Going to a college after graduating from a school is a common and often desirable way to spend a part of life for many young people. Some of them dream about it, while others are simply sent to a higher educational institution by their parents. Therefore, many students feel unhappy and disappointed there. This topic was greatly described in a lot of memo writing services. Moreover, a significant percentage of graduates cannot find jobs, which would have at least some relationship with their college major. Caroline Bird believes that the role of the college education is much overestimated today. She insists that college is not a good option for a big part of students. Just as society had systematically damaged women by insisting that their proper place was in the home, so we may be systematically damaging 18-year-olds by insisting that their proper place is in college. The question whether or not the college education is essential for every young individual is very controversial because one can hardly find two identical individuals, as well as two identical colleges and majors. Of course, there are people that do not need college education at all; for them, going there is a mere waste of time and money. Nevertheless, there are also people who would have never become what they are without the college education. For some professions, higher education is indeed a must. This paper argues that acquiring college education should not be a massive tendency, and that both young people and their parents should consider spending their money on a college diploma very carefully.

On the one hand, many insist that college education is crucial for success and financial stability of any individuals in the future. They believe that more people should be accepted to colleges, and that education should be free. Many young individuals are convinced that going to college is essential for them because the recent technological progress has significantly reduced the demand for the unskilled labor and improved the role of professional and managerial roles, which require specialized training. It is absolutely true, but many students go to a college with the only view to receiving a diploma, which would not help them find a job that they want because the field cannot hire all college graduates. For example, each year, there are more lawyers that graduate from colleges than there are jobs for them. Thus, making higher education free and available to all would lead to the situation when the government would pay for the education of people, who would not be able to find a job because of the high competition between graduates and a limited number of vacancies. Economic disparities play a significant role in access to higher education. Young people from high-income families are more likely to go to college, while individuals from poor families had to borrow money for the same goal. It is absolutely correct that sometimes, college works as a social equalizer and allows talented but poor people reach success. Nevertheless, differences in the financial status do not stop influencing one’s life after graduation, and rich students are still more likely to build a successful career.

Firstly, earning a college diploma should not be a massive tendency because people are often neither experienced nor mature enough to choose their future career when they graduate from a school and are going to a college. Many youngsters are pushed to institutions of higher education by their parents, who often shape their career choices. Very often, teenagers cannot persuade their parents that they do not want to go to a college because they are simply unsure about what they want to do. Unfortunately, quite often, parents deprive their offspring of the career choices; it makes these young people unhappy and frustrated. While most students felt supported by their family through the process (the choice of the major), some experienced pressure. These results are quite alarming because choosing a major is a very important step in one’s life. It forms a student's educational experience and can directly define their career path. For these reasons, young people, who do not feel confident about their future career, should not head to colleges immediately after graduating from a school. For some of them, it is better to take a gap year and decide what they want to do and whether they really need a college diploma to achieve their aim.

Secondly, young people should consider going to a college very carefully if they have to borrow money to cover the costs of their education. It is not a secret that many American people cannot afford higher education and have to contract a college loan debt. This tendency certainly has a negative influence on their lives, especially if taking into account the fact that 8.7% of young college graduates cannot find a job after getting their diplomas. This situation is especially frightening for women because they will have to pay the same student loan debts as men but at the same time, female graduates are more likely to earn less money due to the gender wage gap. The existing gender inequalities make the college loan debt burden bigger for women than for men. Young people should understand that sometimes, it is better to start participating in a financial life after graduation from a school than to go to a college and study something they neither like nor need and get a big college loan debt to be paid.

Finally, a massive tendency to get higher education reduces the value of college diplomas in the labor market, and many college graduates cannot find a good job after graduation. Students and parents, who pay significant amounts of money for higher education, expect it to bring them sufficient income in the future. Unfortunately, their expectations are not always fulfilled. A large part of graduates experiences serious problems when it comes to job search. For example, in 2011, 12.6% of recent college graduates suffered from unemployment. Apart from unemployment, college graduates often find it problematic to find a job, which has a direct relation to their major. For example, sociology graduates often have to accept job offers in such fields as management, sales, and personnel. In turn, graduates that choose journalism and mass communication as their major also report a lack of job opportunities and discrepancies between the knowledge taught at colleges and the real work experience: “A clear majority of the graduates reported they had been prepared for today’s job market by their courses, but large percentages did not report obtaining skills that now seem important for those seeking jobs in the changing communication occupations”. Bird mentions that engineer graduates also discover that their jobs have nothing to do with their classes at colleges. Unfortunately, the modern technological progress brings numerous economic, cultural, and social changes, and colleges cannot react to them quickly enough. For this reason, much knowledge acquired at colleges has little connection with the practical work experience. Consequently, very often, young individuals might find jobs and learn there more than they would ever learn at colleges. Of course, it is not always true because there are fields where higher education is a must, for example, healthcare and medicine.

Summing up, the importance of higher education is a complex problem, and many different factors should be taken into consideration while thinking about it. Even though some people believe that higher education should be free and available to everyone, this paper proves that a massive tendency of going to colleges has a range of negative financial and social consequences. Young individuals often experience parental pressure when they graduate from a school and have to select a college major. The lack of maturity and knowledge often leads teenagers, who are pushed to colleges by their parents, to wrong career choices. Many youngsters have to borrow money, to pay their tuition fees, and graduate with huge student loan debts. Besides, there are more people that graduate from colleges than there are jobs; thus, about 13% of recent graduates face unemployment. For these reasons, it is important for teachers and parents to stop pushing young individuals to colleges and universities. They should be allowed to make their choices individually when they are mature enough. In many cases, higher education is very important, and often it works as a social equalizer. Nevertheless, every person is unique, so this statement cannot be applied to all. Every individual has to decide what pass to take in own life without following the stereotypical beliefs about the exceptional value of higher education. Some people need a college diploma in order to reach success, happiness, and financial stability, while others have different talents and interests.