2 part homework (Revise rough draft,( I'll supply), (create Power Point from finalized rough draft)

Title: Success of a College Graduate v. a Non-College Graduate

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Date: 04 September 2017

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Success of a College Graduate v. a Non-College Graduate

The desire to have a successful future is one quality that is nurtured since we are children and by the time we become adults, this desire is already deeply ingrained in us. On way through which parents or guardians ensure that their children have a good start at being successful in life is through the provision of education. Education occurs in different levels, such as kindergarten, elementary school, high school, and also institutions of high education such as college.

One ranging debate as far as success is concerned is whether, between a college graduate and a non-college graduate, one has a higher probability of making it in life. According to some people, college graduates are more likely to enjoy successful lives by virtue of have completed their college education. Other people on the other hand disagree completely with this assertion. According to this latter group of people, success can happen even to people who are not college graduates. Given the fact that both arguments have merit, one issue that arises and which this paper seeks to explore is whether there are similarities and differences between the success of a college graduate and that of a non-college graduate. There are such similarities and differences as will be discussed below.

First, the success of a college graduate and that of a non-college graduate is similar in that it requires hard work to achieve. Hard work has been recognized as a key ingredient to achieving success. This position holds true to both college graduate and non-college graduates. It is not enough to graduate from college, collect once academic diploma, and then wait to succeed in life. Upon graduating from college, a person will need to seek employment or venture into business and whether he or she succeeds depends on how much hard work they put into that venture. For a person who is not a college graduate, there is need to seek an opportunity which will lead towards achieving success and which does not require any college education. When he or she gets that opportunity, the person will then need to work hard to ensure that they become successful. This therefore means that both college graduates and non-college graduate have the potential to succeed through hard work, just as both risk not being successful if they do not work hard.

Secondly, there exists places in the job market for both college graduates and non-college graduates. Whereas college graduates may get those opportunities that demand that they utilize the expertise they obtained during their college education, non-college graduates on the other hand may grab those opportunities which do not demand specialized know-how but only non-complex skills which can be learned easily on the job. As such, both graduates and non-graduates can take advantage of their respective opportunities as availed by the job market to transform them into successful and rewarding careers. From this, one can conclude that achieving success does not depend on whether one has graduates from college or not, rather, it depends on how willing a person is to grab existing opportunities and transforming them into success stories.

Lastly, some people achieve success through entrepreneurship. One of the advantages of entrepreneurship is that one may not require college education. On only needs to have a business idea, acquire some capital and then invest it into a business enterprise. Being successful in such a venture will be determined by other factors such as how viable the business idea is, and not whether the person who owns the business is a college graduate or not. Based on the above, one can conclude that in the field of entrepreneurship, both college graduates and non-college graduates have equal prospects of being successful in life.

However, there are certain differences which set apart college graduates from non-college graduates. First, college education has been recognized as important in preparing graduates for success by providing them with essential skills necessary for life after graduation (PEW Research Center, 2014). For instance, a college graduate has been trained as a specialist in a specific field and therefore he or she has a better chance of succeeding in a given profession compared to a non-college graduate. As such one can say that by graduating from college, a person is better prepared to satisfy the strict job requirements that most employers lay down while hiring. In addition to this, given that there are lesser college graduates in the job market compared to non-college graduates, a college graduate therefore has a higher probability of succeeding in getting a great and well-paying job compared to a non-college graduate (Hall, 2013).

Secondly, it has been recognized that remuneration within the job market varies depending on one’s academic qualifications. For instance, college graduates are paid more salaries compared to non-college graduates who are paid lesser amounts in salaries even for equal work (Rugaber, 2017). This therefore means that to make a successful life for oneself through financial stability, one would need to be a college graduate. In addition to higher remuneration, college graduates are also provided with better terms of employment and a horde of other favorable benefits, thereby increasing their overall job satisfaction. The same can not be said of non-college graduates whose terms of employment and benefits are not so favorable, hence reducing their job satisfaction.

Lastly, job security is another factor which acts in favor of college graduates in the job market. Apart from enjoying higher salaries, better terms of employment and other favorable benefits compared to non-college graduates, college graduates also enjoy job security. This is because college education makes a person to be more valuable as an employee to an employer and therefore such a person is less likely to be replaced by the employer. This, however, is not the case when it comes to non-college graduates whose limited education makes them less valuable and as such, they therefore risk being replaced with other more academically accomplished employees by the employer.

In conclusion, though the debate concerning college graduates and non-college graduates may subsist especially with regard to their future prospects of achieving success, it is nevertheless important to note that factors such as hard work, the existence of opportunities suited for their academic qualifications, and also the option of investing in business make it easier for every person to achieve success. However, other factors such as the essential skills that college education provides, the differences in remuneration provided by employers depending on academic qualifications, and also job security guaranteed by graduating from college, also play a part in making college graduates more likely to succeed compared to non-college graduates. One can therefore state that a person who has a college degree is more predisposed to achieving success to one who does not have a college degree.

References

Hall, S. H. (2013, March 17). College Educated More Likely to Have Job. The Times Tribune . United States.

PEW Research Center. (2014). The Rising Cost of Not Going to College. Washington DC: PEW Research Center.

Rugaber, C. S. (2017, January). Pay Gap between College Grads and Everyone else at a record. United States.