Is College Still Worth It? | Jason Lange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB2WWhd9fwk& (accessed Mar 1, 2019).
We are always told at a very young age, that if we ever want to be something that the only path is to go to university. As such, many of us go off to school to attain our bachelor’s degree but is the degree worth it? Over-saturation in the number of graduates with bachelors¹ has given rise to the issue that with more and more people having degrees, even higher education is required. Given available data, the amount of earned bachelor’s degrees in the STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in America has risen by 48% from the years 2000-2012. The trend-line heavily implies a significant and steep rise in graduates with bachelor’s² in the coming years with no clear sign in slowing down.
A graph of total bachelor’s degree vs. year in STEM in American colleges.
Who earns bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering? https://nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-14.html (accessed Mar 1, 2019).
With this increased trend of higher education, over-saturation is a prominent problem that is affecting thousands of unemployed graduates³. While the minimum used to be a high school degree, it seems that in this modern era a bachelor’s degree is now the new minimum. While before a bachelor’s degree could get a decent paying job, now seems to be the requirement into most entry-level positions. An example would be a degree in psychology, due to its high saturated field, a Ph.D. is required to get anywhere in psychology. This doesn’t mean that a bachelor is worthless though, the skills you attain during your studies can be easily and readily translated to many differing jobs. In the case of psychology, the people skills and understanding of the psyche can be translated4 into numerous jobs that require communication. When compared to the time of our parents, the amount of graduates is significantly less than today’s trends.
Graph of Parent’s highest education of graduates with Bachelor’s (2007/2008) in American Colleges
What level of education do parents of recent bachelor’s graduates have? https://nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-01.html (accessed Mar 1, 2019).
The data provided from a 2007/2008 study, indicates that the students graduating with a bachelor’s degree; roughly 50% of their parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher. This is a clear indication that trend-lines of graduates have significantly risen over the years5, and will only continue to rise throughout the coming years. While this doesn’t indicate that university or a bachelor’s degree is worthless6, it is still quite worthwhile to attain higher education. This trend-line only indicates that with each passing year the market of graduates will only get more saturated, resulting in more and more unemployed graduates. So while it’s worthwhile to get a bachelors, it will be significantly more worthwhile to get a masters or doctoral degree.
~ Danial Yazdan
¹Cardoso, A. R. Economics Letters 2007, 94 (2), 271–277.
²Graham, M. J.; Frederick, J.; Byars-Winston, A.; Hunter, A.-B.; Handelsman, J. Science 2013, 341 (6153), 1455–1456.
³Who will hire all the PhDs? Not Canada’s universities. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/who-will-hire-all-the-phds-not-canadas-universities/article10976412/ (accessed Mar 1, 2019).
4Coldwell, W. A PhD with your coffee? Barista serving your drink might be better. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/a-phd-with-your-coffee-barista-serving-your-drink-might-be-better-educated-than-you-are-8895053.html (accessed Mar 1, 2019).
4Astin, A. W. (1998). The changing american college student: Thirty-year trends, 1966-1996. The Review of Higher Education, 21(2), 115
6Lavoie, M.; Finnie, R. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques 1999, 25 (1), 101.
