If you’re a Spark News reader, then you know how extensively we have covered the plight of young adults in the job market today. If not, here’s a little recap. The job market is still trying to pick up some steam to get itself a’rollin’. While the market is difficult for nearly everyone, young adults face a particular difficulty given their age and their experience levels. Upon graduation, young adults enter into the workforce with gusto ready to get to work and find that first job that will help them get their foot in the door. As hopeful as they may be and as ready as they may be to get their careers started, they’ll find that the situation is much more complicated than that. Today, young adults must compete with older, more experienced workers for jobs that were before primarily for them. The result effect is a sad, underpaid group of young adults struggling to make it in this difficult market.
Thanks to this unfortunate, inescapable situation, young adults are starting to contemplate the life decisions they made for themselves when they entered college. At the top of that list, and perhaps the most sorrowing, is the fact that a good chunk of young adults are starting to contemplate whether college is really worth it. With the cost of college skyrocketing and the jobs of many being lost, how can these young adults even think about paying for their desired degrees?
In fact, the issue of the mounding student loan debt that young adults are facing is an issue Obama seems to be placing emphasis on. In light of all of this, former presidential candidate Rick Santorum was quoted saying that not everyone needs a college degree. This gained a lot of criticism since it has been engrained in most kids minds that one day they will go on to study what they want to do and make a career out of it. That study is usually imagined to take place in a university, state college or community college. Though Santorum gained a lot of negative attention and feedback from this comment, some may be starting to think that he was right.
In an article posted on Today, they suggest that perhaps Santorum was on to something there. When in fact there are a ton of jobs that pay pretty well and don’t require a college degree, what’s the right choice? Many people obviously say that higher education is still a necessity to success. But what if you decide it’s not? In this current economic climate, it’s hard to tell young adults that college is their best option when student debt is a huge issue. On top of that, if you gain a degree and can’t find a job, where does that leave you? In your parents house in the basement with a mound of debt, likely.
According to a recent study discussed by Today, you can earn a good chunk of change doing jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree. For one, a dental hygienist earns $40,000 a year on average and a bachelor’s degree is not required. Web developers also earn a good salary with no college degree. Of course, higher learning of some sort is required, but four years and piles of money to acquire it is not. It’s been made very clear that those with a college degree usually earn twice as much as those that do not in their lifetime. However, it is clear that you can in fact earn a decent living without it. The article in Today also highlighted a couple interesting and important statistics.
Of the high school students that graduate, 70 percent of them still go on to study at a university or college. However, only four in 10 of those students actually earn their degree by the age of 25. With such low numbers of students finished their studies, is the price of such education worth it? This article is in no way working to discourage students from going to college. I am a firm believer that college introduces very important life lessons and gives you a strong, well-rounded education that is necessary for the majority of careers today. On the other hand, if you know college isn’t for you or you are bending over backwards trying to make it work, then take a breath. It’s OK. You can get a job with alternative higher learning.
What do you think about young adults today and their situation? Do you agree with Santorum or the Today article’s suggestions? I am very interested in what you guys have to say, so please leave a comment or tweet me @nicole_spark.
SOURCE: Today
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