The decision of whether or not to pursue a 4-year college degree is one of the biggest financial and lifestyle choices a person can make. With the cost of higher education steadily rising year after year, many potential students are left wondering if the investment in a bachelor’s degree will actually pay off down the road.
There are valid arguments on both sides. A 4-year degree comes with a significant price tag, but it also opens up more job opportunities, increased earning potential, and other benefits. Here we’ll explore both the pros and cons of getting a bachelor’s degree to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.
The Costs of a 4-Year Degree
Over the past 30 years, the cost of attaining a 4-year degree has risen at a rate three times faster than wages. Since 1980, average undergraduate tuition, fees, room and board at public, four-year universities have increased from $2,550 (in 2017 dollars) to $26,120. Private nonprofit four-year institutions have gone from $15,160 in inflation-adjusted dollars to $41,970.
This means that today’s average graduate leaves school with anywhere from $25,000 to over $100,000 in student loan debt. That’s in addition to four years without much income—a major opportunity cost.
Given the large financial investment required and sacrifices made, it’s reasonable to question if you’ll get an adequate return on your educational investment. Next we’ll look at the potential benefits to see if they outweigh the formidable costs.
The Benefits of Earning a Bachelor’s Degree
While weighing the pros and cons, many look at a cost vs. benefit analysis of investing the time and money to acquire the degree. Will greater job opportunities and earning potential further on in your career outweigh what you pay upfront for your education?
Some of the key potential benefits include:
- Increased Lifetime Earnings
- More Job Opportunities & Options
- Higher Job Satisfaction
- Stronger Critical Thinking Skills
- Sense of Accomplishment
Let’s explore each of the key benefits in more detail:
Increased Lifetime Earnings
One of the main reasons to pursue a bachelor’s degree is that people with a 4-year college degree typically earn more over their working life than those with only a high school diploma.
According to a study by the New York Federal Reserve, the average graduate with a 4-year degree earns about $78,000 per year, compared to $45,000 per year for workers with only a high school education. Over a 40-year career, college graduates earn well over $1 million more on average than those without degrees.
Additionally, unemployment rates are lower for those with bachelor’s degrees versus high school graduates. The study shows that only 2.4% of college grads are unemployed, compared to 5.4% for those with high school as their highest level of education.
More Job Opportunities & Options
Many well-paying jobs require applicants to have a 4-year college degree—regardless of their work experience. Having a bachelor’s degree opens up more job opportunities and greater career options compared to only having a high school diploma.
Jobs such as accountant, engineer, financial analyst, marketing manager, registered nurse, and software developer typically mandate applicants have a bachelor’s degree. Excellent jobs that offer strong income potential and meaningful work would be nearly impossible to obtain without the proper educational credentials.
A degree also provides more stability during periods of economic uncertainty. Employees who only have a high school education are more vulnerable to job loss during recessions compared to those with college or graduate degrees.
Higher Job Satisfaction
Research shows that college graduates experience greater job satisfaction than those with just high school educations. Many middle-to-upper income service jobs that require interacting with others in creative ways demand 4-year degrees. Work in education, healthcare, marketing, information technology, and engineering provide both intellectual challenges and human connections.
Careers that utilize critical thinking, problem solving, writing, and communication skills associated with higher learning often prove the most personally fulfilling over time. People in these roles report higher job satisfaction than those in lower skilled positions. With a bachelor’s degree, you open up doors to occupations that engage your mind and provide a sense of purpose.
Stronger Critical Thinking Skills
A 4-year degree cultivates essential critical thinking abilities—helping you to evaluate complex issues from multiple perspectives. As university students participate in class discussions, write research papers, and complete analytical group projects; they hone judgement skills to creatively solve problems.
The cultivation of your mind is hugely valuable beyond just landing a dream job. Sharpening your ability to logically reason, synthesize conflicting ideas, and consider context before making conclusions will enrich both your personal and professional realms.
Sense of Accomplishment
Earning a university diploma can build pride and bolster your self-confidence. After years of intellectual challenge, walking across the stage at your college graduation instills a hard-won sense of achievement. What once seemed an impossible feat has been accomplished through consistent effort.
Over your working life, a bachelor’s degree signals to employers and colleagues that you’re willing to work hard and follow through despite obstacles. Beyond career ramifications, attaining ambitious academic goals impacts how you view your own abilities to overcome adversity.
Weighing the Tradeoffs
As the costs of university continue to increase each year, weighing the pros and cons of acquiring significant student debt for a 4-year degree is complicated. However, when considering lifetime earnings potential, expanded job prospects, and career fulfillment—there is a compelling case for the return on investment.
While a bachelor’s degree costs substantially more now than even 10 years ago, it can still pay dividends across your working life. Let’s explore common counterarguments from skeptics questioning the prudence of a 4-year degree investment given skyrocketing expenses.
What About Successful Entrepreneurs and Tech Innovators Without Degrees?
It’s true that some extremely successful business founders and technology innovators achieved great fame and fortune without earning 4-year college degrees—think Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. Yet these are very much the exceptions rather than the norm.
The average college dropout isn’t guaranteed professional success and riches. For every billionaire college dropout there are likely thousands of entrepreneurs lacking degrees who failed or did moderately well. Their stories just aren’t as widely publicized. Although possible to achieve prosperity without a bachelor’s degree, statistically it remains an anomaly.
Also, some now famous former dropouts like Dell and Zuckerberg actually completed their college degrees years after leaving school when they were already successful. Jobs, while lacking a degree, did complete college coursework in areas that proved relevant to his innovations at Apple like typography design. So even for dropout tech geniuses, higher learning still helped pave their roads to changing the world.
What if I Want to Pursue a Trade Profession Instead?
For those more interested in skilled trades or technical careers, a traditional 4-year track at a university may not make practical sense. Potential high salary jobs like electrician, plumber, mechanic, welder, construction manager, dental hygienist or computer network support often require much shorter—and less expensive—vocational school programs.
If considering a vocation needing specialized abilities and professional certification but not an extensive theoretical background, trades-focused education gets students career ready at a fraction of a typical bachelor’s degree total cost.
For instance, the average one year electrician certification program at a community college costs under $5,000 in total tuition and materials. Compare that to $26,000 or more annually for just a public university’s tuition, fees, dorm and meal plan today. If desiring a career as physician assistant, ultrasound tech, court reporter or aircraft mechanic—vocational programs tailored to these fields prove far more economical.
What About Salary Statistics Showing Small Differences Between Degree Holders and Non Degree Holders?
You may encounter statistics trying to debunk the long-term salary benefits of holding a bachelor’s degree—especially articles emphasizing short-term data right after graduation.
For example, they may cite that those entering the workforce with just a high school diploma earn an average starting salary today of around $37,024 versus $50,944 for recent grads holding bachelor’s degrees. That $14K gap doesn’t seem as significant when comparing it to 5-figure student loan debt totals facing college graduates.
However, these kinds of stats don’t reflect the much higher salary growth rates over time for degree holders. Nor do they account for periods of reduced income during economic downturns affecting non-college educated groups more severely. Long-term data studies tracking wages across employment lifespan reveal vastly greater lifetime earnings for bachelor’s degree recipients.
Advanced degrees like Master’s, PhD’s, MD’s and JD’s open up the highest paying occupations. But even “just” a bachelor’s degree unlocks far more lucrative opportunities than merely a high school diploma when it comes to income potential across decades. Don’t let misleading statistics about minor short-term salary differences cloud judgement about the true value of a 4-year degree over the long haul.
The Risks of Not Earning a Bachelor’s Degree
Beyond financial considerations, lacking a 4-year college degree can also impact your quality of life in other ways:
Fewer Employment Opportunities
Without a bachelor’s degree, promising occupations remain out of reach. Per the previous New York Federal Reserve study, only 27% of current jobs are accessible to high school graduates versus 68% open to those holding 4-year college degrees. Employment options narrow significantly if lacking necessary educational credentials.
While vocational training allows careers in skilled trades, many white collar, business, tech and healthcare jobs are off the table. As automation continues displacing roles involving predictable manual and administrative tasks, options shrink further without specialized skills.
Less Career Advancement Potential
In addition to disadvantage entering the job market, lack of a college degree also restricts vertical mobility. Without one, good luck getting promoted to management roles, gaining leadership responsibilities, taking on strategic projects or transitioning departments.
HR gatekeepers at most mid-size and above firms now filter out applicants without bachelor’s degrees for higher level positions. Expect hitting an invisible career ceiling regardless of on the job effort and performance.
No Safety Net During Economic Downturns
Those without 4-year degrees face much higher risks of job loss during recessions compared to college educated workers. When roles get cut during lean times, less skilled employees typically get laid off before those able to perform more critical thinking intensive responsibilities.
Lower skilled workers also experience significantly longer periods of unemployment after losing their jobs. Lacking an in demand specialized skillset makes recovering from job loss slower compared to degree holding candidates.
How to Make a 4-Year Degree Worth the Investment
If determining that a bachelor’s degree does make sense for your career aspirations, here are tips to maximize value:
Choose In Demand Majors
Opt for academic concentrations aligned to growing industries and emerging technical skills most in demand by employers. Majors like computer science, engineering, data analytics, accounting, finance, nursing, biology, operations management and digital marketing improve hiring prospects post-graduation.
Attain Work Experience
Don’t just focus on academics, pursue internships during school and/or work part time in roles leveraging transferable abilities valuable to your target profession. Combining work and education builds essential connections, resume credibility and industry know-how.
Develop a Professional Network
Connecting with professors, classmates, guest speakers, alumni in your academic focus area establishes relationships leading to job opportunities. Many open roles get filled by internal references before ever getting posted to public job boards.
Continually Enhance Your Skills
Learning cannot stop at graduation if aiming to remain professionally competitive and maximize career income over decades. Pursue supplemental certifications, workshops, online courses and training programs to stay current on leading edge technologies within your field.
The initial 4-year investment is just the launching pad. Ongoing education, skill building and networking sustains advancement throughout your employment lifespan.
Weighing the merits of chasing academic dreams against financial realities proves stressful for many. However, beyond just job prospects and salary potential, tremendous intangible value exists in the journey of intellectual discovery made possible by higher learning pursuits.
The cultivation of knowledge for its own sake—even without definitive professional payoff—remains crucial to human progress. College provides not just technical training, but the maturation of wisdom that elevates society collectively when graduates apply higher order thinking to tackle challenges facing our world. Tangible ROI has its place in evaluating choices, but should not eclipse nobler humanistic motivations.
With application and some luck, a 4-year degree offers access to both material comforts and meaning deeper than just economic security. Financial prudence remains key, but need not come at the cost of abandoning one’s boldest dreams if aligned to virtuous ends. Take the leap carefully, but take it decisively.
