In the United States of America, there is a dream that most people will forever chase. This dream is called the American Dream. It can be explained as obtaining financial success, power, fame, and 40 acres and a mule. However, the road to this dream is very narrow. Most who achieve this dream are entertainment stars, sports players' entrepreneurs, and government officials just to name a few. However, for the common man, the road to this dream requires that they obtain a college degree. College is a place of knowledge, culture, diversity, and a place where one might meet life-long friends and possibly their significant other. However, college is extremely expensive. Most students leave college with enormous amounts of debt, graduate working a part time job paying minimum wage, and face other financial crisis.
Conversely, there are a select few of groups who advocate college and the effectiveness it provides. It is true that in today's time, that the majority of jobs require a college education. According to 'A Stronger Nation through Higher Education', "During the recession between Dec. 2007 and Jan. 2010, jobs requiring college degrees grew by 187,000, while jobs requiring some college or an associate's degree fell by 1.75 million and jobs requiring a high school degree or less fell by 5.6 million" (Lumina Foundation, 2013). This fact may be true, however, there are millions of individuals who are employed through trade, or through becoming entrepreneurs. In addition, the advocates for college believe that college educated graduates have lower poverty rates. According to 'Education Pays 2010: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society', "The 2008 poverty rate for bachelor's degree holders was 4%, compared to a 12% poverty rate for high school graduates" (Baum, Ma, & Pays, 2010). College educate graduates may have lower poverty rates but that doesn't discredit the fact that the debt they are faced with and the additional financial problems disappear.
