Deming noted, transferring from community college to a four-year college is not necessarily a smooth process. Additionally, he added that short-term programs often lead to shorter-term benefits and fewer transferable skills. Both Deming and Cellini touched on potential benefits of “stacking” credentials, meaning using multiple educational programs such as vocational training and traditional degrees to build a more comprehensive skillset and knowledge base.

Where do we go from here?

The panelists described a number of approaches to increasing the returns to college and improving college completion rates. Cellini mentioned initiatives to hold schools accountable for their students’ outcomes. Both Cellini and Tough proposed efforts to make information about financial aid and college choices more easily accessible and digestible, though Tough argued that some policy discussions have over-emphasized helping individual students navigate a too-complex system at the expense of more systematic change that would make higher education fairer. Deming suggested expanding government subsidies to make college more affordable. The panelists agreed that community colleges require more funding.

So, is college still worth it?

The consensus among the panelists: College is worth it for most people, with some caveats. Institution type and area of study both impact the returns to college, as do academic preparation and risks associated with not completing a degree. “The system is not fair,” Tough added.

There are actions society can take to make college pay off for more people. “Our college institutions are in desperate need of reform,” concluded Deming. As reiterated throughout the panel, the U.S. college system disadvantages low-income students, often leaving them with substantial debt while providing insufficient support systems to help them succeed.

The Brookings Institution is financed through the support of a diverse array of foundations, corporations, governments, individuals, as well as an endowment. A list of donors can be found in our annual reports published online  here . The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this report are solely those of its author(s) and are not influenced by any donation.

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The Value of a College Education in Society

Table of contents, knowledge acquisition and intellectual growth, skill development and personal growth, economic prospects and career opportunities, enrichment of society and advancement.

• Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. Jossey-Bass.
• Carnevale, A. P., & Rose, S. J. (2011). The Undereducated American. Educational Testing Service.
• Caplan, B. (2018). The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money. Princeton University Press.
• Hossler, D., & Stage, F. K. (1992). Family and High School Experience Influences on the Postsecondary Educational Plans of Ninth-Grade Students. American Educational Research Journal, 29(2), 425-451.
• Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2019). Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution. Brill Sense.

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Faculty Essay: What is the value of a college education?

By Justin D. Klassen, Ph.D.

Going to college in the United States is expensive, not only because many universities have taken on extraneous expenses, but because a significant portion of the overall cost of education is borne directly by individual students and their families. One consequence of this arrangement is that higher education functions as a luxury rather than an equally accessible public good. Another is that even those who can afford an education are tempted to measure its value in reductive ways.

On the one hand, this is understandable. If a degree is going to deplete my bank account so drastically, then it had better pay me back, pronto. There is a compelling clarity to this logic, which is why some commentators and elected officials suggest that a university’s only legitimate role in society is to provide focused training attached to guaranteed employment. The same voices dismiss the value of learning that does not fit into this tidy equation, e.g., disciplines and programs that do not align directly with specific job qualifications in trending industries. Many college administrators seem to be persuaded, given the trend of cutting traditional liberal arts majors while emphasizing “degrees that pay.”

"The issue isn’t that asking a university for specialized training in a marketable major is asking too much. The truth is we should demand a lot more."

Unfortunately, this understandable response to the high cost of a degree is also self-defeating. That is to say, the more we discredit the intrinsic and transformative value of education, beyond its credentialing function, the less it will appear worthy of additional public investment. It is certainly fair to ask what a degree is worth, as many prospective students and their parents do every spring. But there are better ways to answer the question. 

We ought to begin by reminding ourselves that anyone who promises a clear path to a guaranteed future return is lying. The world has never been that simple, and its complexity is even more pronounced in today’s economy. Many students who are presently in college will get jobs in fields that did not even exist when they began their degrees. Most of them can expect to have several different careers over the course of their lives. So the issue isn’t that asking a university for specialized training in a marketable major is asking too much. The truth is we should demand a lot more. 

Contrary to the popular consensus, the real and lasting value of a college education in a complex and dynamic world is and always has been rooted in the adaptability of broad, interdisciplinary learning. Narrow training prepares us well for success in domains where we can expect predictable repetition. These domains exist, but they are relatively rare. For the most part, life comes at us without barriers against uncertainty or moral complexity. This is not to say that life is sinister, just that it is too wild and wonderful for any single lens to capture. To live well in such a world takes more than training. It requires an openness to learning for its own sake.

David Epstein’s recent book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World , offers illuminating examples of people who flourish in life and work precisely because they are open to learning beyond a single domain. They know that in an unpredictable world, you can’t decide beforehand what is worth knowing and what isn’t, and that worthwhile discoveries often arise from unexpected connections across disciplines. No wonder, then, he writes, that “compared to other scientists, Nobel laureates are at least twenty-two times more likely to partake as an amateur actor, dancer, magician, or other type of performer.”

We often hear that we can either treat education as a means to a lucrative credential, or we can learn for the sake of learning and end up overeducated and aimless. These Nobel laureates—and many others, including a surprising number of CEOs with liberal arts degrees—show us that the truth is nearly the other way around. They succeed not in spite of their breadth, but because of it. 

It is precisely when we value education intrinsically that it becomes the most useful tool—no mere expiring credential, but a lifelong practice of being flexible, inquisitive and morally discerning in a complex and ever-changing world. This is why many colleges require students in any major to learn subjects like ethics, literature and religion, along with social and natural sciences—not because they don’t care enough about their students’ success, but because they see them as full human persons, who like all of us are called to live wisely and well in community with others. 

Let us therefore abandon the cynicism that would force us to choose between learning for its own sake and learning for success. The real world throws curve balls, both in terms of market needs and in terms of unexpected life events. That world needs the kind of people who can face inevitable uncertainty with creativity and moral imagination, who can approach complex problems like climate change with both scientific literacy and spiritual sensitivity. More than docile workers, we need people who can navigate all manner of relationships with a working knowledge of human psychology and a few cherished examples from art and literature of the transcendent joys of friendship.

And employers need them too. Younger business leaders especially say that creative thinking, empathy, leadership and civic engagement are very important skills in college graduates. They need people, in short, who are not just well trained but “good at being human” (Herbert McCabe). That’s the real ticket to thriving in work and life, and it is also the real promise of a college education. Don’t ask for anything less.

Dr. Justin D. Klassen is associate professor of Theology & Religious Studies and chair of Integrated Studies at Bellarmine University .

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Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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The Value of Education Essay

Introduction.

The education system in the United States has been a highly controversial topic for a long time. Many people argue its value and require serious reforms. However, others believe that the current situation is totally acceptable and emphasizes the strengths of educational institutions in the country. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the key aspects of the education system in the United States and highlight its value.

There are several benefits and drawbacks to the US education system. The fact that most college graduates have better salaries its main advantage. The average income for citizens aged 25 years and older with bachelor degrees is almost two times higher than for people with only high school diplomas (Snipp, 2015). Another reason to choose higher education is that many jobs require college degrees. However, there are significant cons, as well.

Student debt loans are a heavy burden for graduates. More than half of the students in the United States spend almost 60 percent of their annual income to pay off loan debts (Bok, 2015). In addition, in spite of the fact that most employers hire only college-educated specialists, many graduates cannot find a job.

My parents have already spent on my education more than $30,000. However, I believe that it is worth this money. Education offers many opportunities for students. They can interact with teachers, professors, and other professionals to gain very valuable experience and knowledge. Education helps to develop social and vocational skills that are necessary for modern society. Also, educational institutions narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.

Many specialists claim that education is one of the most prominent instruments that can serve as a social equalizer. First, more educated people have better chances to obtain higher-paying positions (Biddle, 2014). The most successful careers require many different qualities that are cultivated in educational institutions. Second, various studies show that there is a direct connection between a poverty level and the number of people with college and university degrees (Pavlakis, Noble, Pavlakis, Ali, & Frank, 2015). Educated citizens are more productive and reliable members of society. Such individuals are less likely to end up living in poverty. Therefore, education can reduce the difference between materially needy and wealthy people.

Evaluation is another important aspect that is necessary to discuss. Standardized tests are the major approach that is used by most educational institutes. There are many reasons for the application of such an assessment. First, standardized tests positively affect academic achievements. Second, they ensure an equal and complete evaluation of students. Third, standardized tests help to focus on the most important aspects of an educational program.

Therefore, this measure is highly objective, reliable, and fair. However, there are some additional evaluation methods like teachers’ reports or extracurricular activities. Teachers’ reports provide parents with information about the student’s achievements. It might help them to decide on certain steps aimed at enhancing their children’s performance. Such reports demonstrate the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Also, teachers might offer some recommendations, highlighting specific areas that need to be improved.

Extracurricular activities might serve as an evaluating tool, as well. It helps a college administration understand more deeply the personality of an applicant. However, these additional measures can also be overwhelming to students. Their effectiveness depends on a family’s socioeconomic background. Therefore, students from healthy families benefit from teachers’ reports and extracurricular activities as they have a strong and reliable support system. However, it might be a heavy burden for children who live in dysfunctional families.

Therefore, educational institutions should provide special treatment to people from a poor socio-economic environment. Colleges have to do much more to admit low-income students and help them to complete programs. There are many successful examples that demonstrate that needy people can get the necessary support from the education system. Such assistance improves academic achievements and, subsequently, chances to get a more favorable job.

Low-income students are faced with different barriers that prevent them from enrolling in and completing educational programs. Many colleges put their prestige too high, and it makes them unaffordable to most learners. Therefore, it is necessary to bring particular attention to such institutes. Also, some ethnic communities require additional support. Many African-American students ask for fair treatment. Although equal rights are guaranteed to all citizens, this ethnic group is still faced with unfair attitudes that lead to low enrolment rates.

In conclusion, the development of a nation depends on the quality of education. The lack of literacy among the general public leads to economic and intellectual stagnation. Many American citizens believe that the education system in their country is not effective and should be changed. Students cannot afford to study at colleges and universities due to high tuition. The financial status also has a direct impact on their academic achievements. In addition, many graduates cannot find appropriate jobs. However, education offers many different opportunities that let a young person become a decent member of society. Although this system is not ideal, it is still the major factor that makes the United States one of the most prosperous countries.

Biddle, B. (2014). Social class, poverty and education . New York, NY: Routledge.

Bok, D. (2015). Higher education in America . New Jersey, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Pavlakis, A. E., Noble, K., Pavlakis, S. G., Ali, N., & Frank, Y. (2015). Brain imaging and electrophysiology biomarkers: Is there a role in poverty and education outcome research? Pediatric Neurology , 52 (4), 383-388.

Snipp, C. (2015). A historical overview and current assessment . W. G. Tierney. (Ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Value of College Education

College education is fundamental in today’s ever-changing world. Moreover, most people acknowledge college education as it gives them a better chance to be successful people in life. Despite the contemplation that college education is expensive and not worth pursuing, it is necessary to consider the value it adds to an individual’s life (Hill, Hoffman & Rex 12). Notably, nothing beneficial in the future is likely to cost less as most people think. Therefore, college education is the best way to acquire knowledge that will be useful in future endeavors. Caroline Bird’s “ College is a Waste of Time and Money ” points out that colleges have many students who do not belong there. She goes ahead to say that college is not good and not instrumental for the youths of today (Bird 28). The title of her essay suggests that college is not worth investing money and time, which is not the reality as it helps catapult one to a level of prosperity.  Moreover, colleges offer students more than just education since they get to understand other cultures and improve their critical thinking abilities (Dickler). A college degree is a well-known and respected element that enhances a successful life and creates more opportunities for job applicants.

A college degree allows anyone to have a better chance of finding a desirable job with matching qualifications (Beard). The chances of getting a well-paying job are unlikely without a college degree. As a result, college education is not a waste of money and time as Bird (34) asserts since it is a good platform to pursue the right job. In fact, a college graduate can start a company and work to the top hence achieving the desired career. Most jobs are out of reach without a college degree and most employers will pursue college qualifications despite the sufficient experience that one may have. Those with a bachelor’s degree and aged 25 years and above face an unemployment rate of 2.4 percent, which has reduced by almost half as provided in the bureau of Labor Statistics.  Moreover, 4 in 5 graduates of the 2016 class considered job availability in their career field before choosing a major. Also, 21 percent were employed before their graduation an increase from 12 percent in 2015 (Smith &Lavelle). Notably, there are careers that want a specific degree for one to succeed. A nursing or teaching job, for example, will not only require formal training but also a college degree. Additionally, a job that does not require a degree will enable one to be more qualified than others for a promotion owing to the possession of a college degree.

A college degree exposes one to a new environment where socialization is relevant in building networks for future career endeavors (Hill et al. 13). In most colleges, students participate in forums that foster their interaction skills through which they build networks with those pursuing different careers. In today’s world, people are determined to access college education as it helps in their preparation for job opportunities and a good pay. Notably, college graduates earn an average salary of $42,000 while those with high school diplomas earn an average of $32,000 (Dickler).  Clearly, a college degree entitles one to better pay and great job opportunities in their fields of choice. In pursuit of college education, socialization comes into perspective (Barrow & Malamud 523).  Furthermore, an individual’s social skills can be acquired and then developed while pursuing education. The social life is integral in human life as it positively encourages a person to work and stay with others (Hill et al. 16). Therefore, as people develop social skills that are not usually acquired spontaneously, they render the education process progressive. College education is therefore valuable in enhancing social skills while ensuring idea-sharing as part of the learning process.

College education enhances the exposure to different cultures. Notably, college students interact with people on a daily basis who are new in their lives. As a result, they get to understand the differences and similarities among people in terms of their attitudes, perceptions and notions towards things. Moreover, colleges comprise of people from unique cultures, race and color, which renders it a diverse environment with a lot of social learning (Hill et al. 15). College students not only pursue education but also critical thinking to enable them to co-exist peacefully with those around them. They learn to fit into a place where everyone matters regardless of their background, age, race, color and culture (Beard). As a result, college students understand the essence of a peaceful environment brought forth by averting issues of racial discrimination and isolation. Therefore, college education is valuable in uniting people around the world and building a network of empowered individuals.

College education enables one to gain valuable workplace skills. Notably, college is mostly what one makes of it despite of the college rank and category.  College education also introduces one to internships that provide technical experience, build the resume and networks for greater job opportunities (Kantrowitz 5). In addition, college education is exploratory as it is not just about meeting new people and having a new experience (Beard).  Those enrolling in colleges learn to interact so that the work environment does not become complicated. Moreover, colleges comprise of different personalities just like the workplace hence a great place to explore the world. Colleges also introduce one to being a responsible adult owing to the commitment to attend class and plan activities that eventually translate to important life skills in future.

Bird may be right by implying that college is a waste of time though not all the time. Interestingly, she holds a masters and bachelors degree from two distinct universities. As a result, college education cannot be bad as she purports since she could have not pursued it as it is a waste of money and time. Although the administration in most colleges compels students to take dissociated classes from their intended majors, it should not be the basis for rendering college education a waste of time (Bird 32). The classes should be optional and not compulsory. However, these are classes that are useful in building networks and developing the critical thinking ability of the students. While Bird may be just in arguing that these dissociated classes waste student’s time, college education remains valuable especially in a world that keeps evolving.

Bird (34) also argues that college is certainly a waste of time as people invest a lot of money on something that may not be useful in the future. She notes that a payment of sixty thousand dollars a year to gain college education has to be about good education. The price and quality of education should be justifiable so that colleges do not extort money from unsuspecting students yet the quality of education is poor.  Moreover, Bird notes that it is unacceptable for unranked schools to solicit students to pay a similar amount of tuition fees as the private ones that are considered to be best schools in the country (Bird 35). The idea here is the amount of money that is invested in education that may not be worth it.

College education is certainly an investment that one has to make in order to have a prosperous future. As a result, it is better to get a student loan debt to facilitate college education. However, most people are deterred by the inability to find a career they want hence the irrelevance of a college degree (Beard). Moreover, others want to begin work immediately after high school as they feel that college education is expensive and one may end up jobless in the end. There are also those without any idea of what they want to do with their lives so college education is not a priority in their case. The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that 51 percent of those who graduated between 2014 and 2015 work in jobs that do not require a college degree. This is an increase from 49 percent of those who graduated in prior years (Dickler).  Despite these notions, college education is valuable because it increases the chances of having a successful future.

In conclusion, college education is vital in entitling one to a successful career and future. While college education is considered expensive and unnecessary by Caroline Bird, it is certainly useful in enabling one to build social and career networks while pursuing a desirable degree. Moreover, college education improves an individual’s social life and interaction skills.  It is therefore unjust to consider college education as bad and a waste of time as it is a worth investment for future prosperity.

• Barrow, Lisa, and Ofer Malamud. “Is College a Worthwhile Investment?.”  Annual. Rev. Econ.  7.1 (2015): 519-555.
• Beard, Sienna. “4 Reasons Why a College Education Is Necessary These Days.” Money and Career, https://www.cheatsheet.com/personal-finance/4-reasons-you-should-go-to-college.html/?a=viewall Accessed 27 November 2017.
• Bird, Caroline. “College is a Waste of Time and Money.”  Psychology Today  8.12 (1975): 28-35.
• Dickler, Jessica. “College grads enjoy the best job market in years.” CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/16/college-grads-enjoy-the-best-job-market-in-years.html  Accessed 27 November 2017.
• Hill, Kent, Dennis Hoffman, and Tom R. Rex. “The value of higher education: Individual and societal benefits.”  L. William Seidman research Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ  (2005): 11-16 Print
• Kantrowitz, Mark. “The financial value of a higher education.”  Journal of Student Financial Aid  37.1 (2007): 5.
• Smith, David and Lavelle, Katherine. “The Gig Experience: Unleashing the Potential of your U.S. Talent and your Business.” Accenture Strategy, https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-2016-accenture-college-graduate-employment-research Accessed 27 November 2017.
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The Importance Of College Education

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Today, more students are considering continuing their education to the next level after high school by attending colleges and universities. Clearly, this rise in ordinary education admission and the pressure to get good grades, test scores, and scholarships have created an important defense if college is really worth it. Many experts wonder if students are best served by attending colleges and academic institutions, or if lifestyle courses such as going straight into the workforce or going to trade school can also work just as efficiently. Studies of all differences have been conducted over these matters, and there is no shortage of evidence indicating that college graduates tend to do better than their non-college-educated peers. Therefore, a college education is definitely worth it because a more educated populace is better at solving problems of both social and psychological nature.

One familiar argument against the furtherance of a student’s education into college is there is a financial woe to deal with. Pew Research explains that “A record share of students are leaving college with a substantial debt burden, and among those who do, about half (48%) say that paying off that debt made it harder to pay other bills” (Source C). It can definitely be stated that unnecessarily high tuition rates combined with reduced time for earning money are a compelling reason not to send a student to college. Many college graduates work for years to pay off their debt, and some may move the debts incurred through student loans around for decades after they get their degree. Yet regardless of the damaging outcome that debt can exert on a person’s life after he or she graduates from college, the reality is that the alternatives that are, not attending college is worse. According to Pew Research, college graduates brought home nearly twenty thousand dollars more than those with only a high school diploma in 2010 (Source C). One hundred-thousand-dollar debt could be paid off in under a decade by employing the extra twenty thousand dollars earned per year towards paying off student loans. Once the debt is taken care of, a person with a college degree will likely end up producing thousands of dollars more over a lifetime than one whose highest educational achievement is a high school diploma. Debt, although a rather difficult and necessary part of the college experience, most definitely does not represent an impassable obstacle. Furthermore, as our world becomes progressively united and populated, good-paying jobs not demanding a college degree are lowering.

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Everyone knows that technology and science are playing a broader role in society and ordinary life than ever before. With this improvement in advanced engineering comes a simultaneous increase in educational prospects. According to Wieder, “… the demand for a college education has grown significantly in the years since Mr. Thiel was a student [in the 1980s]” (Source A). Those disputing against the need for a college degree often mention that college does not make a student essentially more gifted or original. Yet the entire intention of education, whether it’s kindergarten or grad school, is to help a person’s perception and abilities. Even though college might not cause a person to gain the creativity that he or she never had, it will most definitely help in developing the potential that is already there. In today’s progressively competitive and STEM-based jobs market, a student must gain all the abilities he or she holds. Truly, illustrating this modern tendency of higher ability sets and intelligence is the pay gap described by Leonhardt. Three decades ago, a college graduate made “on average 40% more than a person with only a high school diploma. In the present day, that disparity has jumped to 83%”(Source E). The main purpose for this is that a higher level of academic achievement helps individuals in solving problems occurring in society, a superior skill for working in intellectually intense jobs. Fundamentally, the ability of a person without a college degree to obtain a good-paying job is decreasing. College is rapidly becoming not only a worthy choice but a necessary one as well.

A cliche saying insists that “money can’t buy happiness.” Up until now, the only cases that we have judged have been those of financial aspects which are profits and job availability. But the benefits of attaining a college degree extend significantly beyond the realm of stocks, bonds, and dollars. Actually, eighty-six percent of college graduates claim that attending college has been a good investment for their long-term goals (Source C). Furthermore, studies have shown that “beyond money, education seems to make people happier and healthier” (Source E). Even if the primary goal of life is not to gain as much wealth and money as possible, college can support one to progress intellectual growth that can be given to areas of life beyond the workplace. For example, consider a person who completed basic biology classes in college. While their major might be psychology or economics, the knowledge gained by studying human and animal physiology could benefit them in creating healthy food and lifestyle choices. In addition, attending college can be broadly positive, even if a person does not earn a degree. University campuses are among the most diverse settings found anywhere, and exposure to people of various races, creeds, and interests can help to develop one’s own mindset and introduce them to creative ways of thinking.

Understanding the importance of life necessities brings one to a concluding thought, is college ultimately worth it? There is an excess of research around the topic, and evidence for both sides is abundant. However, a college education is worth the cost because better-educated people are more capable of overcoming problems, whether they enter a troubled relationship or internal economic crisis. People who have obtained college degrees tend to increase large debts from student loans, but the increased income they enjoy offers an investment return throughout a lifetime that far outweighs the negatives. Those with college degrees also see their earnings outdistance those with high school graduates by up to 82%, and they find that their job opportunities are more varied and numerous than their non-college-educated peers. The benefits of obtaining a college education also stretch beyond the field of jobs and salary, with college-educated people seeing an increase in their health and nature of life. In today’s world, youth is encountering a challenging question: college or not? By attending college and going through difficult or unfair times, youth can see a brighter and healthier future than if they had chosen to abandon college entirely. 

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Guest Essay

The Value of an Education That Never Ends

By Michael S. Roth

Dr. Roth is the president of Wesleyan University and the author of “The Student: A Short History.”

For more than 15 years I have presided over my university’s Arrival Day, the time when families drop off their sons and daughters about to start their college career. Every year some parents will take me aside to say they wish they were starting college, and that they’d get a lot more out of the experience now because they’ve become better learners.

One mother laughingly called herself a “perpetual student.” She meant she pursued learning for the sheer joy of inquiry. But the term is usually one of gentle derision: someone who keeps taking more courses as a way to avoid holding down a job. In other words, a slacker, or a loser. I think that’s wrong. We should begin to see this sort of lifelong learning as a way for individuals to gain not just knowledge, but liberation. In its ideal form, being a perpetual student is not an act of avoidance but rather a path to perpetual self-determination and freedom.

The ideas of “freedom” and “student” were not always linked together. In pre-modern Europe, schools were few and far between, but there was learning nonetheless — learning that aimed at economic independence and integration with a community. Universities were founded in the medieval period, and as literacy became more culturally and economically advantageous, especially after the Protestant Reformation, basic schooling became more common.

For the 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant, the student in pursuit of enlightenment was someone in the process of leaving behind “self-imposed immaturity” and learning to think for oneself. Some people, however, were said to exist outside the realm of learning altogether — at least the kind of learning meant to allow one to stand on one’s own feet. With intellectual contortions fueled by racism and economic self-interest, many supposedly enlightened Enlightenment thinkers and writers argued that enslaved people could not be students, that they did not have the potential to be free. States passed laws forbidding the education of enslaved people. Learning became an act of resistance.

Across the West in the 19th century, formal schooling became more widespread, and debates about education centered on preparing independent thinkers who could also be free citizens. But questions quickly arose: Are schools truly helping students think for themselves, or are they only indoctrinating them into the latest conventions? Will advanced learning lead to scientific gains that benefit society, or will it only create self-serving justifications for the inequalities produced by industrialization? By the mid 1800s Ralph Waldo Emerson would call on his fellow citizens to live more independently by being more open and creative. For him, the freedom of a student was not just an intellectual matter. It was bound up with opposing convention — and it shouldn’t end with school.

The connection between learning and freedom is presupposed in many criticisms of students today as censorious or relativist, illiberal or radical, coddled snowflake or warrior for social justice. As the 1990s boogeyman of political correctness has been transformed in the minds of its enemies into woke and cancel culture, one can see more clearly than ever that the idea of the student is a screen onto which folks (themselves long out of school) project their fears for the future and, perhaps, anxieties about themselves.

There are many ways to be a student. Some will strive to find balance and harmony by fitting into their educational context. Others build intellectual muscle by criticizing every move the teacher makes. In daring to be critical and competitive interlocutors with their instructors, they work harder and learn to think more deeply. Some students learn through imitation, eager to follow their classmates as well as their teacher. The core of all these approaches is developing the capacity to think for oneself by learning from others.

Ultimately, the true student learns freedom by developing curiosity, judgment and creativity in the service of one’s own good and the good of their communities. This flourishing is different from being trained by an instructor to do a task or earn a badge, and it is different from the satisfaction one gets through acquiring objects or experiences in the marketplace.

On campus, students do learn specific tasks and they do enjoy experiences, of course, but as students they are doing something more fundamental and more open-ended. They are learning freedom by learning who they are and what they can do (including how they might think). This almost always happens in concert with others. Students flourish in discovering and developing their capacities together.

That’s why it’s such a challenge to be a perpetual student — as our society becomes atomized and polarized, the informal educational spaces for adults to learn from people who have different points of view are fewer and farther between. And it gets harder to exercise the intellectual humility that being a student requires when one is supposed to have the authority, the certainty, of adulthood. Yet some people manage it at various points in their lives by finding fellow learners. This can happen in book clubs, online classes, Bible study or simply in stimulating interactions with co-workers.

There is a hunger for this. Roughly 200 people join my online Great Books humanities class each week on Coursera . During the pandemic, the number was more than 1,000, and millions around the world find other classes via Khan Academy and edX . The desire for learning is also a desire for connecting. It is not just the desire for a prize or a diploma.

For perpetual students, learning (as opposed to training) has no end. As they reach the end of one path of inquiry, they find themselves already on another. These paths develop their capacities and can’t be delimited in advance of the opportunity for exploring them. Every day is Arrival Day.

Perpetual students, like all of us, have the potential for freedom. They embrace this potential, exploring the world, absorbing its lessons and creatively responding to them.

To be a student is to be alive to the world and to oneself. Why would anyone want to graduate from that?

Michael S. Roth is president of Wesleyan University. This essay draws on his forthcoming book “ The Student: A Short History .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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The Value of Higher Education: Is College Worth it?

A college education is an essential stepping stone to a successful career and a fulfilling life. While many people debate the value of a college education in today’s economy, a college education is a crucial investment that can transform one’s life in countless ways. The benefits of a college education go beyond a job or career; it impacts personal development, civic engagement and overall well-being.

In this guide, we’ll dive deep into the career advancement and salary opportunities available for individuals pursuing a college education. In addition, we’ll take a close look at all of the ways a college student can grow personally, from a health, social and economic standpoint.

Ready to start your journey to college? Crimson Education is the world’s leading College Admissions Consulting company helping student gain admissions into top universities in the US & UK. Speak to our expert advisors to learn more about our Admissions Support Program !

Advantages of a College Degree

One of the main reasons people pursue higher education is to increase their earning potential and career opportunities. Studies have consistently shown that college graduates have higher earnings and more career advancement opportunities than those without a college degree. A college education provides specialized skills and knowledge that are highly valued in the workforce.

Additionally, college graduates have access to a larger professional network, which can lead to more job opportunities and career advancement . In this regard, a college degree can be a valuable investment in one's future, providing a path to higher earning potential and greater job satisfaction. Here’s a closer look at the economic and career opportunities available for college graduates:

Increased Job Opportunities

A college degree opens up more job opportunities than a high school diploma alone. Many employers require a college degree for certain positions, and a degree can make candidates more competitive in the job market.

Higher Earning Potential

One of the most significant benefits of obtaining a college degree is the higher earning potential it provides. College graduates tend to earn more than those with only a high school diploma, and this trend holds across various professions and industries.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , in 2021, the median weekly earnings for workers with a bachelor's degree was $1,334, compared to $899 for those with a high school diploma only. Furthermore, individuals with an advanced degree, such as a master's or doctoral degree, tend to earn even more.

The higher earning potential of college graduates can be attributed to several factors. First, college graduates have specialized knowledge and skills that are highly valued in the workforce. They are trained to think critically, analyze complex problems, and communicate effectively, all of which are skills that are in high demand across various industries.

Second, many employers require a college degree for certain positions, especially those that involve complex tasks or require specialized knowledge. Therefore, having a college degree makes candidates more competitive in the job market and increases their chances of being hired.

Specialized Skills

Obtaining a college degree provides graduates with specialized skills and knowledge that are highly valued in the workforce. These skills and knowledge are developed through coursework, hands-on experience, and exposure to various learning environments.

Some of the specialized skills that college graduates possess include:

• Critical thinking and problem-solving : College graduates are trained to analyze complex problems, identify potential solutions, and make informed decisions.
• Communication skills : College graduates have honed their written and verbal communication skills , which are essential in many professional settings.
• Technical skills : Depending on the degree program, college graduates may have specialized technical skills that are in high demand, such as computer programming, data analysis, or engineering.
• Leadership skills : College graduates often have experience working in teams and leading projects, which can be valuable in management and leadership positions.
• Adaptability : College graduates are trained to adapt to changing environments and situations, which is essential in today's rapidly evolving job market.
• Cultural competency : College graduates are exposed to a diverse range of cultures and ideas, which can enhance their ability to work with people from different backgrounds.

Having specialized skills can make college graduates more attractive to employers and increase their chances of being hired for certain positions. These skills can also lead to higher salaries, as many employers are willing to pay a premium for specialized expertise.

Networking is an essential aspect of career development, and obtaining a college degree provides graduates with a valuable network of contacts. College graduates have access to a vast network of alumni, professors, classmates, and professionals in their field, which can provide numerous benefits throughout their careers.

Networking can lead to job opportunities, as many employers prefer to hire candidates through referrals. Building relationships with professionals in your field can help you learn about job openings before they are publicly advertised, giving you an advantage in the job market.

Career Advancement Opportunities

Obtaining a college degree can open up numerous career advancement opportunities for graduates. A college degree provides specialized knowledge and skills that can make graduates more competitive in the job market and eligible for higher-paying positions with greater responsibility and leadership opportunities.

A college degree can provide graduates with the opportunity to switch careers, as they have the skills and knowledge needed to transition to a new field. In addition, graduates with specialized skills and knowledge can also pursue industry certifications, which can increase their credibility and open up new career opportunities.

Increased Job Satisfaction

College graduates often work in fields they are passionate about, which can lead to greater job satisfaction. By pursuing their interests and passions, they are more likely to find fulfillment in their work. In addition, college graduates are often eligible for jobs with greater job security, such as those in government, education, or healthcare. Having a stable job can lead to greater job satisfaction, as employees feel more secure in their position.

Social Mobility and Economic Stability

College education can expose individuals to diverse perspectives, cultures, and ideas, which can broaden their understanding and empathy for others. This can help individuals develop stronger relationships, build social capital, and navigate social and economic barriers. However, that’s not all that a college education can help support social mobility. College can provide individuals with networking opportunities that can lead to job opportunities, mentorship, and access to resources that can help them move up the social and economic ladder.

In addition, a college education can provide individuals with access to a broader range of career opportunities, including those that require specialized skills and knowledge. This can lead to career advancement, which can provide individuals with greater social mobility.

As a result of a broader range of career opportunities, college graduates tend to have greater resilience to economic downturns, as they may have more skills, education, and experience to adapt to changing economic conditions. Also, college courses often include personal finance education, which can provide students with the knowledge and skills to manage their finances effectively, including budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt. This can lead to greater financial stability and security over the long term, leading college graduates to have more economic stability.

Personal Development and Fulfillment

A college education can contribute to personal development and fulfillment through intellectual growth, self-discovery, personal growth, social connections, and a love of lifelong learning. This is because a college education can facilitate personal growth through experiences that challenge individuals to step outside of their comfort zones, take risks, and learn from their mistakes.

As a student works towards obtaining their degree, their time in college can be a time of self-discovery as individuals explore their interests, values, and beliefs. This can help individuals develop a sense of identity and purpose and make informed decisions about their personal and professional lives.

In addition, many colleges provide opportunities for social connections and community building, which can lead to a sense of belonging and fulfillment. The opportunities colleges provide for personal development can include participation in student organizations , cultural events, and community service.

Health and Well-Being

While not many people think about the ways a college can support an individual’s health and well-being, pursuing a college education can play a key role in a student’s life-long well-being.

Many colleges and universities provide access to healthcare services, including medical care, mental health counseling, and wellness programs. In addition, a college education can promote physical activity through organized sports programs, recreation facilities, and fitness classes.

In addition, a college education can provide a supportive environment for students through peer support networks, mentorship programs, and counseling services. A supportive environment can help students cope with challenges and promote overall well-being. Many campuses also promote stress management through stress reduction programs, mindfulness training, and counseling services.

Overcoming Challenges and Creating Opportunities

A college education is helpful for individuals looking to overcome challenges and create opportunities to flourish.

Pursuing a college education allows opportunities for innovating and creative solutions, which increases a student’s likelihood of success. A college education can expose individuals to diverse perspectives, cultures, and ideas, which can help them approach challenges and opportunities from multiple angles. College allows individuals to develop skills and exposure to diverse perspectives. These factors allow students to become more adaptable, resilient, and successful in the event of challenges.

Do you need a college degree to be successful?

If the answer to this question were a simple “yes,” then the decision to go to college would be easy. Many factors help make someone successful. But, for most successful people, college is one of those factors.

Is college necessary for a successful career?

Yes and no. College opens up opportunities both intellectually and socially that you wouldn’t have otherwise. You’re surrounded by a network of students and professionals from all walks of life. There’s a good chance one might be your connection to your future career.

As a college graduate, you’ll likely have better career prospects, higher pay, and a higher-skilled job. These factors often contribute to stability, success, and overall happiness.

Final Thoughts: Is college worth it?

Based on current evidence, trends, and statistics, yes, college is worth it . If you have a college degree, you should have an easier time finding, keeping, and enjoying your career. But, the ultimate decision is still up to you. If you’re still unsure if college is for you, consider contacting one of Crimson’s advisors. They can answer your questions, help you determine which college might be right for you, and guide you towards a path that will lead you to the career of your dreams.

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Page One Economics ®

Is college still worth the high price weighing costs and benefits of investing in human capital.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." 

—Benjamin Franklin

Students have several options for life after high school, including enrolling in college, pursing a technical training program, starting a career, or enlisting for military service. While college has been a popular choice, college enrollment for recent high school graduates has dropped from its peak of 70% in 2009 to 61% in 2021. 1 In fact, some people are challenging the notion that college is the best route for the majority of students. A March 2023 survey found that only 42% of Americans believe college is worth the cost because it leads to better job opportunities and higher income , while 56% believe that earning a college degree is not worth the cost. That has changed a lot in 10 years: A 2013 study found that 53% believed college was a good decision, while 40% believed it wasn't. 2

Of course, attending college is an individual decision, as each person must weigh the costs and benefits of their options. While some costs of college are immediate (your tuition payments), the benefits are spread over an entire career. This article looks at the costs and benefits of a college education and explains the rate of return of going to college, viewing higher education as an investment. Economists often use the word investment to refer to spending on capital, but that does not mean just physical capital (tools and equipment); it can mean investment in human capital (education and training) too.

Costs and Benefits of Attending College 

It's true that the cost of going to college has risen significantly in recent decades. The first row of Table 1 shows the average annual tuition for colleges and universities in 1980, 2000, and 2020. The last row of the table shows how much college tuition costs in terms of 1980 dollars, showing that in real (inflation adjusted) terms, attending college cost over twice as much in 2020 as it did in 1980. 

Now, let's examine the financial benefits of going to college, which include how much more money a person with a college degree earns than someone without one; this is sometimes called the college wage premium . Figure 1 shows the annual earnings differences, adjusted for inflation, between workers with a college degree and workers with no more than a high school education.

More specifically, each line in the graph represents how much more money workers with a college degree earn in a year than those with only a high school diploma, for 1980, 2000, and 2020. For each set of data, the college wage premium starts relatively small, but it increases as workers age and acquire skills and experience. For example, in 1980 (yellow line), new college graduates earned about $1,000 more than those with only a high school diploma; but, by mid-career, college-educated workers earned about $10,000 more than high school-educated workers. In 2000 and 2020, however, you can see that the differences in income between education groups were much larger. In 2020 (green line), those with a college degree earned nearly $5,000 more after graduation; but, by mid-career, college-educated workers earned $18,000 more than high school-educated workers. Note that these numbers are adjusted for inflation (stated in 1980 dollars).

What Is the Return on Investing in a College Education?

Let's again consider the costs of a college degree. In 1980, the price paid for a college education, on average, was $13,996 (4 x $3,499). If you add up the extra income these workers received each year after graduation, the rate of return on the college tuition they initially paid is very large. For example, a White woman who invested in a college education in 1980 could expect to make back in annual income the cost of her college education plus 21.6%—all of this in addition to the income she would have made without a college degree. By 2020, this rate had risen to 22.7%. Table 2 shows the rates of return on a college education for several demographic groups in 1980, 2000, and 2020. 

Of course, there are other ways to invest money besides a college education. For example, instead of paying for four or more years of college, a person could invest money in a financial asset and go straight into the workforce. In this case, the person might have a lower wage, but invested funds and capital gains would add to their income. Although the rates of return on a college education vary greatly across time, gender, and race, they are still considered higher than the returns on financial assets, such as stocks and bonds. For example, investing in the stock market has returned about 10% per year since 1957 3 ; in 2020, returns on a college education varied from 13.5% to 35.9%. By this measure, a college degree is an excellent investment.

What Is This Calculation Missing? 

Calculating the rate of return on a college education is imperfect because it is not a tangible asset . A numerical calculation excludes certain intangible aspects that may affect the estimated rates of return on a college education. These include a person's inherent skills, employment status, and career satisfaction.

The Skill Sets Behind Higher Earnings

The rates of return shown in Table 2 were calculated from data collected on the earnings of college-educated workers. However, it is possible that college-educated workers have skills—ones they had even before attending college—that make them simultaneously better at earning high incomes and more likely to pursue a degree. The question here is are people more highly skilled because they went to college or are highly skilled people simply more likely to go to college? 4 It's difficult to tell the difference, so this may cause the rate of return on a college degree to be overestimated.

Unemployment

You can only collect income data from someone who has a job, meaning everyone accounted for in this calculation is employed. This information does not account for the fact that high school-educated workers tend to experience higher rates of unemployment. That is, if you have only a high school diploma, you are more likely to be unemployed than someone with a college education. This concept is depicted in Figure 2, which shows the unemployment rates for varying levels of education. You can see that the more educated a person is, the more likely they are to have a job. This issue could cause the rates of return on a college degree to be underestimated.

Career Satisfaction and Non-Financial Benefits

As previously stated, people attend college (or don't) for many different reasons. This article did not include any factors aside from financial ones. For example, high school-educated and college-educated workers may work different hours, work in different conditions, or face different stressors. This calculation does not account for career satisfaction, or lack thereof, that one might get from a specific type of job.

Conclusion 

Students have many options for life after high school. One of the most popular options is college. Even though college enrollment has dropped and people have a more dismal outlook on the returns on investing in a college education, the data suggest it is still one of the best investments a person can make. In fact, the advice former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke gave in 2007 still seems to ring true: "When I travel around the country, meeting with students, businesspeople, and others interested in the economy, I am occasionally asked for investment advice…. I know the answer to the question, and I will share it with you today: Education is the best investment." 5

1 The Economics Daily, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 23, 2022; https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/61-8-percent-of-recent-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-in-october-2021.htm .

2 "Americans Are Losing Faith in College Education, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds." Wall Street Journal , March 31, 2023; https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-are-losing-faith-in-college-education-wsj-norc-poll-finds-3a836ce1 .

3 See https://www.officialdata.org/us/stocks/s-p-500/1957?amount=100&endYear=2022/ . 

4 Wolla, Scott A. "College: Learning the Skills To Pay the Bills?" Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Page One Economics ®, December 2015; https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/page1-econ/2015/12/01/college-learning-the-skills-to-pay-the-bills/ . 

5 Bernanke, Ben S. "Education and Economic Competitiveness." Speech presented at the US Chamber Education and Workforce Summit, Washington, DC, September 24, 2007; https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20070924a.htm . 

© 2023, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or the Federal Reserve System.

Asset: A resource with economic value that an individual, corporation, or country owns with the expectation that it will provide future benefits.

Benefits: Things favorable to a decision­maker; rewards gained from an action/activity.

Costs: Things unfavorable to a decisionmaker.

Financial asset: A contract that states the conditions under which one party (a person or institution) promises to pay another party cash at some point in the future.

Income: The payment people receive for providing resources in the marketplace. When people work, they provide human resources (labor) and in exchange they receive income in the form of wages or salaries. People also earn income in the forms of rent, profit, and interest.

Investment: An asset purchased with the hope that it will gain value and provide a financial return.

Investment in human capital: The efforts people put forth to acquire human capital. These efforts include education, experience, and training.

Rate of return: A useful measure to compare how different assets may increase your wealth.

Real: Monetary values, wages, or prices, adjusted for inflation and measured in constant prices—that is, in prices of a given or base period. Real monetary values are obtained by adjusting nominal wages or prices with a price measure such as the CPI.

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Home » Resources » The True Value of a College Essay

The True Value of a College Essay

• By Jasper Henderson
• September 27, 2021

If you’ve been lucky enough to cross paths with Signet’s very own Jasper Nighthawk , you know from experience that he’s an incredible academic coach and writing tutor .

Last year, Jasper presented a webinar on How to Write the Perfect College Essay . In the webinar, he provided tactical writing advice to attendees, with a focus on how to go from idea to final draft. If that information would be valuable for your student, we highly recommend watching the full webinar !

Today, we’ll explore some of Jasper’s insights about the college essay so you have a clear idea of what it is, why it matters, and what a good college essay can really do for students.

What Is the College Essay?

“The college essay” refers to the primary essay attached to a student’s college application. It’s different from the supplemental essays that may be required by individual schools. The college essay is received and read by all colleges where a student applies.

Even the word “essay” is a little bit of a misnomer. The college essay is different from just about any essay a student will write in the classroom, because this essay is about the student. The college essay is one of the few pieces, and in many cases the sole piece, of the application that gives students an opportunity to share their own unique voice.

Why Does the College Essay Really Matter?

We’ve found that it’s always easier to complete a challenging task when you understand the true meaning of it—or, why it really matters . So let’s take a look at why the college essay matters:

• Helps students get into college. This reason is definitely the most obvious one, but it’s still worth exploring in a bit more detail. The college essay is unique in that it’s one of the key opportunities for students to really move the needle in terms of their college application materials. Students can’t go back and change the classes they took freshman year or retroactively receive better grades, but they can write a great college essay that will give them a leg up in the admissions process.
• Encourages personal reflection. When was the last time you stopped to think about who you are and what got you to this point in your life? This type of self-reflection is extremely powerful, yet we don’t tend to do much of it in American culture. Writing a personal essay gives students a chance to understand themselves more deeply and to better contextualize their own story.
• Points students toward their future. At Signet, we’ve seen again and again that by the time students have finished writing their college essays, they have a better idea of what they’re going to do and who they’re going to be when they get to college. A sense of direction and purpose helps students avoid the aimless drift that’s common during freshman year.

What Does a Good College Essay Do for Students?

Finally, let’s review what a good college essay can do for students:

• Confirms that students aren’t robots. You know those CAPTCHA tests where you have to all images that contain a bicycle to prove that you aren’t a robot? We like to joke that the college essay plays a similar role! The college application process can feel so regimented that it’s easy to forget that college admissions officers want to admit an interesting and passionate person. They want to see that there’s more to students than their biggest achievements and to know that they’re admitting a devoted person who will contribute meaningfully to their institution.
• Gives a well-rounded sense of who students are. A college essay is a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their personal values, their most winsome traits, and their sense of purpose. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box here. Maybe a student became really passionate about rugby and took the initiative to help establish a rugby team in their community. That kind of story shows real perseverance and grit—and it’s just plain interesting, too!
• Demonstrates strength of mind. When college admissions officers read a good piece of writing, they can recognize that the person who wrote it is smart, that they think deeply, and that they possess emotional intelligence. A college essay is the ideal vehicle for students to convey their strength of mind and their moral judgment.

If you’re looking for additional resources to help your student with their college essay, reach out today to connect with an admissions consultant.

Jasper Henderson

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