"Almost 90 percent of the new jobs being created today require more than a high-school level of literacy and math skills…"
President William J. Clinton
By Jacobs Library Committee
College can be the key to the kind of life you want to lead. It can take you out of a minimum-wage job and into higher-paying work you enjoy. It gives you choices.
Compared with people who don’t continue their education beyond high school, people who go to college have a wider range of job options and possibilities, develop lifelong learning skills, and are in a better position to help their families and communities.
Going to college pays off. The more time spent in college, the higher salaries are likely to be. For example, physical therapy assistants need two years of college. A P.T. assistant earns enough money to buy groceries for a week after working only one day. But an aerobics instructor (no college needed) would have to work three days to buy the same groceries.
On average, over a lifetime, someone who spends two years in college earns $250,000 more than someone who doesn’t.
Not all graduates will find jobs that make use of the college-level skills they’ve developed. There are many reasons for this, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one obvious reason is that there are more jobseekers with college degrees than there are openings of college-level jobs. So why go to college?
For one thing, the labor market favors college graduates, and they earn more and have lower unemployment rates than workers without a degree. In 1996, workers with bachelor’s degrees had median annual earnings of about $36,000, while high school graduates earned about $23,000.
But remember—money isn’t everything when you consider a career. You need to think about your skills, likes and dislikes, as well as your abilities. If they don’t match your job, money alone won’t make you happy.
According to the BLS, the job market will continue to frustrate many college grads, but those whose majors are in high demand (such as computer engineering) are likely to find jobs easier and receive higher salaries than those with degrees in other fields (such as philosophy).
Also, grads looking for work in areas where the local economy is booming will likely be more successful than those seeking work in economically depressed areas will.
To find out more about job outlook prospects, earnings, etc., stop by Jacobs Library. The Occupational Outlook Handbook, in the reference section, has some of the latest figures.
You will also find interesting information in the Vertical File under Education and Employment, Vocational Guidance, Universities and Colleges and Vocations.
Good sources on the Internet include
http://stats.bls.gov /asp / oep / noeted / empinfo.asp and http://www.fafsa.ed.gov.