| One of the toughest career decisions for high school | | | | far from being lucrative. |
| students and their parents is whether to get a job and | | | | But A College Degree Is Expensive and It Is Another 4 |
| settle down in that for the rest of their lives or to | | | | Years! |
| continue their studies in college. Three to five decades | | | | A recent survey suggested that the average |
| up the line, this would not have been a question at all | | | | employee changes jobs about 7 times in his or her |
| that would make you lose sleep. The post World War | | | | career. The apparent reason is growing opportunities |
| II era saw many industries flourish and needing | | | | for trained and educated employees. But if you took a |
| workers to "man" their businesses. That was when | | | | deeper look, employers are not in any position to wait |
| they took high school graduates and trained them for | | | | for employees to train on the job. They seek |
| routine jobs, mostly on factory floors. | | | | candidates with pre-developed skills that match the job |
| The Present Scenario: Will It Support High School | | | | requirements, resulting in a soaring demand for college |
| Graduates? | | | | graduates. |
| The rise of technological advances, fast paced work | | | | It is obvious that education opens new vistas of faster |
| styles catering to newfound lifestyles and the latest | | | | and better growth. Education loans from the Federal |
| buzzword globalization in the last two decades has | | | | Government or private banks can help open your first |
| changed the present job market scenario entirely. | | | | job account with almost double the paycheck. College |
| High school children of WW II veterans who got easy | | | | graduates have a better scalability factor in their |
| jobs were trained by their employers for specific jobs. | | | | careers than others. A $40,000 loan for a 4-year |
| This is obviously is a far cry from the situation today. | | | | college degree can be easily paid back in 10 years |
| Time, competition and budgets do not permit such on | | | | including the 5% interest. The fact that the 4 years you |
| job training any more. Employers and new age industry | | | | spend in college plus the $40,000 can be made good in |
| captains are looking for college graduates for | | | | the next 3-4 years easily should stand as unbeatable |
| specialized jobs. For example: jobs like healthcare | | | | testimony in favor of college education. The United |
| workers and software engineers can only be taken by | | | | States Census states that college graduates, in their |
| those who are college trained because of their specific | | | | career, will earn $2.1 million against $1.2 million for high |
| courses. | | | | school grads. |
| It could unfortunately be harsh on those can not afford | | | | Unless there is some thing else that you know, all |
| an extra 3-4 years of college. But in reality, high school | | | | indicators point in favor of college. Higher raises, |
| graduates are more and more relegated to low end | | | | promotions, and postgraduate education- flights of |
| physical or routine non-challenging mundane jobs | | | | progress- all require just one platform, and that is |
| where entry-level salaries and growth opportunities are | | | | college graduation. |