Honestly, one of my biggest regrets in life is not getting a college degree. I literally had the possibility handed to me on a silver platter, with a full scholarship to the honors program of a college that would custom make a degree in the field I wanted (gifted education), whose scholarship would also give a stipend for living expenses. And I turned it down to move abroad and get married. Who knows how my life would have been different had I gotten that college degree. I suspect that this blog never would have been started, to be honest, because I wouldn't have started out my adult life totally broke as I was when I started this.
Here are some reasons why having a college degree is beneficial.
For some people, this is true, at least in terms of their careers. However, a degree isn’t just about your career, although that’s what its main function is. There are plenty of reasons to take a degree even if you don’t intend to use it to get a job or move further along your career path, and since you can choose online learning, even if you already have a job or responsibilities, you can still achieve a degree no matter what you’re doing in your life. The question remains, why would you? Why should you? Read on to find out; some of the benefits to having a college degree will probably surprise you.
More Money
One of the biggest reasons that most people will have when it comes to deciding whether other not to take on the work that comes with a degree is that, for the most part, those who apply for jobs that are asking for the candidates to have degrees will make more money. In other words, although it will cost money to obtain your degree, you should be able to make that money back relatively quickly when you are working, and then continue to make more than those working in jobs without degrees, and so it should be seen as an investment.
Studies have shown that the average difference between people working without a degree and those who have studied for one is around $25,000, but this gap is actually widening every year, and so by the time you have your degree and start looking for jobs, you might see that that difference is significantly larger than this.
For some, this can be the only reason they need to study for a degree. After all, money is important, and having more rather than less means that you can do so many more things in your life and live a lot more comfortably. Of course, you’ll still need to enjoy your work at the end of your studies, because otherwise, no matter how much money you’re making, if you’re unhappy, you’ll never be content not just in your career but in all other aspects of your work too.
Easier To Get A Job
When you have worked hard and obtained your degree, you’ll find that you have much less trouble getting a job than you would if you didn’t have that qualification. That’s not to say it will be easy to find work, the job market is still highly competitive and volatile, but you will still have an advantage over others when searching.
Employers may have specifically requested candidates with a degree, in which case you will be more suited to the job. However, even if they haven’t asked for this, the fact that you have one means that you’ll stand out. Any employer should be impressed that you have taken the time and put in the effort to gain a qualification like this, and they should know that this determination and perseverance will help you do a good job for them.
It may not even matter what kind of degree you have. In some cases, having a specific degree is going to be crucial, particularly when it comes to teaching or medicine, or law, for example. However, in many other careers, it’s not what the degree is but the fact that you have it because it shows a potential employer that you are willing to learn, that you have the knowledge, and that you have soft skills such as timekeeping, communication, and even management. These are all crucial in many different jobs, and if you can prove that you have such skills through your degree being on your resume, which will certainly stand you in good stead.
Better Job Satisfaction
It’s already been mentioned how important it is to be happy in your work, or at the very least not dislike it to the point where it makes you ill, either mentally or physically. Having a degree makes it much more likely that you’ll have a good level of job satisfaction, and this is yet another positive reason for going to school even if you’re not entirely sure you’ll require a degree for your job.
The fact is research has proven that those with a degree have a significantly better level of job satisfaction than those without. There are a number of theories around this, one of which is that the jobs on offer to those with degrees have inbuilt job satisfaction. In other words, there are more perks, the working environments are better, and there is more chance of job progression, especially if you go back to school to obtain online post-master’s certificates.
On top of that, if you are working in an area that links back to your degree, then it’s clearly something you’re interested in, since it’s what you studied, to begin with, and that means you’ll enjoy your days working in that field more. You already like it, so job satisfaction is sure to be high.
Finally, there is less chance of being made redundant when you have a degree. Again, this is because your employer won’t want to lose someone with your specific skill set and finding someone to replace you is going to be difficult. So, it’s far more likely that those without degrees will be made redundant first, whereas those with more qualifications will retain their jobs – remember, though, this is not guaranteed.
Your Social Network
Working hard is the main point of being in college – you want to gain your degree, your master's, your Ph.D., or whatever other qualification you are working towards. However, there are more things you can learn in college than ‘just’ the subject or topic you have signed up for, and there are more benefits to having a degree than getting a good job and earning more money. One of these is that you will boost your social network considerably, meeting people you would never have come into contact with otherwise. Many people find that the friends they make in college are friends they keep for life, much more so than the friends they make at high school.
As well as making friends being good for you, you can also expand your network by meeting new people and talking to those who are in your group. You might be able to use these connections to boost your career at a later stage, or perhaps you’ll meet someone who goes onto become a partner in your own business. You never know what help the people you meet are going to be, and nor do you know what help you can give others, so meeting a lot of people is always worthwhile.
Be A Role Model
It won’t be the main reason you take a degree course, and it probably won’t be something that actually comes to mind at all, but the fact is that when you study for a degree and obtain a good qualification that will give you all the things we’ve mentioned above, you are being a good role model. This might be a role model for your own children, for other family members, for friends, or even for those who happen to come across your story or whom you mentor later on when you have more experience. No matter who they are or how they know what you have done and achieved, the fact is that when you obtain a degree, you can be a role model and change someone’s life for the better.
Being able to do this isn’t something that everyone is capable of, and it’s not something that everyone even considers, but it is important. The better role models’ people have in their lives, the more they are going to achieve. Perhaps the reason you decided to apply for a degree is because you had your own role model, and you were inspired yourself. In which case you know exactly how important this idea actually is.
You’ll Be Healthier
There is a lot of research conducted into the differences between those who have degrees and those who don’t, and they cover all kinds of topics. A rather surprising, but very interesting, one is that degree students tend to be healthierhttps://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/15-easy-ways-to-be-healthier than people who stopped their education after high school. This is mainly due to the fact that it seems the more education you have, the more likely you are to do regular exercise.
One reason stated for this is that when you are in a group setting as you are at a physical college, you will be with more people who want to exercise regularly, and who understand why it’s important to take care of yourself. However, even those who study online at home seem to be fitter, so this isn’t the only reason why this is the case. However, no matter what the reason, more educated people are fitter and healthier, physically and of course, mentally.
Have you gone to college? What benefits did you feel you got by having your degree? If you haven't been to college do you have any regrets?