Is College the only way to success?

“Everyone needs to go to college.” This is what parents and teachers have been saying for many years. The most popular way of thinking is that everyone who wants to succeed needs to go to college. If people do not have the goal of going to college, they are trash. This is the wrong way to think about college. Going to college is not the best choice for everybody. Attending college is not the only way to success because college is too expensive and leaves students in debt. They are not the best way to prepare young people for their careers, and as well as that, many successful people did not graduate from college.

College is very expensive and leaves students in debt. In a Newsweek article, Megan McArdle makes the argument that college is not worth the high tuition costs. People spend a lot of money in order to go to college and most students end up with huge student loans that they have to pay off. Colleges promise great jobs after graduating to pay off the loans, but the author argues, “More than half of all recent graduates are unemployed or in jobs that do not require a degree, and the amount of student-loan debt carried by households has more than quintupled since 1999.” (McArdle). Most of the students cannot get a job even after they graduate from college. Dale J. Stephens of the New York Times states that the graduates end up with an average of $26,000 or more of debt. A college degree does not guarantee a job that pays enough to repay college loans.

Colleges are not the best place to prepare young people for their careers. A book titled Academically Adrift states that as many as 45 percent of students do not improve their critical thinking, complex reasoning, or written communication during their first two years of college (Stephens). The American Institute for Research did a study in 2006 which shows that people who graduated from college do not have the academic skills that colleges promise, “…only 31 percent of adults with bachelor’s degrees are proficient in ‘prose literacy’—being able to compare and contrast two newspaper editorials, for example. More than a quarter have math skills so feeble that they can’t calculate the cost of ordering supplies from a catalogue.” (Carey). That means students are learning things they don’t really need to learn, which is a waste of their time and money. Stephens, from the New York Times, argues that education should be self-directed, but most colleges do not teach this way. He describes many people who are getting a different kind of education by finding mentors, learning practical skills, traveling, volunteering, interning and apprenticing (Stephens). Students are also using massive open online courses instead of traditional college lessons (Stephens). There are many other options for people to choose to learn or study from which are more interesting and more suitable for them. College is not the only place to go to get a good education.

Many very successful people did not graduate from college. According to articlelist.com, there are some people who hugely succeeded without a college degree. The first one is Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. He dropped out of college, but when he died in 2011, he was worth $11 billion (articlelist.com). The second successful non-college educated person according to articlelist.com is Richard Branson. He had not been to school since he was sixteen and never even finished secondary school, but now he is the Originator of Virgin Atlantic Airways and worth $4.9 billion. This shows that people can still succeed even if they don’t go to college. “…we’re told university is the place to go if we want to achieve. Actually, it isn’t the only way to make it in life” (Olivia) In theguardian.com, it shows that there are some young people who have ditched university in favor of entrepreneurial ambitions. One of the examples given is Luke Hood, a YouTuber who gave up his forensic computing course at the University of West England. Now, he has his own website on which he hosts UKF events, sells tickets and merchandise, and offers podcasts (Olivia). It is not compulsory to get into college in order to succeed. In fact, it is possible to succeed at any time if enough effort is put in. Fraser Donherty started his business at 14; he made Super Jam and sold it to everyone, and now there are over 2000 supermarkets all over the world selling his jam. He draws inspiration from his grandmother and created a charity to help the homeless (Olivia). Going to college is not the only way to have success – the way to be successful is trying hard and finding the way to go, then following through.

Some people think that going to college is the best way to succeed; there are a lot things that can only be learned in college and not after going to work. “…college is a fertile environment for developing critical reasoning skills” (Holly). A lot of skills can be learned in college which cannot be taught by others, such as how to live with others. In Hong Kong, people have always said college is not a place for learning knowledge, it is a place to learn how to be a decent and functioning human being. Most of the important knowledge has already been taught in secondary school, which is why what is taught in college is mostly repetitive or what may already be known. This is why the only things that can be learned in college is how to work, study, or stay with others. These are skills that should be learnt before going to work because then it will be too late and there will not be enough time to learn those skills while working, which will easily cause a sacking, at the very least. Also, people can boost their income and improve their resume with their degree. In college covered, it writes:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, earning potential and educational attainment are directly related. For instance, bachelor’s degree holders over age 25 earned an average of $1,137 per week in 2015 versus those who completed only high school and earned $678 per week. Degree credentials open up more doors to jobs that pay higher wages. Even for positions that don’t necessarily require college, having a degree is likely to put you at an advantage over a fellow qualified job seeker who did not finish college.

This shows that students who get a college degree can get more money than students who don’t get a degree. “The payoff has become more uncertain—but you’re probably still better off going” (Renee). Colleges give people more of a chance to choose their work. In fact, if people get a college degree, it is easier for them to get a job. There are a lot of professions that require college degrees, like doctor, lawyer, and teacher. These are the jobs that people think equal success, but they cannot be achieved without a college degree. That shows attending college is the best way to success. However, that point of view is not entirely correct. Firstly, the skills that people think can only be learned in college can be learned in other ways. For example, workshops. There are many workshops that teach students how to work with others. He that travels far knows much. According to Rockbrook, students can learn different skills in the camp, one of which are social skills:

Coming to camp means joining a close-knit community where everyone must agree to cooperate and respect each other. When they live in a cabin with others, kids share chores, resolve disagreement, and see firsthand the important of sincere communication. Camp builds teamwork.

That shows people do not really need to go to college to learn the skills that others think can only be learned in college. Secondly, “school can teach you a lot. But life will teach you more” (Justin). Getting more experience is better than getting a degree. If people know how to do the work but never actually do it, they will be all bark but no bite. The problem is not whether people can get a college degree or not, the problem is that people will try their best to succeed. That means going to college is not the only way to success.

Lots of people think that going to college is the best way to success, but in fact, going to college is not the best choice for everybody. Firstly, attending college is not the only way to success because college is too expensive and leaves students in debt. Secondly, colleges are not the best way to prepare young people for careers. Lastly, many successful people did not graduate from college. These three points prove that going to college is not the best way to success.