We spend money on housing, food, transportation, clothing, and other necessities every day, with these basic costs building our own financial puzzles. Education is another piece to this financial puzzle that can seem overwhelming or nonessential, but there are reasons spending money on education is just as valuable as any other part of life.
Spending money on education and investing in yourself is important because it grants you greater career opportunities, higher earning potential, and exposure to new information and more expansive ideas.
These reasons for spending money on education are not inconsequential and ultimately lead to a more fulfilling life. Whether you’re interested in more jobs or being a more global and broad-minded citizen, education can be a catapult to achieving your dreams. Understanding the impact of education’s benefits can help you understand why you should spend money on education.
The Values of Education and Why Education is Worth Paying For
Education provides you with more career opportunities than exist without it, and many (but not all!) career paths require it. If you are interested in working in law or medicine as an official practitioner, you will almost certainly need a formal degree. When you have more education, you also give yourself a competitive advantage as a candidate. Competition is higher for roles requiring less education than specialized education, so when you obtain more education, you surpass competition and can compete for other roles with fewer challengers.
In addition to opening the doors for a wider range of career opportunities, education also increases your earning potential, and who doesn’t want to make more money? Employers are willing to pay more for specialized knowledge or advanced education. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows workers with graduate degrees had the lowest unemployment rates and the highest earnings than any other cohort.
If more career opportunities or a higher earning potential don’t appeal to you, consider the treasure trove of knowledge education unlocks. Education improves literacy, creativity, curiosity, and appreciation for the world around you. Education enriches your life and allows you to befriend ideas or people whom you might have previously misunderstood.
It’s clear education is valuable to the point of paying for it, but how should it be paid for? Outside of traditional student loans, there are alternative ways to pay for education so you can receive more career opportunities, a higher earning potential, and wider world views.
Education Without Student Loans: Alternative Ways to Pay For Education
If you’re interested in obtaining advanced education through a formal degree and are trying to figure out how to pay, consider starting your research by checking out the College Scorecard. The College Scorecard is a tool provided by the U.S. Department of Education that allows you to compare colleges and universities using metrics such as cost, graduation and retention rates, financial aid available, and even lists of fields of study and expected salary after completion. By choosing a more affordable institution, you’ve already given yourself a head start to pay for your education. Once you’ve made your decision, consider the following ways outside of student loans to actually finance your learning.
Fund your education by working, either part-time (or full-time, if you are ambitious) during school or alternating between full-time work and full-time study. If you do choose to work while attending school however, consider the consequences splitting time can have, such as harming your grades or affecting your ability to take other non-paid opportunities like internships.
Another substitute to pay for education other than student loans is to borrow money from a family member or friend. By doing so, you don’t take on a formal loan obligation with a bank, which might have variable interest rates and would affect your credit score. Instead, you could negotiate with your friend or family member how much interest you pay and how often you make payments, and can borrow sums of money more regularly.
If you’re already working and looking to acquire more education, see if your employer will sponsor your education. Harvard Business School Online suggests a series of steps to follow to ask your employer to pay for your education, including doing research before hand, outlining career development as your priority with a pre-calculated ROI (return on investment), creating a pitch, and presenting your request at the right time.
Should Education Be Free?
In the U.S., higher education is not free. Education is a good, just like a car or bread, which costs money to produce. The costs associated with providing education include paying teachers, constructing and maintaining buildings (such as heating, cooling, lighting, and providing plumbing), landscaping, and paying for additional staff such as cooks or administrators. Some wonder whether or not those costs should be absorbed directly by the student, or more communally through taxation and government spending. The cost of education can definitely be a barrier to entry, so free education would be another step towards increased equality and opportunity. The ever-growing amount of student debt is also a reason some believe education should not be paid for directly by the student. According to the New York Times and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 44 million Americans have more than $1.5 trillion in student debt. Still, the money to cover the costs of providing education doesn’t just appear out of thin air. Taxpayers would more than likely inadvertently pay for “free” education.
Education is a good worth paying for, but whether or not it should be paid for directly by the student is yours to decide.
Conclusion
Due to its ability to provide you with increased opportunities, income, and understanding, education is worth spending money your money on, and can be financed in ways other than traditional student loans. Ultimately, education is an important factor in your pursuit of financial independence.
Climb on, Finbase.
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