Why College Education Important

¶ … College Education

The modern day society is ongoing constant processes of change, as a result of which the society evolves and develops new features, trends as well as challenges. In order to survive in this continually changing environment, the people must be able to also develop and adapt. This is where a college education intervenes.

In a traditional setting, a college education was understood as an opportunity to improve one's life by gaining more education, and as such gaining more access to better paid positions and employment opportunities. Such a perception is sustainable at the statistical level, since the unemployment rate is lower among the people who possess college degrees, comparative to the individuals who only possess a high school diploma, or less (Gulbrandsen, 2011).

In other words, a college education was traditionally associated with better opportunities in life and the increased ability to secure a good job in the future. While this trait is still maintained through today, the changes in the modern day society give new meaning to a college education. Some of the more notable examples in this sense include the following:

The general trend at the global level is that of a decreased emphasis on industry and manufacturing, and an increased focus on service provision. The services sector often requires knowledgeable workers, who require a college education in order to best perform at their jobs.

As manufacturing operations become more technologic, the need for manual labor decreases, whereas the need for highly skilled people to create the technologies increases, ergo once again proving the modern day need for a college education.

The needs for employment within the society change alongside with the changes in the population's demands. For instance, more jobs are created in the field of environmental protection, research and development, innovation and so on. All these fields require knowledgeable workers, formed through higher educational efforts.

A college education opens up doors not only to new knowledge, but also to new acquaintances, which become parts of the individual's network, and could further on be capitalized upon in order to exploit business opportunities.

Last, a college education is motivational and inspirational. It introduces the students to various lectures and specialists in vast fields, and it inspires them to advance both personally and professionally. "This stimulation encourages students to think, ask questions, and explore new ideas, which allows for additional growth and development and provides college graduates with an edge in the job market over those who have not experienced a higher education" (College View).