Benefits of Students Going to College Research Paper

Introduction

After high school, many students attend college. However, the reasons for attending college may vary from one student to another. Among these students, some attend college because they see this as what is expected of them. At the same time, some go to college because they feel they do not have anything else better that they can do. However, many benefits can be achieved by any student going to college. Going to college to have an education enables one to acquire knowledge to lead a better life and to open up doors for future career opportunities and increase the money earning power.

Review of literature

In a literature review about the reasons why students go to college to have an education, Higbee and Dwinell (1997) presented claims that studies that have been carried out by most of the researchers point out that the major reason why students go to college is the awareness they have about this move playing a major role in career preparation [Astin (1993), Chickering & Reisser (1993) and Astin, Dey, & Riggs (1991)]. However, the question remains as to whether such research findings are relevant to the current students. This question comes in because the motivations students have as well as their reasons for attending college are quite diverse among them (Higbee, Schultz and Goff (2006).

Gardner, Jewler and Barefoot (2007) present some reasons why students go to college. The reasons are that:

1. The students will have more knowledge and intellectual interests and be able to put up with one another in a more effective way and also to be able to learn in the course of their lives.
2. They will build up self-esteem and have more confidence in themselves which may play an important role in the way they have to deal with issues in this world.
3. By the students attending college, they will achieve flexibility and be more focused on the future and be ready to have an appreciation of disparities in opinions and take more interest in public affairs and reduce chances of engaging in criminal activities.
4. The students will become efficient consumers and will be able to accumulate savings, spend wisely and invest in more productive projects.
5. They will also be able to handle the legal systems that are put in place, bureaucracies, and the existing tax laws, among others in a most appropriate manner.

Schultz (2007), points out that even if there has been extensive research on the benefits of going to college by students and these benefits established as increasing the power to earn more money among other benefits, the students particularly in high school have their own understanding of the reasons why they should attend college. Schultz (2007) saw that the best way to establish these reasons is to set up a study in which the high school students should be interviewed in regard to the reasons as to why they should attend college. She designed a study to have the opinions of the students. In her findings, she established that the students aim to gain knowledge. However, as the study established, these students don’t want to stop at just acquiring knowledge but in addition, they want to gain entry into employment. It was established that students attend college to ensure doors are opened for them to future career opportunities. Based on her findings, Schultz (2007) poses questions that; “should developmental education faculty model focus on developing skills, knowledge, and abilities for workplace success? Are skills needed to achieve success in the workplace significantly different from the skills that developmental educators teach to ensure students’ academic success?” (Page 70). In relation to these questions, Higbee and Dwinell observe that “technology is advancing so rapidly that it is impossible to predict with certainty the employment patterns of the next forty years, the period of employment for today’s college student” (Page 76). This lack of possibility to carry out prediction with certainty is crucial and it must be keenly considered. It should be realized that the rapid technology change implies that the current students will enter into careers that do not exist in the present marketplace or even careers that have never been heard of (Fayon and Higbee, 2006).

Evaluation of the literature

The literature that has been reviewed concerning the various research findings in the field of the study indicates that the students attend college for various reasons but these reasons point to the common benefits that have to be derived at the end. The literature points out the common benefits as increasing the money earning power alongside gaining knowledge. Students want to gain entry into top employment. The literature points out the issue that, since most students go to college to get jobs in the future, the problem associated with this is the impossibility to predict the future employment patterns with certainty due to rapidly changing technology. However, the literature that has been reviewed in this paper does not give clear light on how this situation of impossibility in the prediction needs to be handled.

Conclusion

Various benefits are achieved by a student when he or she chooses to go to college to have an education. The student will be able to gain useful knowledge, gain entry in a particular future career of choice and increase the money earning power. The reasons why students attend college are quite diverse but these reasons overlap with each other, trying to point out the common benefits that have to be gained in the end. However, since students are striving to enter into the workforce after college, the problem comes in when it is realized that technology is rapidly advancing bringing in the impossibility to predict the future employment patterns with certainty. This issue needs further investigation.

Suggestions for further studies

Based on the literature, it seems that among the main reasons why students go to college is to gain entry into the workforce. As it has been established in the literature, due to rapidly advancing technology, future employment patterns will turn out to be impossible to predict with certainty. It could be quite important for more studies to be carried out to investigate this issue. By carrying out more studies on this issue, will ensure there are ways of handling this problem of impossibility in the prediction of the employment patterns with certainty for the students to continue gaining entry into the workforce even in the years to come.

References

Astin, A. W., Dey, E. L., & Riggs, E. R. (1991). The American freshman: National norms for fall 1991. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education, University of Califomia-Los Angeles.

Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chickering, A.W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fayon, A. K., and Higbee, J. L.,(2006). Attendance policies in developmental education courses: Promoting involvement or undermining students’ autonomy? Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 22(2), 7177.

Gardner, J. N., Jewler, A. J., & Barefoot, B. O. (2007). Your college experience: Strategies for success (7th ed.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.

Higbee, J. L., & Dwinell, P. L.(1997). Educating students about the purpose of higher education. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 14(1), 75-80.

Higbee, J. L., Schultz, J. L., & Goff, E. (2006). Attendance policies in developmental education courses: The student point of view. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 23(1), 78-85.

Schultz, J. L., (2007), Reasons for Attending College: The Student Point of View. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 46, 66- 78.

Astin, A. W., Dey, E. L., & Riggs, E. R. (1991). The American freshman: National norms for fall 1991. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education, University of Califomia-Los Angeles. book

Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. book

Chickering, A.W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. book

Fayon, A. K., and Higbee, J. L.,(2006). Attendance policies in developmental education courses: Promoting involvement or undermining students’ autonomy? Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 22(2), 7177. Journal

Gardner, J. N., Jewler, A. J., & Barefoot, B. O. (2007). Your college experience: Strategies for success (7th ed.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. Book

Higbee, J. L., & Dwinell, P. L.(1997). Educating students about the purpose of higher education. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 14(1), 75-80. Journal

Higbee, J. L., Schultz, J. L., & Goff, E. (2006). Attendance policies in developmental education courses: The student point of view. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 23(1), 78-85. Journal

Schultz, J. L., (2007), Reasons for Attending College: The Student Point of View. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 46, 66- 78 Journal