Is college education worth it?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Is college education worth it?
Position1 of 3›: Yes, college education is worth it
Argument1 of 6›: College helps you get a job

University opens career doors for graduates. A person having any form of tertiary education has higher chances to find a job than someone without. This is also reflected by a lower unemployment rate of graduates.

The argument

The unemployment rate for non-college educated workers is at 3.5%. Among those with at least an undergraduate degree, it is 2.2%. You are more likely to find a job with a college degree than without one. This is because as more people go to university the educational bar is higher. A glut of university graduates in the workforce has allowed employers to prioritize those with a university degree, even for jobs that have traditionally not required any form of higher education. In 1970, 28% of jobs required a college degree. Now 66% of jobs ask that candidates have received some form of higher education. Additionally, 99% of new jobs created require a candidate with a university degree.

Context

Unemployment among university-educated workers is far lower than among those without a degree. College is, therefore, highly beneficial for securing employment.

Premises

[P1]Unemployment is lower for degree-holders (2.2%) than for non-graduates (3.5%), and a glut of graduates lets employers prioritise those with degrees even for jobs that never used to require them. [P2] The share of jobs requiring a college degree rose from 28% in 1970 to 66% today, and 99% of newly created jobs call for a university graduate. [C] Therefore, because college helps you get a job, college education is worth it.

Counter-arguments

These statistics hide the fact that many college-educated workers are working in a job that has no need for a college degree. Around 20% of college graduates are working jobs that have no need for a college education, handing them all of the debt, without any of the economic benefits. Also, the unemployment rate among recent graduates is actually higher than the unemployment rate among non-college educated workers. In the US, 4% of recent graduates are unemployed and 41% are underemployed—far higher than the national average of 3.6% and 34%.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Correlation doesn't mean causality. Many college graduates would be employed anyway as they work jobs that don't require a college degree.