College education is worth Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

College education is worth - Research Paper Example of all this college education is a worthy investment since it is viewed not only as a challenge that changes one’s life but also an endeavor in today’s society. It is a well known fact that college graduates earn much more money than high school graduates. A research finding by The Hamilton Project in October 2012 confirmed that the gains from college education are much higher than of any other investment such as real estate, bonds and stocks. It was also found out that the returns from college have largely been steady over the past thirty five years, clearly demonstrating that the increasing cost of tuition has been offset by the amplified earning premium for degree holders. Thus in most respects, college education has never been more important. College graduates have always earned more money and find it easier in finding employment than their counterparts who are high school graduates. What however may be less instinctive is the fact that these gaps have been increasing recently. Thus for instance a youthful college graduate took home $4,000 more each year in the 1980s, inflation adjusted, than somebody of similar age who had no college e ducation (this was an average across the whole population and not just those working).This figure has however climbed to $12,000 each year over the past 30 years(Greenstone,Looney,2012). Whereas there is evidence about the lifetime value of increased education, cynics are increasingly pointing to increasing tuition costs to argue that college is not as good of a venture as it once was. It is true that there has been nearly 50% increase in cost of college over the last 3 decades (calculations courtesy of National Center for Education Statistics) which could be overstated. Foremost this increase in tuition does not cater for recent financial aid increases. Therefore, whereas the sticker cost of college may have risen, it is not clear to what scope the cost to students as well as their parents has risen. In fact the actual