disadvantages of university education essay

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Advantages and Disadvantages of University Education

We’d be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of university education in this article at World Scholars Hub to help you get a clear understanding of the pros and cons of the modern education system in the world today.

It is right to say that education is really beneficial and must be taken seriously. It’s also right to note that nothing is completely perfect, as anything with an advantage comes with its own disadvantages as well which may be too much or little to ignore.

We’d start this article by bringing you the advantages of university education after which we’d look at some of its disadvantages. Let’s go on, shall we..

Table of Contents

We’d list out the advantages after which we’d go on to the disadvantages.

Advantages of University Education

Below are the advantages of a university education:

1. Human Development

The role of university education in human development is comprehensive.

The impact of social education and family education on human growth is somewhat contingent, and the scope of the impact is often only focused on certain aspects. University education is an activity for cultivating people in an all-around way.

It should not only care about the growth of the knowledge and intelligence of the educational object, but also care about the formation of students’ ideological and moral character, and also care about the healthy growth of the educated. It is the unique duty of school education to cultivate and shape a comprehensive and complete social person. And this responsibility can only be undertaken by school education.

2. University Education is Well Organised

One of the aims of education is to have an influence on people’s purpose, organization, and planning. University education embodies all the characteristics of education.

The purpose and planning of university education are embodied in a rigorous organization. It is right to note that university education is institutionalized education and has a strict organizational structure and system.

From a macro point of view, the school has a variety of systems at various levels; from a micro point of view, there are dedicated leadership positions and education and teaching organizations within the school, which specialize in ideology, politics, teaching, and general logistics, Cultural and sports activities and other specialized organizations, as well as a series of rigorous education and teaching systems, and so on, are not available in the form of social education and family education.

3. Provides Systematic Content

To meet the needs of fostering a comprehensive and complete society, the content of university education pays special attention to internal continuity and systemicity.

Social education and family education are generally fragmented in educational content. Even planned social education is often staged, and its knowledge as a whole is also fragmented. university education not only pays attention to the knowledge system but also conforms to the laws of cognition.

Therefore, education is systematic and complete. The completeness and systematicness of educational content are important features of school education.

4. Provides an Effective Means of Education

Universities have complete educational facilities and special teaching equipment for education, such as visual teaching aids such as audio-visual film and television, experimental practice bases, etc., which are all effective means of school education. These are indispensable material conditions to ensure the smooth progress of teaching, which cannot be fully provided by social education and family education.

5. Specialized Functions which include Training People

The university education function is to train people, and the university is a place to do just that. The special characteristics of university education are mainly manifested in the specificity of tasks. The only mission of the school is to train people, and other tasks are achieved around training people.

In university education, there are specialized educators—teachers who are trained and brought in through strict selection and specialized training.

Such educators not only have extensive knowledge and high moral character but also understand the laws of education and master effective education methods. University education also has special education and teaching equipment and has special education means. All this fully guarantees the effectiveness of University education.

6. Provides Stability

The form of university education is relatively stable.

Universities have stable educational places, stable educators, stable educational objects, and stable educational content, as well as stable educational order and so on. This kind of stability in universities is very conducive to personal development.

Of course, stability is relative, and it must have corresponding reforms and changes. Stability is not rigid. If we regard relative stability as sticking to the rules and rigidity, it will inevitably go to the opposite side.

Disadvantages of University Education

The disadvantages of university education bring the following adverse effects on the younger generation:

1. Feeling Dull

The narrow educational goals, the complexity of educational content, and fierce academic competition force students to think about study, exams, grades, and rankings every day, and often they are either incapable of taking care of or ignoring everything around them. Such accumulation will inevitably make them indifferent to things that have nothing to do with learning, and cause numbness and inactivation of feelings.

2. Increasing Diseases

Diseases are mainly caused by mental imbalance, reduced exercise, and monotony of activities. Facing the tremendous pressure of studying and entering higher education, students often feel nervous, depressed, and even fearful, which can lead to functional and organic diseases such as insomnia, headaches, anxiety, depression, and decreased immunity. The strange diseases such as “Sensing Syndrome” and “Attention Deficit Syndrome” discovered by experts in recent years are also directly related to the huge learning pressure of students.

3. Distorted Personality

Education has always claimed to cultivate people, but in fact, in the educational model constructed by mechanical drills and forcible indoctrination, students’ originally lively and lovely personalities are fragmented and eroded, and their different personalities are ignored and suppressed. Uniformity and one-sidedness have become the inevitable result of this model. These conditions, coupled with the increasing prevalence of only children, will result in varying degrees of isolation, selfishness, autism, pride, inferiority, depression, cowardice, emotional indifference, excessive words and deeds, fragile will, and gender inversion among students. Distorted and unsound personality.

4. Weak Abilities

Education is meant to promote the all-around development of adults, to enable people to develop balanced, harmonious, and free all aspects of abilities.

However, our education has abnormally developed some of the students’ abilities, while disregarding many other abilities. Not to mention the relatively poor self-care ability, psychological self-control ability, and survival adaptability of students, it is the ability to collect and process information related to learning, the ability to discover and acquire new knowledge, the ability to analyze and solve problems, the ability to communicate and communicate. The ability to cooperate has not been effectively cultivated.

Many students who have been educated have gradually become a generation who can’t live, have no passion, and can’t create.

Getting a university education doesn’t come so cheap. It is pertinent to note that one of the troubles students face in the university is the tuition cost and the living cost.

Getting quality education means more money and as a result, most students have to take up as many jobs as possible in other to take care of their study expenses.

University education can be really expensive but going to university is worth the cost in so many ways. With the shift in focus to the expenses involved in getting a university education, many students lose focus on their academics and tend to overwork themselves in order to meet up with the financial demands of the university.

Though the cost of education is high in most countries of the world, there are countries with free education for international students that you can totally benefit from.

We hope that with this article, you’re able to understand the advantages and disadvantages of university education for students. Feel free to use the comment section to share your thoughts or contribute to the information already provided.

Advantages and Disadvantages of University Education: Navigating Higher Learning

Table of contents, advantages of university education, disadvantages of university education, navigating the higher education journey, 1. knowledge acquisition and specialization, 2. career opportunities and earnings potential, 3. personal growth and development, 4. networking and connections, 1. financial burden, 2. time investment, 3. lack of practical skills, 4. changing job market trends.

Arum, R., & Roksa, J. (2011). Academically adrift: Limited learning on college campuses. University of Chicago Press.
Baum, S., Ma, J., & Payea, K. (2013). Education pays 2013: The benefits of higher education for individuals and society. College Board.
Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research (Vol. 2). Jossey-Bass.
Trivette, S. A., & Dunst, C. J. (2009). Building capacity in early intervention systems. Journal of Early Intervention, 31(2), 101-115.
Van Noy, M., & Zeidenberg, M. (2014). The benefits and costs of college for individuals and society. Community College Review, 42(3), 197-223.

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School Leavers

Jul 3, 2024
13 min read

Should I Go to University? 10 Pros and 10 Cons to Consider

To go or not to earn an academic degree? That is the question.

Joanna Zambas

Content Manager and Career Expert

Reviewed by Melina Theodorou

student thinking 'Should I Go to University?'

Pursuing higher education allows you to develop knowledge, learn new skills and better your professional prospects. That said, going to university comes with its set of advantages and disadvantages, both of which you must consider before enrolling in a course.

Below, we’ll walk you through the pros and cons of going to university to help you make a more confident and informed decision.

Pros of going to university

Here are 10 benefits of going to university worth considering:

1. You’ll be able to secure specialised jobs

Gaining a university degree in your area of interest will improve your chances of securing a job role in specialised fields. Indeed, most skilled jobs require academic training as well as a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Some examples include careers in healthcare, engineering, education, law and accounting.

So, while there are many alternatives to university , a university education is essential for certain roles and careers.

2. You’ll earn more money

Did you know that college graduates earn significantly more than high school leavers?

So, if you’re a high school student aspiring towards having a lucrative career, a college degree will give you a head start.

Meanwhile, if you’re a professional with industry experience and you’re hoping to land a promotion or develop your career further, a university degree can certainly help. That said, this will also depend on your industry as well as your employer.

3. You’ll develop transferable skills

Transferable skills refer to a set of skills that you can use in any job role. Some of the most useful transferable skills include communication , critical thinking, teamwork, multitasking, leadership and creativity.

So, attending a university will not only provide you with specific subject knowledge but also a chance to hone other skills that make you more employable .

4. You’ll broaden your mind

Going to university gives you a chance to move somewhere new, meet people from diverse backgrounds, and make friends from across the world.

Not only will you broaden your social circle but your mindset, too.

Plus, apart from studying, you can throw yourself into other extracurriculars that revolve around culture, politics, arts and sports. All of which will contribute to your personal growth.

5. You’ll gain expertise in your favorite subject

If you know what field you wish to pursue a career in or are passionate about a particular subject and want to learn more about it, then college could be for you.

Pursuing a degree will help you become an expert in your areas of interest and allow you to delve deeper into these topics. You could even pursue a career within academia by obtaining a master’s and PhD qualification after finishing your undergraduate studies.

6. You’ll hone your research skills

A university degree teaches you how to think analytically and critically, but also how to conduct thorough research, question assumptions, become apt at solving problems and deduce informative conclusions.

Whether it’s research for a bio-med project or a literature thesis, this is a skill that is invaluable to employers, and one that you will utilize time and time again throughout your career.

7. You’ll have access to networking opportunities

Your professional network plays a critical role in your success in this day and age.

University will allow you to create and broaden your network of professional contacts, be it through volunteering opportunities , internships or meet-and-greets that can bring you in touch with potential employers and people who can support you in your future endeavors.

8. You’ll become more independent

For young students, university life gives you a taste of living independently. Not only are you exposed to new social settings but you also learn about basic life skills such as doing the laundry, cooking and paying bills.

This newfound sense of independence will give you a chance to grow into an adult and give you more responsibility over yourself. It may sound daunting at first, but you’ll learn a lot and grow from this experience.

9. You’ll be able to see the world

If you choose to enroll in an academic institution in a different country, this will give you the chance to travel and study at the same time. At many universities, you’ll also have the option to do a year abroad , and there may also be courses that include field trips to different countries.

So, if you’re passionate about traveling and exploring new places, university could definitely open up a few opportunities for you to do just that.

10. You’ll gain work experience

As a university student, you’ll have your fair pick of internships and part-time jobs to choose from, which will allow you to attain experience and gain technical skills. Some degree programs offer a year in industry, but also job placement opportunities that you can pursue during summer breaks.

This will ultimately give you a head start as a graduate looking for entry-level positions, and it will certainly contribute to your résumé.

Cons of going to university

Like everything else, going to university has its shortcomings. Here are 10 disadvantages of going to university.

1. You’ll end up in debt

Everyone knows how expensive education is nowadays. Therefore, unless you have the financial means to pay for your education upfront, you’ll be graduating not just with a degree but also a considerable debt .

Plus, there other expenses you need to take into consideration, including your accommodation costs as well as living expenses.

That said, you can always apply for financial aid, scholarships and bursaries that will lift some of the financial burden off your shoulders.

2. You’ll commit a long time to your studies

Going to university is a long-term commitment, which could require three to eight years of your life, depending on the course you choose to take.

This can be a real challenge if you’re a working professional, because you’ll have to give up your full-time job to return to university.

But even if you’re a young student, this factor can still be a consideration for you. After all, you’ll be depriving yourself of years of income and piling on student debt. That said, part-time study options could allow you to work while you work towards your degree .

3. You won’t be guaranteed a job

The only guarantee you get from going to university is that you’ll be graduating with a degree (if you work hard enough). Apart from that, there is no guarantee that you’ll find a job in your field easily or that you’ll be promoted.

The job market remains quite competitive, and you’ll need to assemble a variety of skills, qualifications and experience in order to stand out from other candidates. However, on many occasions, a college degree could be a minimum requirement to qualify for a role.

4. You’ll lack technical skills

Not all degrees offer hands-on experience and the chance to develop technical skills .

While many entry-level roles do offer training, your lack of technical skills could prolong how quickly you land a job and kick-start your career.

Internships, part-time work and volunteering are all great options to attain some technical experience in the fields you’re interested in.

5. There won’t be a lot of contact time

Some courses may offer significantly less contact time than others.

At school, you may have gotten a solid eight hours of classes, five days a week, but at university, you might find that you only have five to eight hours of lectures, seminars and workshops a week. While this does depend on the faculty and course you select, it could still be deterring to receive such few hours of teaching considering the extravagant tuition fees you will be paying.

A lot of courses require independent study and research, so you’ll likely find yourself more often sitting in the library than in a lecture hall.

6. It can be overwhelming

While studying at a university can be exciting, it can also be an overwhelming experience, especially if you’re living far away from home. Moving away can be stressful and very hard for those attached to their family and friends.

Homesickness is quite common, especially among college freshmen, but it’s something you can overcome with time, especially if you devote yourself to your studies.

7. You may earn less than an apprentice

It may come as a surprise, but you can earn more with an apprenticeship than with an undergraduate degree.

Apprentices get a pay increase through an award program as they progress from one level to another; they may earn a higher salary than you based on the time they have been working in a company or because of their level of competency and experience.

So, in some cases, embarking on an apprenticeship may be a more viable option than pursuing a degree in that field.

8. You’ll have intense workload

School is hard.

On top of seminars and lectures, there’s also mid-term exams, coursework, projects and essays to be written . Juggling this kind of workload can be overwhelming, especially if you also choose to work during your studies or decide to take part in sports and societies, which will also take up a good chunk of your time.

If you’re prone to stress and you struggle with multitasking and organization, university could be quite challenging, but you’ll adapt and learn how to cope with your workload with time.

9. It requires a lot of self-discipline

Throughout your degree, you’ll be responsible for managing your own time and studies. It will require a lot of self-discipline on your part.

Of course, this is a great learning experience and an opportunity to grow, but if you don’t feel ready to take this kind of step, then perhaps you could consider other alternatives to university and enroll when you are ready.

10. You might change your mind

What if you register on a course and later change your mind to choose a different career path ? Well, you’ll have to wait till next semester to make the switch.

However, the university may not transfer your previously acquired credit hours to the new academic program, so you might have to start all over again. However, if you end up studying the subject you’re truly passionate about, then it will be worth it!

How to decide if you should go to university

Reflecting on the following questions can help when you’re stuck in this dilemma. Writing down your answers in a journal or your notes app can help, as you’ll be able to revisit them at a later stage and see what still resonates.

1. What is your end goal?

Not everyone has a clear picture of what they would like their future to look like. It can be hard to picture “the rest of your life” when you’ve just finished school, after all. But although your circumstances and some of your preferences might change over time, some things, like your values, likely won’t.

If you get pure joy out of something (let’s say traveling or caring for animals ), it’s unlikely that it will go away anytime soon. So, ask yourself: would working 9 to 5 from a small cubicle make me happy? Would I want more flexibility and a better work–life balance? Would I be better off being my own boss?

Consider your character and where you feel most “at home”. That will give you a hint as to what lifestyle would suit you, and you can start setting goals to get there.

2. Is a degree required for your desired profession?

If your desired career path doesn’t strictly require a degree, you could be better off completing an apprenticeship or internship instead of going to university.

Enrolling in an associate’s degree instead of a bachelor’s degree, or completing a shorter diploma, combined with your work experience could give you an advantage over other candidates while also removing the need to stay in university for four years or more.

3. Can you afford it?

Although university can be costly, an associate’s degree can earn you nearly half a million dollars more over the span of your career than if you had not attended university at all. A bachelor’s degree, meanwhile, can earn you twice as much — that’s according to a 2024 report by the Georgetown University Centre on Education and the Workforce. When researching different ways of funding your studies, keep these figures in mind!

Having said that, some industries are likelier to pay more attention to your work experience than your educational qualifications — so, be sure to do your research into the typical requirements for your target role, any prospective employers you have in mind, and your industry more generally.

4. Have you considered any other options?

If it’s not a loud “yes!”, it’s likely a “no”. So, rather than take out student loans and push yourself to do something you’re not fully committed to, explore your options — and give yourself a deadline if the idea of exploring indefinitely makes you anxious.

You could, for example, work for six months to build your skill set, earn some money, and make professional connections; or you could volunteer, combining part-time work with helping others. If it doesn’t turn out to be what you wanted, you can submit your college application at the next opportunity.

If you find work in a relevant field to the one you dream of working in, even better! It will give you a real flavor of what the work is like, which will be an eye-opener.

5. Do you see yourself returning to school later in life?

People will tell you that it’s never too late to follow your dreams, and that you can always change your mind. While it’s true that attending university as an older adult is by no means impossible, it does come with its own set of challenges.

You’ll be juggling studying with working, at the least. Throw parenting, caregiving or other responsibilities that may come with being an older adult into the mix, and you see how little time you’re left with for rest, hobbies and socializing — all of which are vital components in your wellbeing.

Sometimes, the best time is now.

Final thoughts

In 2023, 61% of recent high school graduates went on to enroll in colleges and universities. Though that’s the majority, there is still a significant number of young adults who choose different paths; some go on to find work, some take a gap year , and some (no doubt) graduate and have no plan at all.

No matter how you look at it, any decision you make is bound to have its positives and negatives. So, give yourself enough time to reflect, weigh all the pros and cons, and don’t entirely dismiss your intuition. Sometimes we know what we want but second-guess ourselves anyway.

Join the discussion! Can you think of any other reasons you should or shouldn’t go to university? Share them with us in the comments section below!

This article is a partial update of an earlier version originally published on August 25, 2017, and contains contributions by Electra Michaelidou. In the update, we added a new section called “How to decide if you should go to university”.

Career Planning

Going to University

August 28, 2024

published by phi beta kappa

Print or web publication, the disadvantages of an elite education.

Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers

Listen to a narrated version of this essay:

It didn’t dawn on me that there might be a few holes in my education until I was about 35. I’d just bought a house, the pipes needed fixing, and the plumber was standing in my kitchen. There he was, a short, beefy guy with a goatee and a Red Sox cap and a thick Boston accent, and I suddenly learned that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to someone like him. So alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn’t succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got down to work. Fourteen years of higher education and a handful of Ivy League degrees, and there I was, stiff and stupid, struck dumb by my own dumbness. “Ivy retardation,” a friend of mine calls this. I could carry on conversations with people from other countries, in other languages, but I couldn’t talk to the man who was standing in my own house.

It’s not surprising that it took me so long to discover the extent of my miseducation, because the last thing an elite education will teach you is its own inadequacy. As two dozen years at Yale and Columbia have shown me, elite colleges relentlessly encourage their students to flatter themselves for being there, and for what being there can do for them. The advantages of an elite education are indeed undeniable. You learn to think, at least in certain ways, and you make the contacts needed to launch yourself into a life rich in all of society’s most cherished rewards. To consider that while some opportunities are being created, others are being cancelled and that while some abilities are being developed, others are being crippled is, within this context, not only outrageous, but inconceivable.

I’m not talking about curricula or the culture wars, the closing or opening of the American mind, political correctness, canon formation, or what have you. I’m talking about the whole system in which these skirmishes play out. Not just the Ivy League and its peer institutions, but also the mechanisms that get you there in the first place: the private and affluent public “feeder” schools, the ever-growing parastructure of tutors and test-prep courses and enrichment programs, the whole admissions frenzy and everything that leads up to and away from it. The message, as always, is the medium. Before, after, and around the elite college classroom, a constellation of values is ceaselessly inculcated. As globalization sharpens economic insecurity, we are increasingly committing ourselves—as students, as parents, as a society—to a vast apparatus of educational advantage. With so many resources devoted to the business of elite academics and so many people scrambling for the limited space at the top of the ladder, it is worth asking what exactly it is you get in the end—what it is we all get, because the elite students of today, as their institutions never tire of reminding them, are the leaders of tomorrow.

The first disadvantage of an elite education, as I learned in my kitchen that day, is that it makes you incapable of talking to people who aren’t like you. Elite schools pride themselves on their diversity, but that diversity is almost entirely a matter of ethnicity and race. With respect to class, these schools are largely—indeed increasingly—homogeneous. Visit any elite campus in our great nation and you can thrill to the heartwarming spectacle of the children of white businesspeople and professionals studying and playing alongside the children of black, Asian, and Latino businesspeople and professionals. At the same time, because these schools tend to cultivate liberal attitudes, they leave their students in the paradoxical position of wanting to advocate on behalf of the working class while being unable to hold a simple conversation with anyone in it. Witness the last two Democratic presidential nominees, Al Gore and John Kerry: one each from Harvard and Yale, both earnest, decent, intelligent men, both utterly incapable of communicating with the larger electorate.

But it isn’t just a matter of class. My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to, regardless of their class. I was given the unmistakable message that such people were beneath me. We were “the best and the brightest,” as these places love to say, and everyone else was, well, something else: less good, less bright. I learned to give that little nod of understanding, that slightly sympathetic “Oh,” when people told me they went to a less prestigious college. (If I’d gone to Harvard, I would have learned to say “in Boston” when I was asked where I went to school—the Cambridge version of noblesse oblige.) I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to elite colleges, often precisely for reasons of class. I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to college at all.

I also never learned that there are smart people who aren’t “smart.” The existence of multiple forms of intelligence has become a commonplace, but however much elite universities like to sprinkle their incoming classes with a few actors or violinists, they select for and develop one form of intelligence: the analytic. While this is broadly true of all universities, elite schools, precisely because their students (and faculty, and administrators) possess this one form of intelligence to such a high degree, are more apt to ignore the value of others. One naturally prizes what one most possesses and what most makes for one’s advantages. But social intelligence and emotional intelligence and creative ability, to name just three other forms, are not distributed preferentially among the educational elite. The “best” are the brightest only in one narrow sense. One needs to wander away from the educational elite to begin to discover this.

What about people who aren’t bright in any sense? I have a friend who went to an Ivy League college after graduating from a typically mediocre public high school. One of the values of going to such a school, she once said, is that it teaches you to relate to stupid people. Some people are smart in the elite-college way, some are smart in other ways, and some aren’t smart at all. It should be embarrassing not to know how to talk to any of them, if only because talking to people is the only real way of knowing them. Elite institutions are supposed to provide a humanistic education, but the first principle of humanism is Terence’s: “nothing human is alien to me.” The first disadvantage of an elite education is how very much of the human it alienates you from.

The second disadvantage, implicit in what I’ve been saying, is that an elite education inculcates a false sense of self-worth. Getting to an elite college, being at an elite college, and going on from an elite college—all involve numerical rankings: SAT, GPA, GRE. You learn to think of yourself in terms of those numbers. They come to signify not only your fate, but your identity; not only your identity, but your value. It’s been said that what those tests really measure is your ability to take tests, but even if they measure something real, it is only a small slice of the real. The problem begins when students are encouraged to forget this truth, when academic excellence becomes excellence in some absolute sense, when “better at X” becomes simply “better.”

There is nothing wrong with taking pride in one’s intellect or knowledge. There is something wrong with the smugness and self-congratulation that elite schools connive at from the moment the fat envelopes come in the mail. From orientation to graduation, the message is implicit in every tone of voice and tilt of the head, every old-school tradition, every article in the student paper, every speech from the dean. The message is: You have arrived. Welcome to the club. And the corollary is equally clear: You deserve everything your presence here is going to enable you to get. When people say that students at elite schools have a strong sense of entitlement, they mean that those students think they deserve more than other people because their SAT scores are higher.

At Yale, and no doubt at other places, the message is reinforced in embarrassingly literal terms. The physical form of the university—its quads and residential colleges, with their Gothic stone façades and wrought-iron portals—is constituted by the locked gate set into the encircling wall. Everyone carries around an ID card that determines which gates they can enter. The gate, in other words, is a kind of governing metaphor—because the social form of the university, as is true of every elite school, is constituted the same way. Elite colleges are walled domains guarded by locked gates, with admission granted only to the elect. The aptitude with which students absorb this lesson is demonstrated by the avidity with which they erect still more gates within those gates, special realms of ever-greater exclusivity—at Yale, the famous secret societies, or as they should probably be called, the open-secret societies, since true secrecy would defeat their purpose. There’s no point in excluding people unless they know they’ve been excluded.

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One of the great errors of an elite education, then, is that it teaches you to think that measures of intelligence and academic achievement are measures of value in some moral or metaphysical sense. But they’re not. Graduates of elite schools are not more valuable than stupid people, or talentless people, or even lazy people. Their pain does not hurt more. Their souls do not weigh more. If I were religious, I would say, God does not love them more. The political implications should be clear. As John Ruskin told an older elite, grabbing what you can get isn’t any less wicked when you grab it with the power of your brains than with the power of your fists. “Work must always be,” Ruskin says, “and captains of work must always be….[But] there is a wide difference between being captains…of work, and taking the profits of it.”

The political implications don’t stop there. An elite education not only ushers you into the upper classes; it trains you for the life you will lead once you get there. I didn’t understand this until I began comparing my experience, and even more, my students’ experience, with the experience of a friend of mine who went to Cleveland State. There are due dates and attendance requirements at places like Yale, but no one takes them very seriously. Extensions are available for the asking; threats to deduct credit for missed classes are rarely, if ever, carried out. In other words, students at places like Yale get an endless string of second chances. Not so at places like Cleveland State. My friend once got a D in a class in which she’d been running an A because she was coming off a waitressing shift and had to hand in her term paper an hour late.

That may be an extreme example, but it is unthinkable at an elite school. Just as unthinkably, she had no one to appeal to. Students at places like Cleveland State, unlike those at places like Yale, don’t have a platoon of advisers and tutors and deans to write out excuses for late work, give them extra help when they need it, pick them up when they fall down. They get their education wholesale, from an indifferent bureaucracy; it’s not handed to them in individually wrapped packages by smiling clerks. There are few, if any, opportunities for the kind of contacts I saw my students get routinely—classes with visiting power brokers, dinners with foreign dignitaries. There are also few, if any, of the kind of special funds that, at places like Yale, are available in profusion: travel stipends, research fellowships, performance grants. Each year, my department at Yale awards dozens of cash prizes for everything from freshman essays to senior projects. This year, those awards came to more than $90,000—in just one department.

Students at places like Cleveland State also don’t get A-’s just for doing the work. There’s been a lot of handwringing lately over grade inflation, and it is a scandal, but the most scandalous thing about it is how uneven it’s been. Forty years ago, the average GPA at both public and private universities was about 2.6, still close to the traditional B-/C+ curve. Since then, it’s gone up everywhere, but not by anything like the same amount. The average gpa at public universities is now about 3.0, a B; at private universities it’s about 3.3, just short of a B+. And at most Ivy League schools, it’s closer to 3.4. But there are always students who don’t do the work, or who are taking a class far outside their field (for fun or to fulfill a requirement), or who aren’t up to standard to begin with (athletes, legacies). At a school like Yale, students who come to class and work hard expect nothing less than an A-. And most of the time, they get it.

In short, the way students are treated in college trains them for the social position they will occupy once they get out. At schools like Cleveland State, they’re being trained for positions somewhere in the middle of the class system, in the depths of one bureaucracy or another. They’re being conditioned for lives with few second chances, no extensions, little support, narrow opportunity—lives of subordination, supervision, and control, lives of deadlines, not guidelines. At places like Yale, of course, it’s the reverse. The elite like to think of themselves as belonging to a meritocracy, but that’s true only up to a point. Getting through the gate is very difficult, but once you’re in, there’s almost nothing you can do to get kicked out. Not the most abject academic failure, not the most heinous act of plagiarism, not even threatening a fellow student with bodily harm—I’ve heard of all three—will get you expelled. The feeling is that, by gosh, it just wouldn’t be fair—in other words, the self-protectiveness of the old-boy network, even if it now includes girls. Elite schools nurture excellence, but they also nurture what a former Yale graduate student I know calls “entitled mediocrity.” A is the mark of excellence; A- is the mark of entitled mediocrity. It’s another one of those metaphors, not so much a grade as a promise. It means, don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. You may not be all that good, but you’re good enough.

Here, too, college reflects the way things work in the adult world (unless it’s the other way around). For the elite, there’s always another extension—a bailout, a pardon, a stint in rehab—always plenty of contacts and special stipends—the country club, the conference, the year-end bonus, the dividend. If Al Gore and John Kerry represent one of the characteristic products of an elite education, George W. Bush represents another. It’s no coincidence that our current president, the apotheosis of entitled mediocrity, went to Yale. Entitled mediocrity is indeed the operating principle of his administration, but as Enron and WorldCom and the other scandals of the dot-com meltdown demonstrated, it’s also the operating principle of corporate America. The fat salaries paid to underperforming CEOs are an adult version of the A-. Anyone who remembers the injured sanctimony with which Kenneth Lay greeted the notion that he should be held accountable for his actions will understand the mentality in question—the belief that once you’re in the club, you’ve got a God-given right to stay in the club. But you don’t need to remember Ken Lay, because the whole dynamic played out again last year in the case of Scooter Libby, another Yale man.

If one of the disadvantages of an elite education is the temptation it offers to mediocrity, another is the temptation it offers to security. When parents explain why they work so hard to give their children the best possible education, they invariably say it is because of the opportunities it opens up. But what of the opportunities it shuts down? An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be. Yet the opportunity not to be rich is one of the greatest opportunities with which young Americans have been blessed. We live in a society that is itself so wealthy that it can afford to provide a decent living to whole classes of people who in other countries exist (or in earlier times existed) on the brink of poverty or, at least, of indignity. You can live comfortably in the United States as a schoolteacher, or a community organizer, or a civil rights lawyer, or an artist—that is, by any reasonable definition of comfort. You have to live in an ordinary house instead of an apartment in Manhattan or a mansion in L.A.; you have to drive a Honda instead of a BMW or a Hummer; you have to vacation in Florida instead of Barbados or Paris, but what are such losses when set against the opportunity to do work you believe in, work you’re suited for, work you love, every day of your life?

Yet it is precisely that opportunity that an elite education takes away. How can I be a schoolteacher—wouldn’t that be a waste of my expensive education? Wouldn’t I be squandering the opportunities my parents worked so hard to provide? What will my friends think? How will I face my classmates at our 20th reunion, when they’re all rich lawyers or important people in New York? And the question that lies behind all these: Isn’t it beneath me? So a whole universe of possibility closes, and you miss your true calling.

This is not to say that students from elite colleges never pursue a riskier or less lucrative course after graduation, but even when they do, they tend to give up more quickly than others. (Let’s not even talk about the possibility of kids from privileged backgrounds not going to college at all, or delaying matriculation for several years, because however appropriate such choices might sometimes be, our rigid educational mentality places them outside the universe of possibility—the reason so many kids go sleepwalking off to college with no idea what they’re doing there.) This doesn’t seem to make sense, especially since students from elite schools tend to graduate with less debt and are more likely to be able to float by on family money for a while. I wasn’t aware of the phenomenon myself until I heard about it from a couple of graduate students in my department, one from Yale, one from Harvard. They were talking about trying to write poetry, how friends of theirs from college called it quits within a year or two while people they know from less prestigious schools are still at it. Why should this be? Because students from elite schools expect success, and expect it now. They have, by definition, never experienced anything else, and their sense of self has been built around their ability to succeed. The idea of not being successful terrifies them, disorients them, defeats them. They’ve been driven their whole lives by a fear of failure—often, in the first instance, by their parents’ fear of failure. The first time I blew a test, I walked out of the room feeling like I no longer knew who I was. The second time, it was easier; I had started to learn that failure isn’t the end of the world.

But if you’re afraid to fail, you’re afraid to take risks, which begins to explain the final and most damning disadvantage of an elite education: that it is profoundly anti-intellectual. This will seem counterintuitive. Aren’t kids at elite schools the smartest ones around, at least in the narrow academic sense? Don’t they work harder than anyone else—indeed, harder than any previous generation? They are. They do. But being an intellectual is not the same as being smart. Being an intellectual means more than doing your homework.

disadvantages of university education essay

If so few kids come to college understanding this, it is no wonder. They are products of a system that rarely asked them to think about something bigger than the next assignment. The system forgot to teach them, along the way to the prestige admissions and the lucrative jobs, that the most important achievements can’t be measured by a letter or a number or a name. It forgot that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.

Being an intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas—and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade. A friend who teaches at the University of Connecticut once complained to me that his students don’t think for themselves. Well, I said, Yale students think for themselves, but only because they know we want them to. I’ve had many wonderful students at Yale and Columbia, bright, thoughtful, creative kids whom it’s been a pleasure to talk with and learn from. But most of them have seemed content to color within the lines that their education had marked out for them. Only a small minority have seen their education as part of a larger intellectual journey, have approached the work of the mind with a pilgrim soul. These few have tended to feel like freaks, not least because they get so little support from the university itself. Places like Yale, as one of them put it to me, are not conducive to searchers.

Places like Yale are simply not set up to help students ask the big questions. I don’t think there ever was a golden age of intellectualism in the American university, but in the 19th century students might at least have had a chance to hear such questions raised in chapel or in the literary societies and debating clubs that flourished on campus. Throughout much of the 20th century, with the growth of the humanistic ideal in American colleges, students might have encountered the big questions in the classrooms of professors possessed of a strong sense of pedagogic mission. Teachers like that still exist in this country, but the increasingly dire exigencies of academic professionalization have made them all but extinct at elite universities. Professors at top research institutions are valued exclusively for the quality of their scholarly work; time spent on teaching is time lost. If students want a conversion experience, they’re better off at a liberal arts college.

When elite universities boast that they teach their students how to think, they mean that they teach them the analytic and rhetorical skills necessary for success in law or medicine or science or business. But a humanistic education is supposed to mean something more than that, as universities still dimly feel. So when students get to college, they hear a couple of speeches telling them to ask the big questions, and when they graduate, they hear a couple more speeches telling them to ask the big questions. And in between, they spend four years taking courses that train them to ask the little questions—specialized courses, taught by specialized professors, aimed at specialized students. Although the notion of breadth is implicit in the very idea of a liberal arts education, the admissions process increasingly selects for kids who have already begun to think of themselves in specialized terms—the junior journalist, the budding astronomer, the language prodigy. We are slouching, even at elite schools, toward a glorified form of vocational training.

Indeed, that seems to be exactly what those schools want. There’s a reason elite schools speak of training leaders, not thinkers—holders of power, not its critics. An independent mind is independent of all allegiances, and elite schools, which get a large percentage of their budget from alumni giving, are strongly invested in fostering institutional loyalty. As another friend, a third-generation Yalie, says, the purpose of Yale College is to manufacture Yale alumni. Of course, for the system to work, those alumni need money. At Yale, the long-term drift of students away from majors in the humanities and basic sciences toward more practical ones like computer science and economics has been abetted by administrative indifference. The college career office has little to say to students not interested in law, medicine, or business, and elite universities are not going to do anything to discourage the large percentage of their graduates who take their degrees to Wall Street. In fact, they’re showing them the way. The liberal arts university is becoming the corporate university, its center of gravity shifting to technical fields where scholarly expertise can be parlayed into lucrative business opportunities.

It’s no wonder that the few students who are passionate about ideas find themselves feeling isolated and confused. I was talking with one of them last year about his interest in the German Romantic idea of bildung, the upbuilding of the soul. But, he said—he was a senior at the time—it’s hard to build your soul when everyone around you is trying to sell theirs.

Yet there is a dimension of the intellectual life that lies above the passion for ideas, though so thoroughly has our culture been sanitized of it that it is hardly surprising if it was beyond the reach of even my most alert students. Since the idea of the intellectual emerged in the 18th century, it has had, at its core, a commitment to social transformation. Being an intellectual means thinking your way toward a vision of the good society and then trying to realize that vision by speaking truth to power. It means going into spiritual exile. It means foreswearing your allegiance, in lonely freedom, to God, to country, and to Yale. It takes more than just intellect; it takes imagination and courage. “I am not afraid to make a mistake,” Stephen Dedalus says, “even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake, and perhaps as long as eternity, too.”

Being an intellectual begins with thinking your way outside of your assumptions and the system that enforces them. But students who get into elite schools are precisely the ones who have best learned to work within the system, so it’s almost impossible for them to see outside it, to see that it’s even there. Long before they got to college, they turned themselves into world-class hoop-jumpers and teacher-pleasers, getting A’s in every class no matter how boring they found the teacher or how pointless the subject, racking up eight or 10 extracurricular activities no matter what else they wanted to do with their time. Paradoxically, the situation may be better at second-tier schools and, in particular, again, at liberal arts colleges than at the most prestigious universities. Some students end up at second-tier schools because they’re exactly like students at Harvard or Yale, only less gifted or driven. But others end up there because they have a more independent spirit. They didn’t get straight A’s because they couldn’t be bothered to give everything in every class. They concentrated on the ones that meant the most to them or on a single strong extracurricular passion or on projects that had nothing to do with school or even with looking good on a college application. Maybe they just sat in their room, reading a lot and writing in their journal. These are the kinds of kids who are likely, once they get to college, to be more interested in the human spirit than in school spirit, and to think about leaving college bearing questions, not resumés.

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I’ve been struck, during my time at Yale, by how similar everyone looks. You hardly see any hippies or punks or art-school types, and at a college that was known in the ’80s as the Gay Ivy, few out lesbians and no gender queers. The geeks don’t look all that geeky; the fashionable kids go in for understated elegance. Thirty-two flavors, all of them vanilla. The most elite schools have become places of a narrow and suffocating normalcy. Everyone feels pressure to maintain the kind of appearance—and affect—that go with achievement. (Dress for success, medicate for success.) I know from long experience as an adviser that not every Yale student is appropriate and well-adjusted, which is exactly why it worries me that so many of them act that way. The tyranny of the normal must be very heavy in their lives. One consequence is that those who can’t get with the program (and they tend to be students from poorer backgrounds) often polarize in the opposite direction, flying off into extremes of disaffection and self-destruction. But another consequence has to do with the large majority who can get with the program.

I taught a class several years ago on the literature of friendship. One day we were discussing Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves, which follows a group of friends from childhood to middle age. In high school, one of them falls in love with another boy. He thinks, “To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?…There is nobody—here among these grey arches, and moaning pigeons, and cheerful games and tradition and emulation, all so skilfully organised to prevent feeling alone.” A pretty good description of an elite college campus, including the part about never being allowed to feel alone. What did my students think of this, I wanted to know? What does it mean to go to school at a place where you’re never alone? Well, one of them said, I do feel uncomfortable sitting in my room by myself. Even when I have to write a paper, I do it at a friend’s. That same day, as it happened, another student gave a presentation on Emerson’s essay on friendship. Emerson says, he reported, that one of the purposes of friendship is to equip you for solitude. As I was asking my students what they thought that meant, one of them interrupted to say, wait a second, why do you need solitude in the first place? What can you do by yourself that you can’t do with a friend?

So there they were: one young person who had lost the capacity for solitude and another who couldn’t see the point of it. There’s been much talk of late about the loss of privacy, but equally calamitous is its corollary, the loss of solitude. It used to be that you couldn’t always get together with your friends even when you wanted to. Now that students are in constant electronic contact, they never have trouble finding each other. But it’s not as if their compulsive sociability is enabling them to develop deep friendships. “To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?”: my student was in her friend’s room writing a paper, not having a heart-to-heart. She probably didn’t have the time; indeed, other students told me they found their peers too busy for intimacy.

What happens when busyness and sociability leave no room for solitude? The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude. They took this in for a second, and then one of them said, with a dawning sense of self-awareness, “So are you saying that we’re all just, like, really excellent sheep?” Well, I don’t know. But I do know that the life of the mind is lived one mind at a time: one solitary, skeptical, resistant mind at a time. The best place to cultivate it is not within an educational system whose real purpose is to reproduce the class system.

The world that produced John Kerry and George Bush is indeed giving us our next generation of leaders. The kid who’s loading up on AP courses junior year or editing three campus publications while double-majoring, the kid whom everyone wants at their college or law school but no one wants in their classroom, the kid who doesn’t have a minute to breathe, let alone think, will soon be running a corporation or an institution or a government. She will have many achievements but little experience, great success but no vision. The disadvantage of an elite education is that it’s given us the elite we have, and the elite we’re going to have.

William Deresiewicz is an essayist and critic. His book Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life is based in part on his essays “ The Disadvantages of an Elite Education ” and “ Solitude and Leadership .” To read all the posts from his weekly blog, “All Points,” click here . He is a contributing editor of the magazine.

[…] The Chinese culture (and probably Asian culture in general), in this respect, is marked by appearances. Most Chinese parents I’ve met judge people by which college they got in, irrelevant of their performance. They heap fulsome praise on kids who get into Ivy+ schools. I feel like they’re stuck in the sophistry. Students who get into a renowned school automatically have a better chance at life and are thus above their peers who end up studying at a lesser institution. Certainly, some correlation between higher academic performance at a “good” college and success in life exists, but it isn’t causal. More snobby people aggrandize themselves by using their numbers, SAT, GPA, GRE. There’s nothing wrong with being proud, but a thin line differentiates grounded pride and the airy self-worth generated by such numbers. I’m sure some may call me hypocritical for not appreciating my own institution, one that certainly offers a better education than most colleges in the world, but it suffices to say that I try not to take part in this superficial analysis. I’m proud yet unsatisfied with my academic achievement, but I usually don’t mention my academic life to boast; it’s just a larger part of my college life than most people. Anyhow, William Deresiewicz wrote a terrific article for the American Scholar detailing why the stereotypical Ivy League education isn’t all smiles. I strongly encourage anybody with some opinion on this to read it here. […]

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Advantages And Disadvantages Of University Education

University education has its merits and also has its demerits in the life of every individual. In this article, We will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of university education.

Table of Contents

What is Education?

Education is the process of acquiring adequate knowledge, understanding, or interpretation of what is happening around you. It is a necessary weapon needed in our daily life affairs. The University is one of the most suitable environments where you can receive teachings and advanced learning programs that will help improve the self-growth and capacity of an individual to become an outstanding citizen.

Universities provide a wide range of academic programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate courses in subjects like the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, business, and law. Students often select a course of study that fits their interests and professional goals.

Universities were created to give those who desire to further their education or extend their knowledge access to a better standard of instruction. They offer beneficial externalities, or impacts, which can be advantageous to everyone in society. It is true that the university has been able to produce well-respected and recognized leaders worldwide.

University education has numerous benefits for people and society as a whole, including promoting social interactions, enhancing health outcomes, expanding social support networks, and encouraging civic involvement.

The Best Means of Acquiring Knowledge

Knowledge is an essential tool, facts, information, and abilities gained from education or experience. In the University, there are advanced programs and research carried out by students. They are always creating new programs to entice potential students and satisfy labor market demands.

They want to develop lifelong leadership and initiative abilities by exposing you to cutting-edge science and technology university education also provides you with useful information and promotes original and independent thought.

With study abroad programs, the majority of universities offer students the option to travel and experience life abroad. Their exposure to fresh sights and experiences in another nation will help them increase their knowledge.

A university education is a process for holistically developing people. They learn good formality about the development of pupils’ moral and ideological character. The special responsibility of school education is to develop and mold a well-rounded and eminent individual.

Job Opportunities

One of the main benefits of going to college is the possibility of earning more money than someone with only a high school graduation. Your child will be better prepared to excel in the workforce of today and build a fulfilling career of their choosing with a university degree. Many different professions, including medicine, education, engineering, accounting, and law, call for a degree.

Your chosen profession might need more advanced training. These careers frequently have excellent remuneration. It’s crucial to think about whether the cost of a university degree will be justified by the average earnings in your chosen field of study. It can be worthwhile to pursue it if your expected earnings are sufficient to pay off your student loans with ease. On the other hand, you might need to reconsider your options if your expected wage would probably make it difficult for you to repay your student loans once you graduate.

In summary, G raduates from universities earn professional credentials that are acknowledged and recognized all around the world.

More salaries and more stable financial situations are available to university graduates. Graduate studies allow university graduates to advance their careers more quickly.

Social Interaction

Another advantage of University education we shall be discussing is Social Interaction. Education requires a social connection. Students can reach their goals since it is a fundamental aspect of learning. You learn more and develop a stronger sense of belonging the more you engage with others.

Colleges encourage a social lifestyle that gives students the ability to interact with people from a wide range of backgrounds. They make friends and mentors who turn into contacts and colleagues in the future. A university experience includes a vibrant social life, and you’ll have the chance to discover new interests and partake in a variety of sports and activities if you so choose.

Students create their first adult networks while in college. Students interact with motivating faculty members who are top authorities in their subject, which may contribute to their increased academic achievement in society.

The interactions between students also have an impact on their academic development and performance. For example, talking to a fellow student about a course that was discussed in class is the greatest way to grasp it. By exchanging opinions on the subject under discussion, it has improved and clarified students’ grasp of that course. In conclusion, we have the chance to interact with people of various personalities who may have similar values and aspirations.

Self Growth

After high school, attending college teaches you priceless lessons outside of the classroom as well. You have the chance to broaden your social circle and try new things when exposed to new peer groups, cultures, and social circumstances. As you transition from being a young adult to being an adult, all of these experiences assist you to mature and develop personally.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of University education are the major challenges encountered by most individuals. These problems are the limitation that has stopped major people from enrolling in Colleges.

It Is Expensive

The cost of a university education is not inexpensive. Several courses are available for various prices at both public and private colleges. Private colleges offer graduate and undergraduate degree programs, and most of them cost a lot of money.

It is important to remember that one of the challenges college students have is paying tuition fees. Those who are born into families that cannot afford a university education may find that tuition costs operate as a barrier. As a result, people with lower incomes are given an unfair opportunity.

The majority of students must work as many jobs as they can to cover their study-related costs because receiving a quality education costs more money. Even though a university degree might be very expensive, there are numerous reasons why attending one is worthwhile.

In the university, some pupils suffer certain sicknesses that may be of great harm to their health. Mental imbalance, inadequate exercise, and repetitive behavior are the main causes of diseases. Students who have to deal with the intense strain of studying and starting college frequently experience anxiety, depression, and even fear, which can result in both functional and organic disorders such as sleeplessness, headaches, anxiety, melancholy, and lowered immunity.

Experts’ discoveries of bizarre illnesses like “Sensing Syndrome” and “Attention Deficit Syndrome” are also clearly linked to the extreme strain pupils are under to learn. Indeed, students face some life-threatening illnesses due to bulky study sessions that they go through every day on campus.

Poor Qualities

The goal of education is to enable people to develop abilities that are balanced, harmonious, and free in all of their dimensions.

Unfortunately, some of the pupils’ abilities have been abnormally enhanced by our educational system, while many other abilities have been ignored. The ability to gather and process information related to learning, the ability to discover and acquire new knowledge, the ability to analyze and solve problems, and the ability to communicate are more important than students’ generally poor self-care, psychological self-control, and survival adaptability. Cooperation skills have not been developed in an efficient manner.

Many educated people have progressively evolved into a generation that is incapable of living, having any passion, or being creative.

FAQ on the Advantages and Disadvantages of University Education

Can these challenges be solved?

Yes, they can be solved. The best way to solve the problems of university education is by;

Enroll in cheap and affordable institutions: There are universities that are inexpensive and provide standard academy programs. They are majorly public institutes and have many fields of study to offer.
Self Care: when you are in a university, you ought to care for your health. By doing so, you would have to fall sick. Also, you have to avoid prolonged school activities and work. Overworking oneself may lead to tiredness and would generate a certain illness. Always learning to do the right thing at the right time and plan yourself. Every institute has a medical clinic that you can visit when you are not feeling well. You can always go for a health check-up to be safe
Develop a skill while you’re in a university: be open to learning new things in the academy. Create time to explore new ideas and interact with people that will help you grow.

What is the greatest challenge for university students?

The biggest challenge for university students depends on the individual. Everyone as their various problems to deal with at school. Some could be time management, low income, and so on. We all have limitations but in another to grow, you will need to keep striving for a change.

Are the educational books we can get online for free?

Yes, they are many free online books that you can study which are very educative and well-explained. The internet is a source of information, communication, and a means of learning something new and valuable. You can visit HOW TO GET FREE TEXTBOOK PDF ONLINE

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Thanks alot it has really helped me

Should university education be free?

However, others argue the positive externalities of higher education are limited, and the prime beneficiaries of a university degree are the graduates who can command a higher paying job. If the external benefits of many degrees are limited, government spending may be misallocated in offering relatively expensive university education. Rather than fund 3-4 year university degrees, governments may be able to get a better return from spending money on primary education and vocational training – training which is more relevant to the needs of the economy.

More details

In recent years, the UK government has sought to increase the amount students pay for studying at university. In the UK, the government have phased out grants and introduced top-up fees. With tuition fees and rising living costs, students could end up paying £50,000 for a three-year degree, and leave university with significant debts.

Some argue this is a mistake. Charging for university education will deter students and leave the UK with a shortfall of skilled labour – and arguably this will damage the long-term prospects of the UK economy. Furthermore, charging to study at university will increase inequality of opportunity as students with low-income parents will be more likely to be deterred from going to university.

Arguments for free university education

Positive externalities of higher education . Generally, university education does offer some external benefits to society. Higher education leads to a more educated and productive workforce. Countries with high rates of university education generally have higher levels of innovation and productivity growth. Therefore, there is a justification for the government subsidising higher education.
Equality . There is also a powerful argument that university education should be free to ensure equality of opportunity. If students have to pay for university education, this may dissuade them. In theory, students could take out loans or work part-time, but this may be sufficient to discourage students from studying and instead may enter the job market earlier.
Increased specialisation of work . The global economy has forced countries, such as the UK to specialise in higher-tech and higher value-added products and services. The UK’s biggest export industries include pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, optical and surgical instruments, and nuclear technology (see: what does the UK produce? ). Therefore, there is a greater need for skilled graduates who can contribute to these high-tech industries.
Education is a merit good . One characteristic of a merit good is that people may underestimate the benefits of studying and undervalue higher education. Government provision can encourage people to study.
Young people facing rising costs . In recent years, we have seen a rise in the cost of living. House prices and rents have risen faster than inflation. This means young people are struggling to meet living costs – even in work. The thought of student debt on top of high living costs, may dissuade people from studying. Free tuition fees is a way to restore the income inequality across generations.
Non-economic benefits of education . It is tempting to think of university education in purely monetary terms. But graduates can also gain skills and awareness of civic institutions which offer intangible benefits to society.

Source: Times Higher Education

Higher Learning, Greater Good: The Private and Social Benefits of Higher Education (2009) Professor McMahon examined the “private non-market benefits” for individuals of having degrees.

This includes better personal health and improved cognitive development in their children, alongside the “social non-market benefits”, such as lower spending on prisons and greater political stability.

If you wished to evaluate this point, we could ask – is it university education which causes these civic virtues or is it because university education is dominated by middle classes who are more likely to have better health e.t.c. already?

Arguments against free university education

Opportunity cost . If we spend billions on free university education, there is an opportunity cost of higher taxes or less spending elsewhere. Arguably, there is a greater social benefit from providing vocational training – e.g. so people could become plumbers, electricians e.t.c. There is often a real shortage of these skills in an economy. The UK Commission for skills and education report significant skills shortages in the basic ‘core generic skills’ such as literacy, numeracy and communication skills. These skill shortages are prominent in industries like building, health care, plumbing, social care and construction. The problem is not a shortage of graduates with art degrees, but a shortage of lower-level vocational skills. (See: BBC – skills shortage in the UK ) Therefore, there is a case for charging students to study at university – allowing higher public spending to tackle more basic skill shortages.
Do we have too many graduates? In recent decades there has been a rapid rise in the number of graduates. But many graduates are now leaving university to take jobs which don’t require a degree. A study by the ONS found that nearly 50% of workers who left university in the past five years are doing jobs which don’t require a degree. ( Telegraph link ) Therefore, it is a mistake to continue to fund the public expansion of university education because the economy doesn’t need more graduates as much as other vocational skills.
Higher quality of education . The rapid rise in university numbers means that greater pressure is being put on university resources. Since the government is struggling to increase real spending, there is a danger that university education and research may suffer, causing UK education to lag behind other countries. If universities can charge students, it will help maintain standards, quality of teaching and the reputation of UK universities.
Makes people value education more . If people have to pay to go to university, you could argue that they would value education more. If higher education is free, it may encourage students to take an easy three years of relaxation.
Signalling function of higher education . Arguably, higher education acts as a signal to employers that graduates have greater capacity. As a consequence, people who gain a degree, end up with a relatively higher salary. Therefore, if they financially gain from studying at university, it is perhaps fair they pay part of the cost. This is especially important for middle-class families, who send a higher proportion of people to higher education.

Another issue is whether we need 50% of 18-year-olds to go to university . The increase in student numbers is a significant contributory factor to the increased financial pressures on universities. Rather than encouraging students to automatically go to university (as some schools do), it may be better to encourage more students to take vocational training and avoid three years of academic study. If less went to university, it would mean the cost per student would be relatively lower.

Another issue is how do you charge students for going to university? If students leave university with large debts, this has negative consequences. But, if we finance university education through a graduate tax paid when graduates get a decent income then it may be less of a disincentive.

Abolition of Tuition Fees

In the 2017 and 2019 election, the Labour party proposed to abolition tuition fees. This is estimated to cost £16 billion.

How should university education be funded ?
Arguments for Free Education
Arguments against Free education

48 thoughts on “Should university education be free?”

In my perceptive the government must allow free education system for two category only. One is the children comes merited and secondly for lower class people

Aka free collage to welfare state

Dear Tejvan Pettinger,

You misspelled Subsidizing*

The E-Time Guy

Subsidizing is American-English spelling. But I use British-English ‘subsidising’

I don’t think you realised/realized that EconomicsHelp is a British-founded website.

Lmao! He must have felt well chuffed with himself…until you pointed that out!

Wouldn’t it be hard to manage that sort of, uh, selection?

Just give everyone a free college degree. No debts, no tax dollars to send Timmy off for free 4 years of living. Free college = tax payer pays to get more competition for his job. Free college = college degree is pointless cause everyone has one

Pingback: Should Higher Education be Available for Everyone? – /lacher-prisee/

The best way is to offer relatively large number of places free of charge, for instance, 80% of overall demand in the economy to be free/state paid places.

The entrance competition must be held to get the place. The rest will be private places.

Erm..we just that read that…but I guess thanks for repeating it…

I agree that education improves how productive people are in the workforce. A friend of mine is majoring in computer science and they are much more adept because of what they are learning. If governments cannot offer compensation for education then I hope that companies will.

Education has positive benefits for the rest of society. If university education is left to market forces, there may be under-provision, and the economy may suffer from a lack of skilled graduates. Furthermore, in a free market, higher education would become the preserve of wealthy families who can afford to send their children to university. Therefore there is a strong case for the government providing higher education free at the point of use. However, others argue the positive externalities of higher education are limited, and the prime beneficiaries of a university degree are the graduates who can command a higher paying job. If the external benefits of many degrees are limited, government spending may be misallocation in offering relatively expensive university education. Rather than fund 3-4 year university degrees, governments may be able to get better return from spending money on primary education and vocational training – training which is more relevant to the needs of the economy.

plagiarized from another article but great response (next time cite)

Great post and interesting argument here. I have to say that with everything there is going to be advantages and disadvantages. If you offer free university education, it will devalue those who already have a university education. I think if there is a plan to offer free university education, then there needs to be guidelines around it – such as certain state schools, specific courses, etc.

Sorry, I’m not so sure I understand what you mean by “devalue” here. I think university is an opportunity and surely the value in an opportunity is in what you gain out of it, not its availability?

“devalue” as towards the degree itself, not the user. The more of anything (“degrees”) lowers the value, supply and demand. I’m a pretty lefty guy (51. Male, UK) but this one I’m not for, students seem to think degree courses were free before the fees were started under Tony Blair, they wernt, I applied and was refused due to my grade not being good enough. Only a set number of people were given grants. Now after working my way up the slippy pole, I would feel cheated if I have to pay extra tax for someone else to go to Uni. However it this was fully funded from a wealth tax (which I would not pay as I dont have much wealth), then yer go on do it.

I think the university fees should not be free. Maybe exceptions can be made for students from more poor backgrounds and they pay lesser fees but it should not be free because then there is no point. No one would take it seriously anymore & if u paid for something you value it more and work harder You should work hard for something you want and not expect everything to be handed on a silver plater

It’s not being handed on a silver plate – you still have to work to be accepted and work to graduate. Making uni free doesn’t devalue its certification.

I totally agree when you said that it would be hard for low-income parents to send their children to universities. This is the actual problem of my cousin which is why he is lucky that his dad is a military because there might be assistance for them. I will suggest this to them since they might not be aware, and he will be going to college in two years time.

all the Arguments against free university education written here are silly and nothing to do with how things work in real life, you can see it in all quality countries that have free tertiary education, like in northern europe. or in any other europe country, you can check it out.

I don’t get the argument about too many people going to university and getting a degree? Or am I the thick one here?

We’re not handing out free degrees, we’re giving everyone an equal OPPORTUNITY to get a degree, and a higher education for their future. So many people would’ve made very useful citizens had they have had a chance to fully develop their skills, and we forget that making uni free doesn’t make it any easier to get into and to graduate from.

Making uni free doesn’t devalue its certification btw

Very interesting, good job and thanks for sharing such a good blog.

Everyone grows up going to school and unless it is a private school, the government funds it once we enroll and all we need to do is show up. Once we graduate high school or get a GED, suddenly the price for a good quality education sky rockets and everyone starts scrambling to find a job, or get as many grants, scholarships, and loans as they possibly can to cover the ever growing debt most people will have once they graduate college. The debate on whether or not to make college free or at least more affordable has grown, and more and more people including politicians are looking for ways to make this happen. With every good idea there will be problems that are solved, but new ones will arise. Some reasons people want college level education to be free is it will give everyone a chance for education past high school, it avoids student debt, and it was free when they first made colleges, but the downfalls might include raised taxes, a sacrifice of standards, and financial irresponsibility from the students. Most of the people that attend college are from wealthier families because they are able to pay the bill. When colleges were first made, they were all actually free due to the lack of students and establishments under the Morrill Act of 1862 (Beelineweb.com et al.). This act allowed colleges to be created by the state on federal lands to make a higher education system available to all who desired it regardless of class or income. Now the sum that these schools require is absolutely outrageous. Even the wealthy are not able to afford quality education without taking out a loan. With all the loans, people are acquiring more and more debt, but without the cost of tuition, that debt would decrease dramatically (Pettinger). Many people that need loans currently, would be able to attend and get a quality education without worrying about the debt that will follow them for a long time. Along with that, more people that are not able to go to college now will be able to attend just because they want to instead of forgetting about college as even an option because it costs an arm and a leg (Ayres). Free college education would open many doors that have been shut due to financial struggles. With all the good that would come from free college level education, there are quite a bit of issues that might arise with it. Although free college-level education might seem great, there quite a few things that would be sacrificed with the elimination of tuition costs. With the sacrificed costs, some of the quality of education might be sacrificed as well (Ayres). Without the constant funds coming in from the enrolled students, the facilities might go a while without very necessary updates and repairs. There is always going to be a need for money to pay for all the things colleges provide and if students are not paying for it, the costs would shift from being a personal expense to a societal expense (Beelineweb.com et al.). The reality for everyone would be the increase of taxes to cover the necessary costs. Students would have their tuition covered by the government issued taxes. Without the need for loans, students might lose their financial responsibility because they will not have needed to manage their money to pay for their classes and take their education for granted (Amit Kumar). Some might actually devalue their diploma because they did not pay for the classes. The diploma would have the same value as a high school diploma. Although these things are factors that need to be considered, having education that is at least partially free would be good to allow more people to get the opportunity for getting a better education. Hopefully we will be able to find a way where we are able to go back to when colleges were first made, give everyone an equal opportunity for their education, and avoid debt, but also avoid some of the downfalls from taxes, sacrificed standards, and financial irresponsibility.

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Your guide to: The pros and cons of university

University can be an amazing experience, but it’s not for everyone. It’s also one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life – so it’s important to think carefully before taking the plunge.

In this guide, we explore the pros and cons of university to help you make up your mind.

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1. You can become an expert in a subject you love

If you like to know everything there is to know about your favourite subject, uni could be for you

If you’re the person who has to know everything there is to know about a subject, then uni could be for you. Over the three or four years of your undergraduate course, you’ll become an expert in your chosen subject . The chances are you’ll get to choose a number of specialist areas of study as your interests develop.

2. University can prepare you for a specific career path

Some jobs require a university degree. For example, if you want to be a doctor or a vet , you’ll need to go to university. Other career paths typically start out at university – such as engineering , nursing and laboratory science. However, more and more apprenticeships are opening up – in fact, apprenticeships are available in all three of these professions today. If you’re considering a career in one of these areas, university may still be the best way in, but research all your options before making up your mind.

3. Graduates earn more

Graduates earn 35% more than school leavers, according to the stats pros at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). And while the gap is narrowing, the IFS say it isn’t going anywhere soon. Don’t forget that the 35% number is a headline – there are lots of factors which can make a difference. These include the course and university you choose and the career path you’d like to pursue .

4. Uni gives you time to gain work experience

Going to university means you’ll be very highly qualified come graduation day – but it doesn’t guarantee you the technical and employability skills employers look for . Never fear – the long summer vacation is a great time to gain experience and skills through internships , a summer job or work experience placement . Internships are plentiful – but they can be competitive. If you don’t get one, look for local employers related to the career path you’re considering and get in touch.

5. You’ll get a taste of independence

University is a good chance to learn the skills of independent living - while having fun with your friends!

University gives you a flavour of independent living without throwing you in at the deep end. You’ll usually be broken in gently with a year in halls, giving you the chance to learn basic life skills like cooking and doing the laundry. Later, you’ll probably live in rented accommodation. Choosing a student house is exciting and insightful – and although you might not relish the thought of clean the loo or kitchen sink when you move in, it’s all good experience!

6. You will gain high-level transferable skills

Uni may be light on workplace experience, but a degree gives you skills that will stand you in good stead throughout your career . Whatever subject you study, you’ll learn to think critically and analytically, question assumption, carry out thorough and robust research, solve problems , and process large amounts of information quickly.

7. It can broaden your mind

University is a chance to broaden the mind - many students throw themselves into art, culture and politics

One of the best things about uni is that it can alter your outlook on the world. It's a chance to move to a new place, meet people from different backgrounds, learn about fascinating ideas and experience culture, art and politics. OK, so we may be painting a grand view of uni life, but it's all there for the taking – if you want it.

1. You may not gain technical skills

Some degrees, such as medicine or veterinary science, prepare you for a particular career path. Others, like engineering and computer science are geared towards certain areas of work. These degree courses give you skills that you can directly apply in your job, should you choose to continue in your field of study. However, many roles are open to graduates with a degree in any discipline – and according to research by the New College of the Humanities, half of graduates end up in jobs like these. Your degree may give you valuable transferable skills, but you will have to learn the technical skills you need to carry out your job.

2. You may not get employability skills

According to research by Career Builder, only one in three employers thinks students graduate with the skills they need in the workplace. Nearly half of employers surveyed said graduates leave university without people skills , and many said graduates lacked problem-solving, creative thinking, communication and teamwork skills .

3. Contact time is less than at school

Time spent in lectures is much less than many students expect

Contact time is often much less than students expect. In a recent survey, nearly two thirds of students thought they would get more contact time than at school, and a similar number expected to spend more time in lectures than in the classroom. In reality, contact time is usually much less than at school. Courses such as history may have less than 10 hours of weekly contact time.

4. You’ll leave with a lot of debt

According to research by the Sutton Trust, 2015 graduates left university with an average of £44,000 of debt. This is likely to rise as tuition fees and living and accommodation costs increase. The good news is repayments are linked to your earnings – currently, you must be earning around £17,500 to start repaying your student loan, and your remaining loan will be written off if you don’t repay it within 30 years of the first April after you graduate.

5. You will be committing at least three years of your life

A university degree is a big commitment to academic study. Most bachelor’s degrees last at least three years. You should think carefully if you’d prefer to be working in a paid job than dedicating yourself to years of study, coursework, revision and exams.

6. You’re not guaranteed a graduate job

About two thirds of graduates are overqualified for their job, according to the CIPD (the professional body for the HR industry). This does not mean they will never do a graduate job, and with the job market a very competitive place, their degree may still have helped them get that job. In fact, research by the Institute of Student Employers revealed that there were 20% more graduate job vacancies in 2021 compared to 2019.

7. Lifetime earnings can be higher with an apprenticeship

Higher and degree apprentices are likely to earn more than a non-Russell Group graduate over their career

According to the Sutton Trust, those with a level 5 apprenticeship (or higher) are likely to earn more over their lifetime than graduates with a degree from a non- Russell Group university . Apprentices in this group are predicted to earn an average of £1.5 million over their career, compared with the £1.4 million forecast for non-Russell Group graduates. With degree apprenticeships, your earnings potential could be even higher – there isn't much data about this just yet.

So what does this mean for me?

The pros and cons of university mean you should think carefully before choosing your path. If you're drawn to university because you think it will help you get a well-paid job, you should think about the career path you’d like to pursue, and research the various ways of getting there.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself before deciding:

What career path appeals to me?
How will a university degree help me achieve this?
Could an apprenticeship be a better way to enter my career path?

If you've weighed up the pros and cons of university and decided it's the right choice for you, make sure you use your time wisely:

How can I explore different career paths while I’m at university?
How can I gain skills and experience while I’m at university?

Have fun, explore new ideas and meet new people, and make time to enjoy the holidays as well as gaining work experience – you may not get another opportunity for a long time!

Still debating the pros and cons of university? Check out this post which helps you decide whether university could be for you.

You might also like...

What degree should I do?

Which university should I go to?

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Lead image via Flickr , Expert via Flickr , Students eat together via US Defense , Students at gallery via Tampa University , Lecture via Wikimedia Commons , Apprentice via US Navy

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Paying for College

Should College Be Free? The Pros and Cons

Types of Publicly Funded College Tuition Programs

Pros: why college should be free, cons: why college should not be free, what the free college debate means for students, how to cut your college costs now, frequently asked questions (faqs).

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Americans have been debating the wisdom of free college for decades, and more than 30 states now offer some type of free college program. But it wasn't until 2021 that a nationwide free college program came close to becoming reality, re-energizing a longstanding debate over whether or not free college is a good idea.

And despite a setback for the free-college advocates, the idea is still in play. The Biden administration's free community college proposal was scrapped from the American Families Plan . But close observers say that similar proposals promoting free community college have drawn solid bipartisan support in the past. "Community colleges are one of the relatively few areas where there's support from both Republicans and Democrats," said Tulane economics professor Douglas N. Harris, who has previously consulted with the Biden administration on free college, in an interview with The Balance.

To get a sense of the various arguments for and against free college, as well as the potential impacts on U.S. students and taxpayers, The Balance combed through studies investigating the design and implementation of publicly funded free tuition programs and spoke with several higher education policy experts. Here's what we learned about the current debate over free college in the U.S.—and more about how you can cut your college costs or even get free tuition through existing programs.

Key Takeaways

Research shows free tuition programs encourage more students to attend college and increase graduation rates, which creates a better-educated workforce and higher-earning consumers who can help boost the economy.
Some programs are criticized for not paying students’ non-tuition expenses, not benefiting students who need assistance most, or steering students toward community college instead of four-year programs.
If you want to find out about free programs in your area, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education has a searchable database. You’ll find the link further down in this article.

Before diving into the weeds of the free college debate, it's important to note that not all free college programs are alike. Most publicly funded tuition assistance programs are restricted to the first two years of study, typically at community colleges. Free college programs also vary widely in the ways they’re designed, funded, and structured:

Last-dollar tuition-free programs : These programs cover any remaining tuition after a student has used up other financial aid , such as Pell Grants. Most state-run free college programs fall into this category. However, these programs don’t typically help with room and board or other expenses.
First-dollar tuition-free programs : These programs pay for students' tuition upfront, although they’re much rarer than last-dollar programs. Any remaining financial aid that a student receives can then be applied to other expenses, such as books and fees. The California College Promise Grant is a first-dollar program because it waives enrollment fees for eligible students.
Debt-free programs : These programs pay for all of a student's college expenses , including room and board, guaranteeing that they can graduate debt-free. But they’re also much less common, likely due to their expense.

Proponents often argue that publicly funded college tuition programs eventually pay for themselves, in part by giving students the tools they need to find better jobs and earn higher incomes than they would with a high school education. The anticipated economic impact, they suggest, should help ease concerns about the costs of public financing education. Here’s a closer look at the arguments for free college programs.

A More Educated Workforce Benefits the Economy

Morley Winograd, President of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, points to the economic and tax benefits that result from the higher wages of college grads. "For government, it means more revenue," said Winograd in an interview with The Balance—the more a person earns, the more they will likely pay in taxes . In addition, "the country's economy gets better because the more skilled the workforce this country has, the better [it’s] able to compete globally." Similarly, local economies benefit from a more highly educated, better-paid workforce because higher earners have more to spend. "That's how the economy grows," Winograd explained, “by increasing disposable income."

According to Harris, the return on a government’s investment in free college can be substantial. "The additional finding of our analysis was that these things seem to consistently pass a cost-benefit analysis," he said. "The benefits seem to be at least double the cost in the long run when we look at the increased college attainment and the earnings that go along with that, relative to the cost and the additional funding and resources that go into them."

Free College Programs Encourage More Students to Attend

Convincing students from underprivileged backgrounds to take a chance on college can be a challenge, particularly when students are worried about overextending themselves financially. But free college programs tend to have more success in persuading students to consider going, said Winograd, in part because they address students' fears that they can't afford higher education . "People who wouldn't otherwise think that they could go to college, or who think the reason they can't is [that] it's too expensive, [will] stop, pay attention, listen, decide it's an opportunity they want to take advantage of, and enroll," he said.

According to Harris, students also appear to like the certainty and simplicity of the free college message. "They didn't want to have to worry that next year they were not going to have enough money to pay their tuition bill," he said. "They don't know what their finances are going to look like a few months down the road, let alone next year, and it takes a while to get a degree. So that matters."

Free college programs can also help send "a clear and tangible message" to students and their families that a college education is attainable for them, said Michelle Dimino, an Education Director with Third Way. This kind of messaging is especially important to first-generation and low-income students, she said.

Free College Increases Graduation Rates and Financial Security

Free tuition programs appear to improve students’ chances of completing college. For example, Harris noted that his research found a meaningful link between free college tuition and higher graduation rates. "What we found is that it did increase college graduation at the two-year college level, so more students graduated than otherwise would have."

Free college tuition programs also give people a better shot at living a richer, more comfortable life, say advocates. "It's almost an economic necessity to have some college education," noted Winograd. Similar to the way a high school diploma was viewed as crucial in the 20th century, employees are now learning that they need at least two years of college to compete in a global, information-driven economy. "Free community college is a way of making that happen quickly, effectively, and essentially," he explained.

Free community college isn’t a universally popular idea. While many critics point to the potential costs of funding such programs, others identify issues with the effectiveness and fairness of current attempts to cover students’ college tuition. Here’s a closer look at the concerns about free college programs.

It Would Be Too Expensive

The idea of free community college has come under particular fire from critics who worry about the cost of social spending. Since community colleges aren't nearly as expensive as four-year colleges—often costing thousands of dollars a year—critics argue that individuals can often cover their costs using other forms of financial aid . But, they point out, community college costs would quickly add up when paid for in bulk through a free college program: Biden’s proposed free college plan would have cost $49.6 billion in its first year, according to an analysis from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Some opponents argue that the funds could be put to better use in other ways, particularly by helping students complete their degrees.

Free College Isn't Really Free

One of the most consistent concerns that people have voiced about free college programs is that they don’t go far enough. Even if a program offers free tuition, students will need to find a way to pay for other college-related expenses , such as books, room and board, transportation, high-speed internet, and, potentially, child care. "Messaging is such a key part of this," said Dimino. Students "may apply or enroll in college, understanding it's going to be free, but then face other unexpected charges along the way."

It's important for policymakers to consider these factors when designing future free college programs. Otherwise, Dimino and other observers fear that students could potentially wind up worse off if they enroll and invest in attending college and then are forced to drop out due to financial pressures.

Free College Programs Don’t Help the Students Who Need Them Most

Critics point out that many free college programs are limited by a variety of quirks and restrictions, which can unintentionally shut out deserving students or reward wealthier ones. Most state-funded free college programs are last-dollar programs, which don’t kick in until students have applied financial aid to their tuition. That means these programs offer less support to low-income students who qualify for need-based aid—and more support for higher-income students who don’t.

Community College May Not Be the Best Path for All Students

Some critics also worry that all students will be encouraged to attend community college when some would have been better off at a four-year institution. Four-year colleges tend to have more resources than community colleges and can therefore offer more support to high-need students.

In addition, some research has shown that students at community colleges are less likely to be academically successful than students at four-year colleges, said Dimino. "Statistically, the data show that there are poorer outcomes for students at community colleges […] such as lower graduation rates and sometimes low transfer rates from two- to four-year schools."

With Congress focused on other priorities, a nationwide free college program is unlikely to happen anytime soon. However, some states and municipalities offer free tuition programs, so students may be able to access some form of free college, depending on where they live. A good resource is the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s searchable database of Promise Programs , which lists more than 100 free community college programs, though the majority are limited to California residents.

In the meantime, school leaders and policymakers may shift their focus to other access and equity interventions for low-income students. For example, higher education experts Eileen Strempel and Stephen Handel published a book in 2021 titled "Beyond Free College: Making Higher Education Work for 21st Century Students." The book argues that policymakers should focus more strongly on college completion, not just college access. "There hasn't been enough laser-focus on how we actually get people to complete their degrees," noted Strempel in an interview with The Balance.

Rather than just improving access for low-income college students, Strempel and Handel argue that decision-makers should instead look more closely at the social and economic issues that affect students , such as food and housing insecurity, child care, transportation, and personal technology. For example, "If you don't have a computer, you don't have access to your education anymore," said Strempel. "It's like today's pencil."

Saving money on college costs can be challenging, but you can take steps to reduce your cost of living. For example, if you're interested in a college but haven't yet enrolled, pay close attention to where it's located and how much residents typically pay for major expenses, such as housing, utilities, and food. If the college is located in a high-cost area, it could be tough to justify the living expenses you'll incur. Similarly, if you plan to commute, take the time to check gas or public transportation prices and calculate how much you'll likely have to spend per month to go to and from campus several times a week.

Now that more colleges offer classes online, it may also be worth looking at lower-cost programs in areas that are farther from where you live, particularly if they allow you to graduate without setting foot on campus. Also, check out state and federal financial aid programs that can help you slim down your expenses, or, in some cases, pay for them completely. Finally, look into need-based and merit-based grants and scholarships that can help you cover even more of your expenses. Also, consider applying to no-loan colleges , which promise to help students graduate without going into debt.

Should community college be free?

It’s a big question with varying viewpoints. Supporters of free community college cite the economic contributions of a more educated workforce and the individual benefit of financial security, while critics caution against the potential expense and the inefficiency of last-dollar free college programs.

What states offer free college?

More than 30 states offer some type of tuition-free college program, including Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington State. The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education lists over 100 last-dollar community college programs and 16 first-dollar community college programs, though the majority are limited to California residents.

Is there a free college?

There is no such thing as a truly free college education. But some colleges offer free tuition programs for students, and more than 30 states offer some type of tuition-free college program. In addition, students may also want to check out employer-based programs. A number of big employers now offer to pay for their employees' college tuition . Finally, some students may qualify for enough financial aid or scholarships to cover most of their college costs.

Scholarships360. " Which States Offer Tuition-Free Community College? "

The White House. “ Build Back Better Framework ,” see “Bringing Down Costs, Reducing Inflationary Pressures, and Strengthening the Middle Class.”

The White House. “ Fact Sheet: How the Build Back Better Plan Will Create a Better Future for Young Americans ,” see “Education and Workforce Opportunities.”

Coast Community College District. “ California College Promise Grant .”

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “ The Dollars and Cents of Free College ,” see “Biden’s Free College Plan Would Pay for Itself Within 10 Years.”

Third Way. “ Why Free College Could Increase Inequality .”

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “ The Dollars and Cents of Free College ,” see “Free-College Programs Have Different Effects on Race and Class Equity.”

University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. “ College Promise Programs: A Comprehensive Catalog of College Promise Programs in the United States .”

The pros and cons of going to university

Record-high costs and competition leave A-level students questioning worth of a degree

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Would-be graduates face hard choices in the current economic climate

1. Pro: greater earning potential

2. con: added student debt, 3. pro: greater job choice, 4. con: ‘worthless’ degrees, 5. pro: life experience, 6. con: vocational courses.

Thousands of A-level students have missed out on their first-choice university after this year’s grades reverted to pre-pandemic boundaries, sparking a rush for “clearing” places.

How to prepare for the cost of university Rishi Sunak’s ‘rip-off’ uni crackdown: what makes a degree low value? Is it time to rethink the value of a university degree?

According to Ucas , only 205,000 school leavers made their offers for their first- or second-choice university, “nearly 10,000 fewer than in 2022”, said The Guardian , thanks to a “steep fall” in the number of top A-level grades. Universities UK said only 79% of 18-year-olds were accepted on to their first-choice course.

Nearly 50,000 teenagers were left “scrambling” to find a course after the results were published last week, said The Times , with a record 10,400 gaining places through the Ucas clearing service – up from 6,000 last year.

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Some universities were “bending over backwards” to admit would-be students, wrote education editor Sian Griffiths, due to their “urgent need” for the students’ tuition fees of £9,250 a year.

With intense competition for places and evermore focus on the cost benefit of going to university, The Week weighs up the pros and cons of getting a degree.

Graduates can reasonably expect to earn more on average than non-graduates over the course of their careers. According to Statista , graduates in England earned an average of £38,500 last year, which is £11,500 higher than non-graduates.

However, this fabled “graduate premium” has fallen over time, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency , thanks partly to more people gaining degrees and demand outstripping supply of places.

“How much graduates earn also depends on the subject studied and university attended,” said BBC News .

On average, women who study creative arts and languages degrees earn about the same in their lifetime as they would have done without a degree, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank. Men who study creative arts on average earn less across their lifetime than those who didn’t attend university.

However, students who chose law, economics or medicine earned significantly more than those without a degree.

While tuition fees vary, cost is a huge factor – especially since they tripled a decade ago. Many will pay £9,250 a year, and take out a student loan to pay for it.

Factor in living costs and the average debt for those who started their course in 2022/23 will be £45,600 by the time they graduate, according to data from the Commons Library .

Although students do not start paying back their loans until their earnings exceed a certain threshold (currently £27,660 a year, according to government data ), they are charged interest on their total loan from the day they take it out.

When repayments begin, they can be substantial (currently 9% of their income above the repayment threshold). It had been the case that the balance will be written off after 30 years, or when you turn 65 (whichever came first).

But a “big change this year”, for students starting their courses on or after 1 August 2023, will now see the balance lasting for 40 years rather than 30, said The Times – “until close to retirement for many” – and a lower salary repayment threshold.

Universities have said that “effectively freezing tuition fees” since 2012 is “threatening to have an impact on the quality” of what they can offer as their income has been reduced dramatically in real terms.

A degree offers greater opportunities and choice in the job market. It will also “improve your chances of securing a job role in specialised fields”, said Career Addict . A degree “is essential for certain skilled roles and careers”.

A university education “allows you to target a broader range of careers than you can through an apprenticeship”, said Prospects , “but both will stand you in good stead when it comes to getting a job”.

According to data published in 2019 by the Office for National Statistics , almost a third of graduates were overqualified for their job.

“Our findings show that people who studied arts, biology and humanities are the most likely to be overeducated,” said Dr Maja Savic, an ONS economist.

Nearly three out of 10 graduates do not progress into highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after graduating, according to the regulator, the Office for Students (OfS).

Under new government plans , universities could be restricted in recruiting students to courses that “do not have good outcomes”. This includes courses with high drop-out rates, or a low proportion of graduates ending up in professional jobs.

“Of course going to university is about so much more than money,” said The Times. While hard to quantify, many graduates benefit enormously from the university experience, and the life lessons learned.

These include making new friends from different backgrounds, expanding your network of contacts that can help you in later life, broadening your range of interests through extracurricular societies and clubs, studying abroad, learning skills like budgeting – all of which will serve you well after you graduate.

The focus has begun to shift towards vocational courses and on-the-job training, which offers many of the skills needed to succeed in the workplace – without the accompanying student debt. From 2024, candidates will be able to apply to do apprenticeships through Ucas.

A 2021 report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that the majority of graduates (52%) would have considered doing an apprenticeship instead of a degree.

By doing an apprenticeship, “you’ll immediately enter the world of work and gain valuable on-the-job experience while earning money as you study”, said Prospects. “You won’t pay tuition fees and you’ll make industry contacts from day one.”

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.

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Is a College Education Worth It?

History of College Education

The American debate over whether a college education is worth it began when the colonists arrived from Europe and founded “New College” (later renamed Harvard University ) in 1636. In spring 2023, there were over 17 million college students in the United States, and over 43 million borrowers owe a collective $1.75 trillion in total student debt.

Colonial America produced nine colleges that still operate: Harvard University (1636), the College of William & Mary (1693), Yale University (1701), Princeton University (1746), Columbia University (1754), Brown University (1764), Dartmouth College (1769), Rutgers University (1766), and the University of Pennsylvania (1740 or 1749). These universities were funded by the colony or England and usually catered to a specific religious denomination such as Congregational or Presbyterian (Puritan). Primary and secondary school systems were not yet established so “college students” were sometimes boys as young as fourteen or fifteen years old and were admitted to receive preparatory education with the assumption that they would matriculate to college-level courses

Pro & Con Arguments

Pro 1 Jobs increasingly require college degrees and college allows students to explore careers and earn better job placements. Only 34% of American jobs required a high school diploma or less in 2017, compared to 72% in the 1970s. During the recession between Dec. 2007 and Jan. 2010, jobs requiring college degrees grew by 187,000, while jobs requiring some college or an associate’s degree fell by 1.75 million and jobs requiring a high school degree or less fell by 5.6 million. According to researchers at Georgetown University, 99% of job growth (or 11.5 million of 11.6 million jobs) between 2010 and 2016 went to workers with associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees or graduate degrees. [ 13 ] [ 104 ] [ 105 ] Colleges offer career services, internships, job shadowing, job fairs, and volunteer opportunities in addition to a wide variety of courses that may provide a career direction. Over 80% of college students complete internships before graduation, giving them valuable employment experience before entering the job market. Colleges provide networking value. [ 27 ] Harvard Business School estimates that 65 to 85% of jobs are acquired through networking. College students can join fraternities and sororities, clubs, and teams as well as participate in a variety of social functions to meet new people and network with possible business connections. Internships offered through colleges often lead to mentors or useful contacts within a student’s preferred field. Many colleges offer social media workshops, networking tips, career-related consultation, and alumni networks. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Meanwhile, college graduates have more and better employment opportunities. 85.2% of college freshmen said they attended college to “be able to get a better job.” The unemployment rate for Americans over 25 with a bachelor’s degree was 1.9% in Dec. 2019, compared to 2.7% for those with some college or associate’s degrees, 3.7% for high school graduates, and 5.2% for high school drop-outs. Underemployment, meaning insufficient work, is lower for college grads (6.2%) as compared to high school-only graduates (12.9%) and people without a high school diploma (18.7%). 58% of college graduates and people with some college or associate’s degrees reported being “very satisfied” with their jobs compared to 50% of high school graduates and 40% of people without a high school diploma. [ 11 ] [ 101 ] [ 106 ] [ 116 ] Thus, college graduates make more money. The average college graduate makes $570,000 more than the average high school graduate over a lifetime. Career earnings for college graduates are 71% to 136% higher than those of high school graduates. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York calculated a 14% rate of return on a bachelor’s degree, which constitutes a good investment. College graduates earn an average of $78,000, a 75% wage premium over the average $45,000 annual earnings for workers with only a high school diploma. 85% of Forbes’ America’s 400 Richest People list were college grads. [ 12 ] [ 122 ] [ 126 ] [ 128 ] And, because college graduates are more likely to have better jobs with better salaries, they are also more likely to have health insurance and retirement plans. 70% of college graduates had access to employer-provided health insurance compared to 50% of high school graduates in 2008. 70% of college graduates 25 years old and older had access to retirement plans in 2008 compared to 65% of associate’s degree holders, 55% of high school graduates, and 30% of people who did not complete high school. [ 11 ] [ 15 ] All of that means a college education has a high return as an investment. Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by dividing the gain from an investment (here the money earned as a result of a college degree) by the cost of the investment (the money spent on a college degree). A college degree has a return of 15% per year as an investment, larger than the stock market (6.8%) and housing (0.4%). Completing some college, but not earning a degree, resulted in a 9.1% return on investment. If a student spent $17,860 (the average cost of tuition and room and board in 2012-2013 for four years at a public university), that student could expect a 15% return of $2,679 each year. According to a 2011 Pew Research survey, 86% of college graduates believed college was a good personal investment. [ 8 ] [ 25 ] [ 32 ] [ 33 ] Read More

Pro 2 Because they learn interpersonal and other skills in college, graduates are more productive as members of society. Students have the opportunity to interact with other students and faculty, to join student organizations and clubs, and to take part in discussions and debates. According to Arthur Chickering’s “Seven Vectors” student development theory, “developing mature interpersonal relationships” is one of the seven stages students progress through as they attend college. Students ranked “interpersonal skills” as the most important skill used in their daily lives in a survey of 11,000 college students. Vivek Wadhwa, technology entrepreneur and scholar, states, “American children party [in college]. But you know something, by partying, they learn social skills. They learn how to interact with each other…They develop skills which make them innovative. Americans are the most innovative people in the world because of the education system.” [ 7 ] [ 16 ] [ 18 ] Students live, go to classes, and socialize with other students from around the world and learn from professors with a variety of expertise. The community of people on a college campus means students are likely to make diverse friends and business connections, and, potentially, find a spouse or mate. Access to a variety of people allows college students to learn about different cultures, religions, and personalities they may have not been exposed to in their hometowns, which broadens their knowledge and perspective. 70.7% of college freshmen in 2015 said they expected to socialize with someone of another racial or ethnic group while in college, while 59.1% said college would help improve their understanding of other countries and cultures. [ 106 ] Henry Bienan, President Emeritus of Northwestern University, argues that a college education results in “greater productivity, lower crime, better health, [and] better citizenship for more educated people.” A 2009 study found 16 to 24 year old high school drop-outs were 63% more likely to be incarcerated than those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from Sep. 2008 to Sep. 2009, 43% of college graduates did volunteer work compared to 19% of high school graduates and 27% of adults in general. [11] In 2005, college graduates were more likely to have donated blood in the past year (9%) than people with some college (6%), high school graduates (4%), and people who did not complete high school (2%). [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] College graduates attract higher-paying employers to their communities. A 1% increase in college graduates in a community increases the wages of workers without a high school diploma by 1.9% and the wages of high school graduates by 1.6%. [ 21 ] Finally, people who do not go to college are more likely to be unemployed and, therefore, place undue financial strain on society, making a college degree worth it to taxpayers. Young people “not engaged in employment/education or training,” AKA NEET, are more likely to receive welfare than youth in general, they are more likely to commit crimes, and they are more likely to receive public health care, all costing the government extra money. In total, each NEET youth between the ages of 16 and 25 impose a $51,350 financial burden on society per year, and after the person is 25 he or she will impose a financial burden of $699,770. The total cost of 6.7% of the US population being NEET youth is $4.75 trillion, which is comparable to half of the US public debt. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] College graduates have lower poverty rates due to their lower unemployment rates. The 2008 poverty rate for bachelor’s degree holders was 4%, compared to a 12% poverty rate for high school graduates. In 2005, married couples with bachelor’s degrees were least likely to be below the poverty line (1.8%) compared to 2.7% of associate’s degree holders, 4.6% of couples with some college, and 7.1% of high school graduates. According to the US Census Bureau, 1% of college graduates participated in social support programs like Medicaid, National School Lunch Program, and food stamps compared to 8% of high school graduates in 2008. [ 11 ] [ 21 ] Read More

Pro 3 College graduates and their children are healthier and live longer. 83% of college graduates reported being in excellent health, while 73% of high school graduates reported the same. A University of Southern California study found that adults over 65 with college degrees spent more years with “good cognition” and fewer years suffering from dementia than adults who did not complete high school. In 2008, 20% of all adults were smokers, while 9% of college graduates were smokers. 63% of 25 to 34 year old college graduates reported exercising vigorously at least once a week compared to 37% of high school graduates. College degrees were linked to lower blood pressure in a 30-year peer-reviewed study and lower levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) by a Carnegie Mellon Psychology department study. In 2008, 23% of college graduates aged 35 to 44 years old were obese compared to 37% of high school graduates. College graduates, on average, live six years longer than high school graduates. [ 11 ] [ 15 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] [ 120 ] A medical journal study from 1970 to 2009 shows college graduates had lower infant mortality rates than high school graduates. Mothers with only a high school education are 31% more likely to give birth to a low-birth-weight baby than a woman with a college degree. Children aged 2 to 5 years old in households headed by college graduates have a 6% obesity rate compared to 14% for children in households headed by high school graduates. 18% more children aged 3 to 5 years old with mothers who have a bachelor’s degree could recognize all letters compared to children of high school graduates. In 2010, 59% of children in elementary and middle school with at least one college graduate for a parent participated in after-school activities like sports, arts, and scouting compared to 27% for high school graduate parents. [ 11 ] [ 15 ] [ 21 ] Read More

Con 1 College is not a guarantee of a job or better life. Many college graduates are employed in jobs that do not require college degrees. According to the Department of Labor, as many as 17 million college graduates work in positions that do not require a college education. 1 in 3 college graduates had a job that required a high school diploma or less in 2012. More than 16,000 parking lot attendants, 83,000 bartenders, 115,000 janitors and 15% of taxi drivers have bachelor’s degrees. College graduates with jobs that do not require college degrees earn 30-40% less per week than those who work in jobs requiring college degrees. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 40 ] Too many students earning degrees has diluted the value of a bachelor’s degree. Rita McGrath, Associate Professor at Columbia Business School, stated “Having a bachelor’s used to be more rare and candidates with the degree could therefore be more choosy and were more expensive to hire. Today, that is no longer the case.” A high unemployment rate shifts the supply and demand to the employers’ favor and has made master’s degrees the “new bachelor’s degrees.” According to James Altucher, venture capitalist and finance writer, “college graduates hire only college graduates, creating a closed system that permits schools to charge exorbitant prices and forces students to take on crippling debt.” [ 68 ] [ 69 ] College degrees also do not guarantee learning or job preparation. Many students graduate from college with little understanding of math, reading, civics, or economics. In 2011, 35% of students enrolled in college reported they studied 5 hours or less per week and there was a 50% decline in the number of hours a student studied and prepared for classes compared to a few decades ago. 36% of students demonstrated no significant improvement on Collegiate Learning Assessments after 4 years of college. In 2013 56% of employers thought half or fewer of college graduates had the skills and knowledge to advance within their companies. 30% of college graduates felt college did not prepare them well for employment, specifically in terms of technical and quantitative reasoning skills. A Pew Research survey found that 57% of Americans felt higher education did not provide students with good value compared to the money spent. [ 25 ] [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ] [ 59 ] [ 60 ] The market glut and lack of job preparation, means many recent college graduates are un- or underemployed. The unemployment rate for recent college graduates (4.0%) exceeded the average for all workers, including those without a degree (3.6%) in 2019. The underemployment rate was 34% for all college graduates and 41.1% for recent grads. The underemployment (insufficient work) rate for college graduates in 2015 was 6.2% overall: 5.2% for white graduates, 8.4% for Hispanic graduates, and 9.7% for black graduates. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 44% of recent college graduates were underemployed in 2012. [ 42 ] [ 101 ] [ 129 ] Under- or un-employement also translates into fewer workplace benefits. In 2013, 68.9% of employed new college graduates did not receive health insurance through their employers and, in 2011, 27.2% received retirement coverage (down from 41.5% in 2000). [ 41 ] The total cost of going to college means more than tuition, fees, and books; it also includes an opportunity cost which equals at least four years of missed wages and advancements from a full-time job–about $49,000 for a 4-year degree and $20,000 for a 2-year degree. [ 8 ] Read More

Con 2 Student loan debt is crippling for college graduates, their families, and society. Tuition has risen quicker than income, making college unaffordable for many and forcing students to take out loans. A Mar. 2017 study found that 14% of community college students were homeless and 51% had housing insecurity issues (inability to pay rent or utilities, for example), while 33% experienced food insecurity (lack of access to or ability to pay for “nutritionally adequate and safe foods”), though 58% of the students were employed and 42% received federal Pell Grants. From the 1986-1987 school year to the 2016-2017 school year, the average cost of one year of college (including room and board) increased for 4-year private schools (109.6%) and 4-year public schools (125.7%), while median family income only increased 10.0% between 1986 and 2015. From the 1976-1977 school year to the 2016-2017 school year, annual tuition rates rose for community colleges (173.1%), 4-year public colleges (271.2%), and private 4-year colleges (213.5%). [ 111 ] [ 112 ] [ 113 ] In spring 2023, there were over 17 million college students in the United States, and over 43 million borrowers owe a collective $1.75 trillion in total student debt. 45% of people with student loan debt say college was not worth it. 10% of students graduate with over $40,000 in debt and about 1% have $100,000 in debt. In Feb. 2018, undergraduate college graduates had an average of $37,172 in loan debt. According to the US Congress Joint Economic Committee, approximately 60% of college graduates have student loan debt balances equal to 60% of their annual income. Missing late for loan payments leads to lower credit scores and additional fees, worsening the debt problem. [ 36 ] [ 37 ] [ 107 ] [ 123 ] [ 133 ] [ 134 ] Further, student loan debt often forces college graduates to live with their parents and delay marriage, financial independence, and other adult milestones. 20% of millennials are homeowners, and most millennials say their student debt has delayed home ownership by seven years on average. Student loan borrowers delayed saving for retirement (41%), car purchases (40%), home purchases (29%), and marriage (15%). Fewer than 50% of women and 30% of men had passed the “transition to adulthood” milestones by age 30 (finishing school, moving out of their parents’ homes, being financially independent, marrying, and having children); in 1960, 77% of women and 65% of men had completed these milestones by age 30. [ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 121 ] Student debt also overwhelms many seniors. Whether they co-signed for a child or grandchild’s education, or took out loans for their own educations, in 2012 there were 6.9 million student loan borrowers aged 50 and over who collectively owed $155 billion with individual average balances between $19,521 and $23,820. Of the 6.9 million borrowers, 24.7% were more than 90 days delinquent in payments. Almost 119,000 of older borrowers in default were having a portion of their Social Security payments garnished by the US government in 2012. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Student loan debt may not be forgiven in bankruptcy and may not have the same borrower protections as other consumer debt. A study found 60% of people attempting to discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy were unsuccessful. Medical, legal, credit card, loan, and even gambling debt can immediately be discharged in bankruptcy, but getting student loan debt discharged is much more difficult and rare. Private student loans often do not have the same protections as federal loans like income-based repayments, discharges upon death, or military deferments. [ 61 ] [ 70 ] [ 71 ] College graduates aren’t the only ones overwhelmed by debt. Many students do not graduate and waste their own and their government’s money. About 19% of students who enroll in college do not return for the second year. Students who drop out during the first year of college cost states $1.3 billion and the federal government $300 million per year in wasted student grant programs and government appropriations for colleges. Overall, 41% of students at four-year colleges and universities did not graduate within six years: 41% at public schools, 34% at private non-profits, and 77% at private for-profits. Students who did not graduate within six years accounted for $3.8 billion in lost income, $566 million in lost federal income taxes, and $164 million in lost state income taxes in one year. [ 50 ] [ 117 ] Finally, student debt could cause another financial crisis. As of 2012 student loan debt was over $1 trillion dollars, and more than 850,000 student loans were in default. According to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, student loans are “beginning to have the same effect” on the economy that the housing bubble and crash created. Former Secretary of Education William Bennett, PhD, agrees that the student loan debt crisis “is a vicious cycle of bad lending policies eerily similar to the causes of the subprime mortgage crisis.” On Feb. 3, 2012, an advisory council to the Federal Reserve also warned that the growth in student debt “has parallels to the housing crisis.” As of Jan. 2013, the rate of default on student loans hit 15.1%–a nearly 22% increase since 2007. [ 61 ] [ 62 ] [ 63 ] [ 64 ] [ 65 ] Read More

Con 3 Many people would be better served learning a trade or pursuing work right out of high school. Trade professions are necessary for society to function, require less than four years of training, and often pay above average wages. The high number of young adults choosing college over learning a trade has created a ‘skills gap’ in the US and there is now a shortage of ‘middle-skill’ trade workers like machinists, electricians, plumbers, and construction workers. One survey of US manufacturers found that 67% reported a “moderate to severe shortage of talent.” “Middle-skill” jobs represent half of all jobs in the US that pay middle-class wages. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “middle-skill” jobs will make up 45% of projected job openings through 2014, but as of 2012 only 25% of the workforce had the skills to fill those jobs. [ 53 ] [ 54 ] [ 55 ] Many people succeed without college degrees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 30 projected fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, five do not require a high school diploma, nine require a high school diploma, four require an associate’s degree, six require a bachelor’s degree, and six require graduate degrees. The following successful people either never enrolled in college or never completed their college degrees: Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group; Charles Culpepper, owner and CEO of Coca Cola; Ellen Degeneres, comedian and actress; Michael Dell, founder of Dell, Inc.; Walt Disney, Disney Corporation founder; Bill Gates, Microsoft founder; Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple; Wolfgang Puck, chef and restaurateur; Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple; Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. [ 43 ] [ 44 ] Read More

Did You Know?
1. 19.9 million students were enrolled in colleges and universities in 2019, compared to 13.5 million in 1990, 7.9 million in 1970, and 2.7 million in 1949. [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
2. The underemployment rate was 34% for all college graduates and 41.1% for recent grads in 2019. [ ]
3. One in three college graduates had a job that only required a high school diploma or less, including more than 16,000 parking lot attendants, 83,000 bartenders, and 115,000 janitors with bachelor's degrees. [ ] [ ]
4. College graduates earn an average of $78,000, a 75% wage premium over the average $45,000 annual earnings for workers with only a high school diploma. [ ]
5. The unemployment rate for Americans over 25 with a bachelor's degree was 1.9% in Dec. 2019, compared to 2.7% for those with some college or associate's degrees, 3.7% for high school graduates, and 5.2% for high school drop-outs. [ ]

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Should You Go to College? 4 Pros and 3 Cons

College Admissions , College Info

The decision to attend college is a big one. Getting a college degree takes time: at least four years for most people. Getting a college degree also costs money: tens of thousands of dollars for most people. You might be asking yourself, "Is it worth it? Should I go to college?"

In this article, I'll explain the benefits of going to college and detail some of the potential drawbacks. Furthermore, I'll give you all the information you need to decide whether or not you should pursue a college degree.

4 Major Benefits of Going to College

Going to college can make you richer, happier, and healthier—sounds good to me! Here, we take a look at the four biggest benefits of attending college.

#1: There Are Many Financial and Career Benefits

Let's start by considering the financial advantages of a college education.

College graduates with a bachelor's degree earn about $32,000 more per year than those with a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Here's one of the most cited statistics that shows the benefits of a college education: a person with a bachelor's degree will, on average, earn almost $1 million more over the course of her lifetime than somebody with just a high school diploma . While money shouldn't necessarily be the biggest priority in anyone's life, there's no doubt that a higher salary will give you more opportunities, alleviate stress, and allow you to more easily support a family.

Moreover, college-educated Millennials have much lower unemployment and poverty rates. According to recent studies from 2020 to 2021 by the New York Federal Reserve Bank , young people aged 22-27 are more likely to be unemployed if they don't have a college degree. Unemployment among those with a college degree was 3.9%, but it was 10.3% for those without a degree.

In addition, those who attended college are more likely to get married and less likely to be living in their parents' homes. Statistics indicate that attending college has more economic benefits for Millennials than it did for previous generations. Going to college might be more important now than ever before!

Finally, a college degree is required for many entry-level jobs. According to a study done b y the Georgetown Public Policy Institute , 65% of jobs now require postsecondary education and training beyond high school, and 35% of jobs require at least a bachelor's degree.

As you can see, there are tons of financial benefits to getting a bachelor's degree. But what about the professional advantages?

In college, you can make connections that will help you land a good job after you graduate. Experts estimate that 70%-80% of jobs aren't advertised publicly . Often, you simply have to know the right people to secure employment.

Many companies also offer internship programs to college students that can lead to full-time employment after you graduate.

Furthermore, most colleges offer free career counseling and can put you in touch with employers and alumni who can help you find a job. Colleges will often have job fairs as well, where recruiters come to campus looking for qualified students to work for their companies. These fairs give you an opportunity to form relationships with company representatives who can assist you professionally.

Lastly, many of your peers will probably go on to professional success. Your college friends might one day be able to offer you a job, refer you for a job, or make a lucrative business deal with you. As a college student, you'll (likely) be surrounded by many motivated, talented people who, in the future, will want to work with those they know and trust—and this could very well include you.

#2: You Get to Explore Your Interests

College opens up a whole new world to you academically. In high school, you generally only have a choice of a handful of elective classes, but in college you can literally choose from among hundreds of classes and majors.

While there are core requirements at most colleges, for the most part, you can decide what you want to study and take classes in subjects you want to learn more about. Many students are able to spark academic passions in college.

You could take classes in anthropology, psychology, sociology, microbiology, or osteology. Many college grads have several friends and former students who were inspired by college classes that positively changed the course of their academic and professional lives.

Also, while in college, you'll have the chance to pursue tons of extracurriculars and opportunities you might not otherwise have done. These activities can become lifelong passions, help you form meaningful relationships, and even prepare you for a future job.

For example, you could write for the campus newspaper, or you could be a DJ for the school radio station. You could dance for a hip-hop group, or join a campus organization that provides tutoring to underprivileged kids. You could help build houses for those in need. You could work on political campaigns or join groups that advocate for various social issues. The choice is yours!

Howard Stern started his career working at the radio station at Boston University.

#3: You'll Have Fun and Make Friends

Many students enjoy their college experience. Too often people discount the importance of fun when it comes to education, and for some people, their best memories and most fun times are from their college years. On a college campus, you can attend parties, plays, sporting events, and concerts; you can also create your own random fun with your peers.

Most schools bring exciting events and speakers to their campuses, too. Colleges will often host famous musicians and comedians. For example, The Weeknd has performed shows at Syracuse, Northeastern, Lafayette College, and the University of Minnesota, while Drake has performed at numerous colleges, including Howard, SUNY Purchase, and the University of Kentucky.

Colleges will also sponsor parties and other on-campus events that are just meant to be fun and facilitate social interaction. At Stanford, there's a tradition known as Full Moon on the Quad . On the first full moon of the school year, students gather in the quad, and the seniors welcome the freshmen by kissing them. There's a lot of kissing. It might not be hygienic, but it's memorable.

You may make very close friends while you're attending college. In college, you get to befriend people from all over the US and even other countries. A big part of the college experience is having the opportunity to learn from and interact with people from diverse backgrounds.

Overall, you have the chance to study, live, party, and participate in extracurricular activities with your peers. There will probably be no other time in your life when you get to spend as much time with your friends, and the amount of quality time you get to spend with them will form the foundation for meaningful lifelong friendships.

#4: It Gives You Space for Self-Improvement

For many students, college is the first time in their lives they're not living at home. During college, they learn to be self-sufficient. They learn domestic skills and budgeting—even how to motivate themselves without parental encouragement. At the same time, most college students can still go home or call home if they're in need of some money or advice.

Many people who don't go to college remain at home for at least a couple of years after high school. Though they often have more freedom than they did during high school, their routines and mindsets don't change nearly as drastically as those who went to college. Anecdotally at least, even students who live at home and commute to college experience more growth than those who bypass college.

Whether you go to an in-state or out-of-state school, your college will likely expose you to a new city and environment. For instance, if you grew up in California and went to Stanford , it could still be a six-hour drive from where your family lived. You would be able to experience life in Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, which has a different vibe, culture, and climate from, say, Los Angeles. Many college students are grateful to be able to have the opportunity to live in a different environment.

Furthermore, most colleges have study abroad programs that can give you a chance to take classes in countries around the world. At Emerson College, you can spend a semester in a 14th-century medieval castle in The Netherlands. At the University of Chicago , you can study abroad in Paris, Beijing, Barcelona, Berlin, Kyoto, Bologna, Cairo, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, London, Oaxaca, Vienna, Milan, and a few other places, too. You can learn about the world by traveling and studying in countries around the world.

Finally, people who go to college tend to be healthier. According to a report from the National Academy of Sciences , people with a bachelor's degree live longer than people without one. They're also less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise.

Similarly, according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health , people who get a bachelor's degree after 25 years of age exhibit fewer depressive symptoms and have better self-rated health at midlife.

3 Possible Disadvantages of Attending College

Even though attending college can offer you many benefits, there are potential drawbacks.

Note that you only get many of the benefits of going to college if you're able to graduate. A 2021 Forbes article reported that, six years after enrolling in college, less than 60% of students had graduated with a bachelor's degree.

Now, let's take a look at the three biggest cons of attending college.

#1: There's the Risk of High Costs and Potential Debt

College is really, really expensive, with costs continuing to rise, and many college graduates are burdened with astronomical student loan debt.

The College Board estimates that the average cost of attendance for an in-state public college for 2021-2022 is $10,740 , while the cost of attendance for a private college averages $38,070. Remember, though, that most students receive financial aid that covers at least part of the cost of attendance if they demonstrate financial need.

Unfortunately, many students don't receive the aid they need to fully cover the costs. As a result, they take on unsubsidized student loans to finance their college education. Sadly, student loan debt increased from $260 billion in 2004 to $1.7 trillion in 2021 . Average student loan debt in 2021 was $38,147 —that's a pretty staggering amount.

Overall, student loan debt can dramatically impact your life after your graduate. It can affect the jobs you take and cause you to delay buying a house or starting a family.

#2: The Financial Benefits of College Might Be Overstated

The claim that college graduates earn $1 million more in their lifetimes might actually be skewed by graduates from top universities .

A 2021 study by PayScale.com found that there are only seven schools (out of 1,878 four-year schools) at which earning a college degree can get you a $1 million return on investment. Basically, the reported number that college graduates make $1 million more over the course of their professional lives is not that accurate.

Moreover, it's important to note that while attending college, most people aren’t working or are only working part-time. So in addition to the financial costs and debts you're incurring while in college, you probably won't be able to get the salary you could be making from working a full-time job during the four to six years you're in school.

#3: College Might Not Actually Make You Smarter

The last con of attending college is that going to one might not actually increase your intelligence.

A 2011 study found that 45% of 2,322 traditional-aged college students studied from 2005 to 2009 made no significant improvement in their critical thinking, reasoning, or writing skills during the first two years of college. After four years, 36% showed no significant gains.

More recent studies have shown similar trends among those with either some college or a degree. Given the cost of attending college, you'd hope that higher education would have a dramatically positive effect on these skills for all students—but this might not actually be the case.

Should I Go to College? How to Make the Right Choice for You

Admittedly, we might be somewhat biased because we've spent years stressing the importance of attending college to high school students. However, we do recognize that college might not be for everyone.

Other than the pros and cons of college we mentioned previously, here are some additional factors to consider when deciding whether or not to attend college.

You'll Have More Options With a College Degree

You might be planning to enter a trade that doesn't require a college degree and will provide you with a good salary and benefits. However, if you end up deciding that you don't like that field after a few years and you don't have a college degree, your employment options will be limited.

Also, if you take up a trade that requires physical labor and you suffer an injury, you might struggle to find work without a college degree.

There Are Ways to Pay for College

You might be turned off by college because of how much you think it will cost you. But remember that you might not know your out-of-pocket expenses until you get accepted to college and get a financial aid package.

In reality, there are many grants and scholarships that can alleviate the financial burden and make college more affordable for you .

You Might Not Need College If You're Already Successful

If you're one of those rare people who has already achieved tremendous professional success before attending college, then going to college might not benefit you much financially.

For instance, say you get drafted in the first round of the draft by Major League Baseball and are offered a multi-million dollar signing bonus. Nobody would fault you for bypassing college. After all, you can always take college classes in the off-season or get your degree when you're done with your playing career.

If you're a mini Mark Zuckerberg or starring in your own sitcom, going to college might not lead to a higher income or a better job after you graduate. Bill Gates and Miley Cyrus were able to do OK professionally without college degrees!

You Might Not Be Academically Inclined

Most people are capable of doing college-level work if they're motivated and apply themselves. That being said, some people just detest school or don't have the aptitude to do well in a college environment.

Keep in mind, though, that college gives you so much more freedom than high school to explore your academic interests and find the fields in which you can excel. Similarly, if there's a subject that confuses you and that you absolutely abhor, you can probably avoid taking classes in it in college.

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Conclusion: Should You Go to College or Not?

There's no denying that college offers many financial, professional, and personal benefits. Numerous studies have shown that college graduates have far better financial and job prospects than those who don't attend college. What's more, few people regret going to college despite the tremendous amount of student debt and the less-than-ideal economy.

If you're worried about the cost of attendance, make sure you know about financial aid and how to limit your debt when you graduate . College is an investment that pays off for the vast majority of people who graduate.

Admittedly, some people don't need college to achieve their personal or professional goals. While you can of course be successful without a college degree, college graduates tend to fare better. If you're considering college, make the decision that will benefit you the most now and in the future.

What's Next?

Decided you want to go to college? Then take the first step and find out how to apply .

If you don't think you'll be able to get into college, check out these open admission colleges and these colleges with the highest acceptance rates .

If you still need to take the SAT or ACT for college, take a look at our ultimate SAT study guide and ultimate ACT study guide to learn more about the tests and what you'll need to know to ace them.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download them for free now:

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Justin has extensive experience teaching SAT prep and guiding high school students through the college admissions and selection process. He is firmly committed to improving equity in education and helping students to reach their educational goals. Justin received an athletic scholarship for gymnastics at Stanford University and graduated with a BA in American Studies.

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning Essay

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Weaknesses of Online Learning

Strengths of online learning.

Online learning has become a popular means of studying in the wake of COVID-19. Many educators have been reluctant and skeptical about it, but a majority have accepted it with open arms. The skeptics have put good enough reasons against it. Supporters say that the benefits far out way the disadvantages. Amidst that confusion, it would be important to take a deep look into the subject and see the disadvantages and the advantages of online learning.

Online learning, like many other emerging technological advancements, comes with its share of problems. First, the technology needed for this learning is expensive, and many cannot afford the needed resources (Dhawan, 2020). Apart from costs, Online learning makes a student be left isolated, leading to poor interpersonal skills; hence most end up not being team players (Arkorful & Abaidoo, 2014). The absence of interpersonal interactions is also a major factor for dissatisfaction in online classes; this affects both students and educators and may lead to depression (Islam, Beer, and Slack, 2015). Lack of motivation due to the absence of the personal presence of fellow students and teachers is observed in online classes (al Rawashdeh et al., 2021). Online classes are also known to encourage some unethical learning behaviors like cheating.

Some students also don’t have self-discipline, making them less underprivileged than their fellow students. This can also be observed in some educators’ slight online classes, and thus interruptions become common. Some educators do not uphold the level of professionalism required in an online class but do in traditional classes. Apart from discipline, some students are deprived of proper technology. Some have low-quality devices, and some don’t have WIFI, and others are constantly disrupted by technicalities. Some of the other reasons why some educators are skeptical about online classes include; More screen time on computers leading to eye problems and insomnia. Other reasons include some educators not internet survey hence additional training is required, online classes make learners easily procrastinate, practical classes are not well supported by online learning, and perhaps some educators fear it may make them lose jobs.

Despite the obvious disadvantages, the advantages that online learning comes with are clear. First, online learning reduces the use of traveling resources and other expenses such as the time one incurs when going to and from classes. In research from Mukhtar et al. (2020), “Faculty opined that online learning helped ensure remote learning, it was manageable, and students could conveniently access teachers and teaching materials” (p.3). Online learning has a particular benefit to university and college students compared to junior learning institutions. The benefits of e-learning to higher learning institutions are many and include: increased enrollment, learning online promotes the institutions, it increases productivity, saving time, and encourages innovation (Quyen & Phong, 2019). It would be interesting to see the benefits online learning brings to universities being transferred to eight-year old’s as they need more time with their parents.

Critics say that online learning comes with much freedom leading to negligence. Students are known to love being in control of their learning schedule, but some do not have discipline. This is the reason why many students are for it because they can learn when they want to (St. John Fisher College, 2015). This trait helps the students to achieve great work, school, and play balance, optimizing their productivity. Freedom can come with many benefits, including having time to spend with loved ones, exercising, and building good habits. Online learning also brings a degree of discipline to the learners. Since learners have to make their own timetable and office, a student is able to practice organizational skills needed in the workplace.

Online classes give students the choice of selection of preferred teachers. Assuming a school has three educators, in the traditional setting, students would normally be allocated randomly and freedom to change class minimized. In online classes, students can easily request a transfer online or just get a link to their preferred educator. The benefits are many and are not only associated with students but also educators, school management, and particularly online learning facilitators who get a source of income. For instance, lecturers can record more lessons than they would have time to in a classroom setting and send the link addresses to the students.

All advancements come with many disadvantages and gain a fair share of critics, and so does online learning. Nevertheless, with technological advancement, some of the disadvantages seem to be mitigated further with each passing day. The critics of the method of learning had their nails bitten in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the method stopped being an alternative but the main method of study. Having proved their use, more and more people are now more open to learning online. Some circumstances make online learning the ideal method, while others favor the face-to-face method. It is thus the role of educators to do research and find out the ones that best fit online learning.

Arkorful, V., & Abaidoo, N. (2014). The Role of e-Learning, the Advantages, and Disadvantages of Its Adoption in Higher Education. Journal of Computer and Communications , 3 (12), 397–410.

Islam, N., Beer, M., & Slack, F. (2015). E-Learning Challenges Faced by Academics in Higher Education: A Literature Review . Journal of Education and Training Studies , 3 (5).

Dhawan, S. (2020). Online Learning: A Panacea in the Time of COVID-19 Crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems , 49 (1), 5–22.

Mukhtar, K., Javed, K., Arooj, M., & Sethi, A. (2020). Advantages, Limitations, and Recommendations for online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Quyen, L. H. T., & Phong, T. G. (2019). Roles of E-learning in Higher Education. Journal of Critical Reviews , 6 (4), 7–13. Web.

Rawashdeh, A. L., Z, A., et al., (2021). Advantages and Disadvantages of Using e-Learning in University Education: Analyzing Students’ Perspectives . The Electronic Journal of E-Learning , 19 (3), 107–117.

St. John Fisher College. (2015). Online Learning Revealing the Benefits and Challenges (Masters dissertation). Fisher Digital Publications. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, February 2). Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning. https://ivypanda.com/essays/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-online-learning/

"Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning." IvyPanda , 2 Feb. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-online-learning/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning'. 2 February.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning." February 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-online-learning/.

1. IvyPanda . "Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning." February 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-online-learning/.

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We asked uni students what they thought

So, what are the pros of going to uni?

There are many great reasons to go to university and study for a degree. Here are a few – do any seem like something that’s important to you, or something you’d enjoy? If so, it might be worth going to an open day or event to find out more about the courses or unis you might be interested in.

You’ll end up with a degree at the end of your studies, which could help you get your career started.
You’ll be taught by industry experts and well-respected academics, who will help you understand your specialities and grow your passion for your chosen subject.
Uni isn’t just about learning academically. You’ll also grow as a person, making new friends, enjoying a hectic social life, living independently and learning how to look after yourself.
During your time at uni, you can join clubs and societies, as well as having access to placement and work experience opportunities, which will all enrich you as a person (and your CV).
You’ll be in control of your time and your learning, meaning you can focus on what interests you most – and if that means going to the library at 2am, you can.

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What are the cons of going to uni?

As with any big decision, there are also aspects of uni that some people might consider to be cons. We’ve listed some here to get you started on your decision-making process.

For most people, going to uni involves taking out a loan, or multiple loans, to cover tuition and living costs. It’s important to understand how student finance works and whether it’s the right choice for you.
It can be a big jump from A levels to degree level study – you’ll have to do a lot more independent studying, sometimes with little contact time with tutors and lecturers.
Although the independence is great for some students, for others it can be overwhelming, and homesickness can really affect your mental health. Most unis will offer great support, so make sure to read into what’s available .
There’s lots of reading to do. Most courses will involve long reading lists, so if that’s really not for you, uni might not be the right place for you. Some courses are more hands-on than others though, so it’s worth checking this on open days.
You’ll have lots of deadlines, often all around the same sort of time, for different modules. Keep this in mind if you find time management tricky.

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You shouldn’t feel under pressure to go to uni – you don’t have to go just because your friends are going, or your family think you should. Take a look at some of your other options to find the right next step for you.

Hopefully you feel a bit clearer now in how to approach your choices for your next steps after school or college.

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Is university worth it.

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Ultimate guide: Is university worth it?

IELTS Writing Example: The Aims of University

This IELTS writing example is on the topic of university education . Take a look at the question:

Some people believe the aim of university education is to help graduates get better jobs. Others believe there are much wider benefits of university education for both individuals and society.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

In this essay, two opposing opinions need to be discussed.

This is the first opinion:

The aim of university education is to help graduates get better jobs.

This is the second opinion:

There are much wider benefits of university education for both individuals and society.

IELTS Writing Example

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Discuss both views andgive your opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

IELTS Writing Example - Model Answer

These days, more and more people are making the choice to go to university. While some people are of the opinion that the only purpose of a university education is to improve job prospects, others think that society and the individual benefit in much broader ways.

It is certainly true that one of the main aims of university is to secure a better job. The majority of people want to improve their future career prospects and attending university is one of the best ways to do this as it increases a person's marketable skills and attractiveness to potential employers. In addition, further education is very expensive for many people, so most would not consider it if it would not provide them with a more secure future and a higher standard of living. Thus job prospects are very important.

However, there are other benefits for individuals and society. Firstly, the independence of living away from home is a benefit because it helps the students develop better social skills and improve as a person. A case in point is that many students will have to leave their families, live in halls of residence and meet new friends. As a result, their maturity and confidence will grow enabling them to live more fulfilling lives. Secondly, society will gain from the contribution that the graduates can make to the economy. We are living in a very competitive world, so countries need educated people in order to compete and prosper.

Therefore, I believe that although a main aim of university education is to get the best job, there are clearly further benefits. If we continue to promote and encourage university attendance, it will lead to a better future for individuals and society.

(279 words)

The writer in this IELTS writing example has a clear thesis in the second sentence of the introduction, establishing that two sides of this issue will be discussed:

While some people are of the opinion...others think that...

Looking at the structure , the topic sentences make it clear when the first opinion is being discussed:

It is certainly true that one of the main aims of university is to secure a better job.

And when the writer is moving onto the next opinion

However, there are other benefits for individuals and society.

Connectors ( To begin... Also... Firstly... Secondly ) are used well to introduce each new supporting idea. Further connectors ( For example...A case in point is that...As a result... ) are used to expand on these ideas.

Finally, the writer has demonstrated that they are able to use complex sentence structures ( While...that...in order to...as... ), and has discussed both views and combined this with his/her opinion, thus ensuring the question has been answered.

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Diet and Health Essay for IELTS: This model examines the extent to which individuals or governments should be responsible for health. Read a model answer and useful comments about the essay which will help you to improve your IELTS Score.

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Essay on Online Education | Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education Essay

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on Online Education: Online learning is one of the imminent trends in the education sector around the globe. This mode of learning is done through the internet. With advanced and upgraded technologies, this mode of learning has been made simpler. Online Education is also preferred in higher learning Institutions. This article will render the students about online education, its outcomes, and advantage in short and long essays on Online Education.

You can also find more Essay Writing articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Online Education for Students and Children in English

We provide children and students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay on Online Education in Lockdown of 150 words on the topic “Online education in India Essay” for reference.

Short Essay on Online Education 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Online Education advantages and Disadvantages is helpful to students of classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Education is an integral part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the prospect depending on their careers. Education is broadly diverse today compared to the 1950s because of progressions in teaching methods and other prominent inventions that implement more apparent teaching techniques.

In E-learning, the students study from home or any other place, that is most convenient for them. They can acquire learning material online. The study materials in online education could be texts, audio, notes, videos, and images. However, the method of study has its benefits and various drawbacks too.

Online education is suitable for those who can not visit or obtain the traditional education method for one reason or the other. Nearly 6.1 million college students are currently attending online courses, and this number is growing by around 30 percent yearly.

Online education provides a myriad of advantages for people, as well as companies because it allows for, among others, flexibility. A great way to benefit more from online education is to consolidate online education and traditional ways of teaching.

Online Education Essay 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Online Education 400 Words in English is helpful to students of classes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Introduction: Online education is an amenable instructional delivery process that includes any learning that takes place via the internet. Online learning enables educators to communicate with students who may not be capable of enrolling in a traditional classroom course and assists students who need to work on their own schedule and at their own speed.

Every discipline is registering a surge in the volume of distance learning and imparting of online degrees, with remarkable pace. Schools and institutions that offer online education are also growing in number. Students pursuing degrees through online methods must be scrupulous in ensuring their coursework is completed through a valued and credentialed university.

Online education is known to offer the benefit of synergy. Here, the format employed makes room for dynamic communications between students and the teachers. Through these communications, sources are shared, and an open-ended synergy evolves through a learning process. When each person bestows a view or opinion through discussions and comments on others’ work course, it benefits the student to learn better. This unique advantage is manifested in a student-centred virtual learning environment that online learning format alone can contribute.

With online classes, we don’t need to travel to a different city or commute long distances. We can stay where we are and keep our current job while we work toward improving our career with an online degree. Online education also helps digital nomads—someone who espouses a technology-enabled or location-independent lifestyle. We can watch lectures and complete our coursework wherever we are.

Whether we are a full-time or part-time online student, the online education experience provides a much more manageable schedule. Online education has gained much approval on account of its cheapness. Such is the fact that online courses are more affordable than those offered at schools or colleges. While studying in universities, we may have to spend some money such as transportation, lodging, and meals, online education may not require such expenses.

One of the important aspects of online learning is its inherent flexibility, however, there is a catch, one has to be extremely self-motivated. The best online students develop various approaches for staying up to date on their coursework. Things like setting aside time every week to study and create a workspace with minimal distractions can help immensely.

Conclusion on Online Education Essay

Online education’s potential advantages involve increased educational access; it provides a high-quality learning opportunity, improves student outcomes and skills, and expands educational choice options. Therefore, location, time, and quality are no longer considered factors in seeking degree courses or higher education because of online education.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education Essay

Introduction to Online Education Essay: Online education refers to the type of knowledge which is imparted through the internet. Millions of people globally are enrolled in online courses and can learn from the comfort of their homes. Online education can come in different ways; they could be educational webinars and videos on the internet or even face to face learning on the laptop with the teacher, which utilises the internet.

Online education contributes a myriad of advantages for people, as well as companies because it provides flexibility among other work. This indicates that despite people’s physical locations, they can accomplish the same level of education by taking similar online courses.

Teachers and professors optimise the timelessness and focus of the learning curriculum while students are able to fit learning time into their hectic schedules. Online education offers extensive benefits to students by giving a manageable schedule, student enhancement and augmented education access and choice.

Advantages of Online Education

Online education enables us to learn from various mentors and teachers in different areas, increasing our knowledge and perspective. It reduces nervousness among students, as many are able to communicate more through online education than regular classes. One can learn from merely anyplace as long as they have an available internet device.

Online education normally provides a chance to study at our own speed as there is no rush. Most online courses are usually enjoyable and more comfortable compared to attending traditional classes. It spares you the inconvenience of having to travel to a particular destination every single day.

Online education usually is more affordable. Online education further happens to be comparatively cheaper in comparison to conventional educational approaches. Under traditional university programs, the students are required to compensate for transportation, textbooks, institutional facilities such as gyms, libraries, swimming pools, and other costs that expedite the cost of university education up. Online education, on its part, charges only for tuition and additional essential expenses. Virtual education thus offers both the wealthy and the poor an opportunity.

It allows one to learn innovative approaches through the internet and therefore become more skilful. In online education, if there are any variations in the syllabus, updates can be done instantly compared to conventional means of education.

Online education is flexible and adaptable since one can study at any time, even at midnight. It can help increase the grades of some people as compared to standard traditional education. Some people learn more through online education.

There is no need to wait for office hours to speak to the instructor; you can immediately access them through chat or email. There is considerably a large amount of educational information on the internet. Online education can also help one to be in the mix of a diverse group of people from varied educational, social, cultural and philosophical backgrounds. The subject matter is always available on the internet, unlike traditional education.

Disadvantages of Online Education

The advantages that online education brings to students are immense and indisputable. Pursuing an online course is an excellent option in education, particularly when traditional learning situations have many obstacles, such as commuting or distance. However, as everything has two sides, online education also has some fundamental drawbacks that can be inconvenient.

Using the computer too much can make the students prone to plagiarism. It can also cause vision problems as we sit near the laptop almost the whole day. Online education may also hinder physical development. Online education can be quite complicated for a person to be accountable for their own learning without someone to drive them to do something.

Online education detaches you from your classmates. One might need to put in extra time in some cases to understand the learning process. It is easier to cheat in an online exam than when in a class and hence may not be advisable during exams. Online education also gives one a lot of autonomy which may be critical for our learning. There are a number of distractions on the internet through adverts, and this might interrupt our learning. Online education also has significantly less self-assessment.

Online education has both advantages and shortcomings, but it is an excellent method of learning that can help develop a student’s performance. To succeed in online education, one should choose an ideal university and course to avoid pursuing education from among the various suspicious universities that employers may reject. The other most essential thing is to assure that one needs to maintain communication with the school faculty and fellow students. The important point is proper time administration that helps one manage our time to complete and submit prescribed assignments in time.

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Distance Education

Band 6+: In the past, when students did a university degree, they tended to study in their own country. Nowadays, they have the opportunity to study abroad. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development?

More students have shown interest in studying in foreign countries rather than their own. This trend offers valuable opportunities such as benefiting from high-quality education and becoming familiar with international culture and customs. However, this decision is not free of laws, which will be discussed in the following paragraphs in detail. To begin with, the primary of international education lies in the fact that students can make use of high-quality education at top-ranked universities with advocacademic facilities. Consequently, they can become more professional in their own field, which often leads to finding a favorable job with excellent salary. In addition to that, it could be justified by the opinion that studying abroad can provide individuals with of building international relationships. To be more precise, interacting with people from different countries and getting acquainted with global cultures and traditions can bring about development of social growth and provide valuable experiences.

Moving to the demo reads, I believe overseas education has two main disadvantages as well. First of all, being away from loved ones creates a sense of alienation for students. They are unable to be present for their family’s joys and sorrows and vice versa. As a result some of them especially those who have a strong attachment with their family, may experience feeling of depression. Additionally foreign students may face high living costs in another country. So they need to spend money on essential items and try to save as much as possible.

By way of conclusion, the studying aboard for a university degree has its own benefits and drawbacks that every student should be aware of before making a decision. The choice to study in another country should be based on one’s abilities and preferences

Check Your Own Essay On This Topic?

Generate a band-9 sample with your idea, overall band score, task response, coherence & cohesion, lexical resource, grammatical range & accuracy, essays on the same topic:, in the past, when students did a university degree, they tended to study in their own country. nowadays, they have the opportunity to study abroad. what are the advantages and disadvantages of this development.

More students are choosing to study abroad in recent years, rather than attending university in their home country, as was common in past decades. There is much debate over whether this is a positive or negative development. In this essay, I will discuss both sides of the issue. First of all, I would like to […]

The process of obtaining a university degree used to predominantly take place within one’s own country. However, there is now a growing trend for students to study abroad. This essay will argue that studying abroad offers significant opportunities for gaining valuable experience from leading professionals in the field, despite the challenges related to adaptation and […]

In contemporary society, university students are often offered the opportunity to study abroad when pursuing a college qualification. While this decision may be beneficial to some extent, its negative consequences are considerable. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this development. One major aspect of studying abroad is exposure to a new culture, […]

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The range of technology available to people is increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. Others think it has the opposite eﬀect. Discuss both views and give your opinions.

In this contemporary era, technology has a strong rule to play. Everyone has mixed views on whether technology keeps people closer together or it can be a reason to appears a gap between people, according to the financial situations. In my opinion, technology has a major effect on every person behavior and it forces people […]

The impact of social media on mental health, particularly among young adults.

For some people, technology has become an essential part of their lives, while for others, it leads to a more isolated existence. Many individuals view technology, particularly in the form of smartphones, social media, and instant messaging, as a means to bring people closer together. Conversely, others feel that technology contributes to increased isolation. In […]

For some people, technology has become an essential part of their lives and for others it is a way for more isolated life.Many people see technology, particularly in the form of smartphones, social media, and instant messaging, is bringing people closer together, while others see technology causing them to become more isolated. In this essay, […]

Nowadays many people travel to foreign countries for pleasure. Some believe this travel has a negative impact on the countries travelled to. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

As visiting other countries for pleasure is becoming more popular, some people have started to think that this has a negative effect on the countries travelled to. In my opinion, this thought is not true, and I definitely disagree with it. Tourists are affecting countries’ economies, especially in developing countries. Developing countries’ industrial income is […]

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College essays matter. Here's how to write one that stands out | College Connection

Students facing the college application process typically dread one component: the Common App essay.

Students are presented with six essay prompts, as well as a seventh option, which is “topic of your choice.” Students therefore have limitless possibilities for this essay which will be carefully reviewed by each college to which the student applies.

The goal of college admissions officers is to learn about the student who is applying: personal qualities, struggles, ambitions, priorities. On other parts of the application a student’s “data” is detailed. So, this is not the place to write about one’s SAT scores, GPA, or intended major, or to enumerate one’s activities. It is the place to write about an event, situation, or life circumstance that has influenced the student’s attitudes, goals, and perceptions of life.

The options are limitless. Students can write about life occurrences that impacted them: an illness, a learning disability, a relocation. They can use a sport, club, organization, or volunteer group as the overarching framework within which they learned important life lessons.

More: The biggest key to college acceptance | College Connection

One student’s essay, which went viral after its author was accepted to a multitude of Ivy League schools, focused on lessons she learned from visits to Costco over the years. In short, students can write about anything that has impacted them – hopefully in a positive way.

Then, students face supplemental essays. Many colleges, including almost all the most competitive ones, require an essay that is specific to the school. Typically, the question is along the lines of, “Why do you want to attend this institution?” or “Why did you choose your particular major and how will our school prepare you to meet your future goals?”

More: These are the latest trends in college admissions | College Connection

Colleges are aware that students typically apply to 8 to 12 different schools, and they are trying to discern “demonstrated interest,” or, in other words, the likelihood of a student enrolling if accepted. So, students should utilize each supplemental essay as an opportunity to demonstrate their interest in the particular college, and should specifically state the courses, programs, study abroad options, internships, and any other characteristics that make the institution a perfect match for their college ambitions.

By showing enthusiasm for each school and sharing their attributes through the Common App and supplemental essays, students will greatly enhance their prospects of experiencing a successful college application process.

Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT ® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362 .

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Disadvantages of examination- oriented education Essay
Advantages And Disadvantages Of University Education
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COMMENTS

Advantages and Disadvantages of University Education
The disadvantages of university education bring the following adverse effects on the younger generation: 1. Feeling Dull. The narrow educational goals, the complexity of educational content, and fierce academic competition force students to think about study, exams, grades, and rankings every day, and often they are either incapable of taking ...
Advantages and Disadvantages of University Education ...
One of the main disadvantages of university education is the financial burden it often places on students and their families. Tuition fees, textbooks, accommodation, and other expenses can accumulate, leading to student loan debt and financial stress. ... We provide a large database of college essays and cover almost any subject there is in the ...
10 Pros and 10 Cons of Going to College (and How to Decide)
Here are 10 benefits of going to university worth considering: 1. You'll be able to secure specialised jobs. Gaining a university degree in your area of interest will improve your chances of securing a job role in specialised fields. Indeed, most skilled jobs require academic training as well as a bachelor's and master's degree.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education
The second disadvantage, implicit in what I've been saying, is that an elite education inculcates a false sense of self-worth. Getting to an elite college, being at an elite college, and going on from an elite college—all involve numerical rankings: SAT, GPA, GRE. You learn to think of yourself in terms of those numbers.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of University Education
Advantages. University education has numerous benefits for people and society as a whole, including promoting social interactions, enhancing health outcomes, expanding social support networks, and encouraging civic involvement. The Best Means of Acquiring Knowledge. Knowledge is an essential tool, facts, information, and abilities gained from ...
Should university education be free?
Equality. There is also a powerful argument that university education should be free to ensure equality of opportunity. If students have to pay for university education, this may dissuade them. In theory, students could take out loans or work part-time, but this may be sufficient to discourage students from studying and instead may enter the ...
Advantages and Disadvantages of a University Education
Like anything else, a university education has both its advantages and disadvantages. Earning potential and opportunities for future employment in your chosen field of study should be weighed against the substantial investment of time and money that a university education requires.
Pros And Cons Of University
5. You will be committing at least three years of your life. A university degree is a big commitment to academic study. Most bachelor's degrees last at least three years. You should think carefully if you'd prefer to be working in a paid job than dedicating yourself to years of study, coursework, revision and exams. 6.
Is College Worth It? Pros and Cons of Going to College
3 pros of going to college: reasons college is worth it. 1. On average, College graduates make more money. We've already talked about how expensive college is, but know this: on average, people who get a four year degree make more money over the course of their lives than people who don't.
Should College Be Free? The Pros and Cons
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. "The Dollars and Cents of Free College," see "Biden's Free College Plan Would Pay for Itself Within 10 Years." Third Way. "Why Free College Could Increase Inequality." Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
Free University Education Essay: Should it be paid for or free?
This essay therefore provides you with some of the key arguments about this topic. The essay is an , which means you are given one opinion and then asked if you agree with it or not. So remember to make it clear in your essay which side you are on. University education should be free to everyone, regardless of income.
University degrees: the pros and cons
With intense competition for places and evermore focus on the cost benefit of going to university, The Week weighs up the pros and cons of getting a degree. 1. Pro: greater earning potential ...
Is College Worth It?
History of College Education. The American debate over whether a college education is worth it began when the colonists arrived from Europe and founded "New College" (later renamed Harvard University) in 1636.In spring 2023, there were over 17 million college students in the United States, and over 43 million borrowers owe a collective $1.75 trillion in total student debt.
PDF Advantages and Disadvantages of Using e-Learning in University ...
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using e-Learning in University Education: Analyzing Students' Perspectives. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 19(2), pp. 107-117 ... Disadvantages, E-learning, University Education 1. Introduction Electronic learning or e-learning is used to offer instructional programs to distant learners (Arkorful and ...
Should You Go to College? 4 Pros and 3 Cons
A 2011 study found that 45% of 2,322 traditional-aged college students studied from 2005 to 2009 made no significant improvement in their critical thinking, reasoning, or writing skills during the first two years of college. After four years, 36% showed no significant gains.
Essay On Advantages And Disadvantages Of College Education
Getting a college degree is a good life decision even though it may have a few disadvantages. ADVANTAGES There are many advantages of a college education. A college education often makes it easier to get a job. Many companies often "choose college grads over non-college grads on the assumption that more education is better" (Reich 156).
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Higher Education Essay
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Higher Education Essay. 839 Words4 Pages. One of the most important source for a well organized society is education. It enables individuals to bring about a prosperous society, but creates a strict hierarchy at the same time. The ones who get a higher education differ a lot in their knowledge and position from ...
Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning Essay
The Role of e-Learning, the Advantages, and Disadvantages of Its Adoption in Higher Education. Journal of Computer and Communications, 3(12), 397-410. Islam, N., Beer, M., & Slack, F. (2015). E-Learning Challenges Faced by Academics in Higher Education: A Literature Review. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(5). Dhawan, S. (2020).
The pros and cons of university
You'll also grow as a person, making new friends, enjoying a hectic social life, living independently and learning how to look after yourself. During your time at uni, you can join clubs and societies, as well as having access to placement and work experience opportunities, which will all enrich you as a person (and your CV). You'll be in ...
IELTS Writing Example: What are the aims of a university education?
In this essay, two opposing opinions need to be discussed. This is the first opinion: The aim of university education is to help graduates get better jobs. This is the second opinion: There are much wider benefits of university education for both individuals and society. As the prompt suggests, you MUST talk about both sides of the issue and ...
The pros and cons of online learning
Pros of Online Learning. First, let's take a look at the true value of online learning by examining some of the benefits: 1. Flexibility. Online learning's most significant advantage is its flexibility. It's the reason millions of adults have chosen to continue their education and pursue certificates and degrees.
Essay on Online Education
Nearly 6.1 million college students are currently attending online courses, and this number is growing by around 30 percent yearly. Online education provides a myriad of advantages for people, as well as companies because it allows for, among others, flexibility. ... Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education Essay.
Band 6: In the past, when students did a university degree, they tended
Education is the most significant aspect of our lives. While some argue that pursuing a university degree abroad offers more benefits, others contend that there are drawbacks to studying abroad rather than in one's home country. I partially agree that studying abroad has its advantages, but it also comes with some disadvantages. On the one […]
College essays matter. Here's how to write one that stands out
Students facing the college application process typically dread one component: the Common App essay. Students are presented with six essay prompts, as well as a seventh option, which is "topic ...