If you are a high school graduate or a soon-to-be graduate, you are probably thinking about the most critical decision in your life right now – whether you should pursue a college education after high school, and we are here to help you make the right decision.
A college degree comes with many benefits. With a college education, your understanding of a specific subject area deepens. You gain sufficient knowledge to make a career in the area of your interest. A college degree makes you a preferable choice for employers compared to your peers who don’t pursue higher education.
In this article, we have pointed out five major benefits of enrolling in a college program after high school.
1) You Can Turn Your Passion Into A Career
If you are passionate about something and want to turn it into a successful career path, you should pursue a college education. Getting a bachelor’s degree in a subject broadens your knowledge and equips you with the much-needed skills to succeed in professional life. High school education alone can not impart the skills and knowledge required to succeed in a particular field.
Hence, passion alone cannot guarantee a successful career. A college degree enables you to combine your passion with sufficient knowledge and expertise in a specific subject or field.
For example, you might have been in the debate society in high school or always scored great in English Literature. If you know you can do wonders as an English teacher or become a successful writer or orator with the right training, you could enroll in an English bachelor degree program at a renowned institution.
It will not only give you a broader knowledge of literature and the English language but will also equip you with the strong critical thinking, analytics, and communication skills required for a successful career. With this degree, you can work in the fields of mass communication, law, journalism, business, editing and publishing, etc.
2) Increases Your Marketability
The competition in the job market has increased immensely in the past few years. A bachelor’s degree is no longer optional in almost all jobs today. A college program teaches you valuable and transferable soft skills that are highly preferable in the job market.
Employers highly value bachelor’s degree holders because they know that they not only have a solid knowledge of the subject matter but are also equipped with other skills that will make them a valuable part of the organization or company.
According to a survey by AAC&U, employers from all different sectors showed confidence in higher education, and 87% of them said that a college degree is worth the time and investment. This shows that a bachelor’s degree on your resume will surely leave a positive impact on employers, as most of them showed confidence in college-level education.
3) High Earning Potential
As mentioned above, there is an increasing demand for bachelor’s degree holders in the job market. This means that college degree holders earn more due to high demand. The BLS reports that bachelor’s degree holders earn a 65% higher weekly income as compared to those who only have a high school diploma. In 2021, the average weekly salary of high school graduates was $809, while the average weekly salary of bachelor’s degree holders was $1,334.
This ever-increasing pay gap between high school graduates and college graduates is the reason why more and more students than before are enrolling in college programs. If you look at the data from 2005 to 2009, 27.5% of people 25 years of age and above had a bachelor’s degree, and from 2015 to 2019, this percentage soared up to 32%!
The unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree holders is also less than for high school diploma holders. BLS reports that in 2023, 3.9% of workers holding only a high school diploma were unemployed, while 2.1% of workers with a bachelor’s degree faced unemployment.
4) Networking Opportunities
When you enter the workforce, it seems like the statement “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” actually has an element of truth. If you have a strong professional network, it will help you in every step of your career. And a college is the best place to build a strong professional network.
Whether you’re enrolled in online or on-campus classes, you get tons of networking opportunities by speaking to alumni in your field, talking to the faculty as well as experts such as guest speakers, and connecting with people from diverse cultures. Thus, you build a strong professional network, which you can always rely on when you need career-related advice.
During your studies, you will meet many potential future employers during seminars, conferences, and career days in college. It will help you later when you are entering the workforce. The alumni events provide the best opportunity to get in contact with your seniors who have already stepped into their professional lives and have successful careers. These successful, knowledgeable, and accomplished people encourage you to achieve personal and professional growth by challenging and motivating you or even referring you to employees.
5) Gain A Sense Of Accomplishment
Completing a college degree requires a lot of hard work and commitment. You must pass exams, submit papers and assignments, finish group and individual projects, participate in extracurricular activities, etc. And when you get all this done perfectly and get your degree, you gain a huge sense of accomplishment. A bachelor’s degree is not just a sheet of paper; it is a reminder of your hard work and what you can achieve in life.
Conclusion:
If you were looking for reasons to enroll in college after high school, we hope we’ve been convincing enough. There are so many benefits of a bachelor’s degree. It increases your knowledge in a subject, and the experience of college life gives you so much more than just academic benefits. You get tons of networking opportunities and make valuable connections. After completing college, you have higher chances of landing a stable job with high earning potential. You develop unique skills and sharpen your existing ones. Thus, getting a college education makes you a valuable asset to society, helping you grow professionally and personally!
