College Students Should Stay in School, Essay Example

College students are the leaders of tomorrow and the very individuals that the United States will rely on to continue to uphold the foundation of this country.  Due to a struggling economy, however, college students are being forced to make a decision between staying in school and accepting alternative methods to make a living, such as finding a job or entering into the military.  Education is highly important to receive additional benefits in your career and to build a strong base for a family, but many students are choosing to put the idea of college on hold while they save the thousands of dollars it costs to pay for a college education.  College students absolutely must stay in school because they will receive far greater economic benefits in the long run, they will receive very strong financial aid options to pay for school, and finishing an education is much easier when doing it all at one time.

The first important point that college students need to understand is that the economy will not always be as poor as it is right now.  Today, it is difficult for all people, including college graduates, to find a job and earn a decent living.  Many students believe that their best option would be to withdraw from college for a brief period of time and enter the workforce or the military.  The military’s financial benefits are very appealing to young adults when they consider loan forgiveness programs and tuition reimbursement.  The appeals of the military look great to college students that still believe that nothing bad can happen to them, but the reality of the dangers that young people face while serving abroad are very costly.

Many college students still have their parents to help support them financially while they are earning their undergraduate degrees.  Yet, many parents have a knack for continuing to hold their financial support over their children and demand certain favors or actions from them.  These behaviors can be associated with doing chores at home, coming home to visit quite often, or calling their parents quite often to stay in touch.  These requests appear to be very simple, but college students have problems handling the everyday college lifestyle of classes, studying, parties, and making or hanging out with friends that it can be very difficult for them to follow through with their parents’ requests.  Many college students feel that they are mature enough and on their own at college that they should not have to do chores when they come home to visit.  These simple daily frustrations lead many college students to believe that they must find an alternative solution to get the parents’ finances out of the equation.  Many parents even require that their children pay for all or part of their college tuition, books and fees in order for them to learn how to support themselves in the long run.  These family financial battles make it very difficult for a college student, and the students begin to look for the easy way out.  Usually, this means dropping out of school to get a job or entering into the military.

In the future, college students with a degree will continue to earn much more money in their careers than other people.  Continuing to earn additional education, such as a Masters or Doctoral Degree, allows individuals to continue to increase their financial worth each year.  This should be very appealing to young adults because they may be able to achieve the American dream and have very few financial problems.  Otherwise, people without a degree are being told where and who to work for and may not be working for a company they may not like.  Education is the key to economic happiness, but it can be a struggle to achieve this happiness.  If the pathway to economic freedom was supposed to be easy, then we would not call it the American dream.

In addition to financial security, students should stay in school because of the myriad options for financial aid that are available to help pay for school.  Financial aid can come in the form of merit and need-based scholarships and grants, government financial aid, student loans and parent-plus loans.  All of these options are available through every college’s financial aid office; therefore, parents and students should take advantage of as much financial aid as they can possibly qualify for.  In today’s society, the cost of school should not be a deterrent for students to seek to stay in college.  As the economy continues to get tough, or if a parent may be laid off or unemployed, families and students are able to adjust their financial aid packages and apply for additional need-based scholarships and loans to reduce the costs of school.

There are hundreds of external sources that are available for students and families to request additional aid for school.  Many organizations offer scholarships on the basis of merit and may request that a speech or paper is written by the student to apply for these scholarships.  Students and families are also eligible for government and institutional loans to provide additional funding for a college education.  Stafford and Perkins loans are available through the federal government and Parent-Plus loans can even be awarded to students whose parents serve as a co-signor.  All of these resources are easily available for families and students to take advantage, so the cost of school can be made very affordable for each and every student.  This should not be an excuse for students to drop out of school or enter the military to receive desired funding.

Finally, a college student should stay in school because it makes it easier to finish a degree than if a student were to take a break or time off from school to pursue other endeavors.  Typically, when students leave college, they are more likely to never finish their college degrees.  Staying in school forces a student to finish the degree all at one time and then embark on their future goals, hopes and dreams.  It teaches students the traits of perseverance and determination, which are very important traits in today’s society with a struggling economy.  At the end of the 4 or 5 years that it takes to earn a Bachelor’s degree, students are able to move on into the workforce or continue additional education.  It is important that the student not take time off from a degree so that they can avoid the unfortunate statistics that show that students that take time off or drop out of college end up never finishing a degree.  In addition to this, taking time off forces financial institutions to start the clock on student loans and they will begin to accumulate interest if a student does not maintain a full-time status.  If a student never finishes a degree, they have thousands of dollars in debt and no real opportunity to earn a job to pay back this debt.

The importance of a college degree, or multiple degrees, is clearly illustrated in its financial and social benefits.  College students must stay in school to receive the economic benefits of a degree, to be eligible to receive any additional financial aid that is available, and for students to avoid the trend of taking time off and never finishing the degree or paying back student loans early.  These are all very important reasons for students to stay in school.  A degree will lead the student to have much more success during these very difficult times in our country.  A college degree is crucial in our society and college students would be very wise if they continued to stay in school.