Kick-Start Your Career

Most people understand that a college degree gives graduates huge advantages in the job market. What is less well understood is the fact that this beneficial effect of further education is amplified during times of economic distress. In recent years, the general unemployment rate has hovered around nine or ten per cent, but the unemployment rate for those who hold a college degree has been half that. The ability to find a well-paying job when opportunities are becoming scarce is invaluable, but this is only one of many ways in which a college degree can help you to kick-start your career.

A World of Opportunities

Employers hire based on the knowledge and skills that a prospective worker can bring to a firm. Pursuing a college degree provides students with a well-rounded educational base that enables them to tackle diverse challenges for the remainder of their lives. It may seem that a course in medieval German literature has very little to do with the real world, but apart from every other consideration, university-level coursework helps students to acquire two vital things that most employers desire: critical thinking skills and an understanding of how to go about learning new material.

Employers know that an applicant with a college degree has already mastered these essential areas. Such workers can be assigned unfamiliar tasks, yet will need only a minimum of guidance and training because they can learn further material on their own in a quick, efficient manner. This major benefit from college happens no matter what subject you choose to major in.

Financial Rewards

College is a large investment of both time and money, but virtually every economic analyst who has studied the matter has concluded that it is one of the very best investments that a person can make. The United States Census Bureau has concluded that both job security and average pay increase in very nearly a linear relationship to the amount of college education an individual has acquired, making it well worth the effort of searching out the low interest student loans that can make higher education possible. Indeed, it is estimated that within just 15 years, millions of jobs in the United States will be vacant for lack of applicants educated enough to do them.

Actual monetary figures also bear out the financial value of a college degree. The average lifetime earnings of a person with a bachelor's degree exceed $2 million, which represents a $500,000 increase over the same figure for someone with only a high school diploma. The average cost of going to college is much less than half a million dollars, which means that earning a degree makes perfect financial sense.

Few investments are such a sure thing that it is wise to borrow, but gaining further education is one of them. Most people cannot afford to pay for one year of college with cash, let alone four or five years, but fortunately many loan programs exist to help. The best way to finance a college education is to look for low interest student loans. Even if you can afford to start college without aid, you may find that being able to continue in the face of rising interest rates is only possible through strategic borrowing.