You would have heard it being said that there is a direct correlation between what you earn now and your level of education. Now this is true no matter the field or industry that you are in. Therefore, it is still better today to earn that degree and add to this in order to earn more money just as it has been the situation many years before now.
Yes, and even though there may be indications pointing to the possibility of the gap between different education levels thinning, it is still very true that this gap exists. For instance, it was reported last year in 2011 by Georgetown University’s education and workforce center, as stated by The College Payoff that holders of bachelor degrees earn approximately $2.27 million over a lifetime with their counterparts that have a master’s and doctoral earning $2.67 and $3.25 million respectively.
These numbers certainly are enough proof for as many that may have doubts about this that formal education really does pay. But anyone reading this article may also want to know the fields or areas of human endeavor that pay the most. Well, this is the case with people that have a bachelor’s degree and work in science or technology, management, engineering and mathematics. As such, people earn more on the average than others with higher degrees in whatever level they are that work in fields such as sales, education or community service.
A Holistic View
So why do degrees matter? Okay the truth is that it does because employers use it in screening out applicants. This is more so during the current period where there are fewer and fewer open jobs. In this situation, what you have is more and more people chasing fewer job openings. This is why earning a bachelors degree in any field is a good hedge against difficult periods such as these in a lifetime.
No wonder experts have advised getting a bachelor’s degree no matter where one majors as earnings will usually rise as educational levels do as well. This can be proven by the figures released sometime back by the National Center for Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education for the period between 1980 – 2000, in which it was discovered that young people with the minimum of a bachelor’s degree constantly earned better than people that had less education.
Is it worth it?
This is one of the questions that is often asked when one considers earning any degree. Of course there is an opportunity cost attached to everything that we do as long as there is more than one option to choose from. The choice of going to school to earn a degree may possibly mean foregoing work at a particular time to attend school. But many, who eventually decide to go, do this because they believe that enrolling in school will pay off better in the long-run even if it doesn’t now.
Although another side to this coin is the debts that is currently being amassed by students during their course of study. More students are taking out loans to pay their fees today possibly more than ever before with many of them wondering if they will be able to pay back in good time once they are out of school.
In conclusion
Getting a college degree or moving up the educational ladder from wherever one is, is good and important. It does guarantee that one will most likely earn more than his/her peers with a lower educational degree. However, considering the cost and time this will take vis-à-vis ability to pay now or in the future and how long this will take is necessary as well.
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