Why is College Important?

Staff blog by Denise Terry and Jaclyn Forshtay

Figuring out what you want to do with your life can be intimidating. Whether you’re fresh out of high school or taking a gap year, you’re probably asking, ‘Why is college important?’ Answering this question takes some discernment.

For some individuals, making money as a young adult serves as an incentive to dive straight into the workforce. However, it’s important to keep in mind that pursuing a college education can offer a wide-range of opportunities. A college degree prepares you not only for a future career, but for multiple aspects of your life. 

Read this Q + A about the question, “Why is college important?” with Director of the Center for Career Connections Denise Terry and Career Success Coordinator Jaclyn Forshtay to discover more about what college offers you. 

Why is it important to go to college? 

Denise: When we talk to students about the question ‘Why is college important?’ and about choosing a major, we try to help them think more broadly about what employers are looking for in recent graduates. While a major is important, graduating from college improves your ability to market critical skills employers are looking for. 

College prepares you for a career by developing your work-ready competencies. A college graduate has credentials and expertise that distinguish them from other candidates in the job market. Those who have not attended college, might need more time to develop these skills. 

Jaclyn: Some of those competencies, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), are communication, critical thinking, leadership, teamwork, technology skills, and career development. These attributes not only prepare students for the next stage of their career, but help them attain their future goals. For instance, if you’re competent in leadership and desire to work as an entrepreneur, this invaluable skill could help you develop an effective team to lead your dream business. 

What are the benefits of going to college (educationally and socially)? 

Denise: College provides you with the opportunity to grow holistically. The holistic development you receive from Christian higher education gives you the chance to grow in your relationships, professionalism, character, service, and spirituality. 

Jaclyn: If you’re a residential student, you learn what it looks like to live and get along with a single roommate or multiple roommates. That’s a good challenge.

What do students learn in college that they would not learn by jumping immediately into the workforce?

Jaclyn: At a liberal arts college, you have the opportunity to gain a foundation of general knowledge in effective writing, public speaking, math, and science classes. Those courses serve as a base for any job you could have in the future. 

When someone decides to go right into a career, they may not have that foundation. That will matter depending on what career they go into. But when you graduate from college, you’ll need that knowledge foundation, because it could provide you with a higher salary. 

Denise: College is a transition phase. You’re shifting from familial dependence to a new chapter of greater independence. This change helps you acquire the skills you need to become fully independent and live on your own. Those who just enter the workforce, might remain at home or move out without any time to transition. 

Jaclyn: College is also an exploratory period. Why is college important? You have the chance to try different majors and opportunities compared to someone that might jump into work and feel stuck because that’s where they landed. 

What experiences do students gain in the college environment?

Denise: At Grace, every student has an experiential learning requirement in order to graduate. 

This is an internship or practicum that takes you out of the classroom into a real-world experience where you get to learn about a particular field in a safe environment. 

Sometimes you think you’ll love something until you actually try it. This unique experience embedded in our educational structure allows you to explore opportunities, but also sort out your best fit for a career.

Jaclyn: Furthermore, students also gain social experiences at college. There are opportunities for you to continue the clubs that you were once involved in: collegiate athletics or intramurals. 

Why is college important? It gives you the chance to try something different or continue what you loved in high school.

What should students in high school know before entering college?

Denise: You should figure out affordability (what’s reasonable in terms of debt, savings, or your ability to work while in school). You need to figure out the financial side of college and not blindly go into the financial aid options available because college is expensive. 

Students feel a lot of pressure when trying to figure out what they want to do for a job. Don’t feel that pressure. Don’t feel like you have to have your career decided before you start college. Quite often, you need the glimpse of what college provides to help clarify your direction, rather than having it all sorted out as a high school student. 

My caution would be to push back on the assumption that you need to know exactly what you want to do before you go to college. A majority of students change their major. This is not because everyone’s lost or doesn’t know what they’re doing. It’s because college is a developmental journey, and those discernment decisions take time. 

College is the best place to make these discerning decisions because you’re in an environment where everyone’s asking similar questions.

Why is it important to go to college? You have full support and resources available to help you  sort through your own journey. If you don’t do that, you’re just going to walk toward things that are available to you. Those don’t always help you figure out what you want to do.

Do you have any recommendations for students who are considering college?

Denise: You might be wondering, ‘Why is college important?’ Well, how do you envision your own story? What do you long for? Not that you can fully control it, but what do you aspire to, and does college fit into that? Is college a requirement to do the things you long to do? 

It includes dreaming and aspirational thinking, where you have to imagine your ideal future, the timing of that future, and whether college would be a step toward it.

If you wait, start working, and have a family, it’s harder to fit in school. I mean, people do it. It’s not impossible by any stretch. It’s just a different, sometimes harder path to enter into school later when you have other obligations: family, jobs, and more.

Jaclyn: If you’re not quite sure what you want to do, start talking to people. Consider job shadowing or service work. 

Try to get in the circle, in the vicinity of someone who’s doing what you’re interested in. Have a conversation with them about what that might look like, career or education-wise. That can provide understanding as you’re trying to figure out what you want to do in the future.

Consider, “Why is college important?”

When asking the question, “Why is it important to go to college?”, you might have difficulty imagining life with a degree. However, the benefits are worth it. In a 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study, 5.5% of bachelor’s degree holders were unemployed, compared with 9% of high school graduates. This means that pursuing a college degree provides you with more interviews and more financial stability over time. 

If you desire to be more financially stable and learn more about your passions in an exploratory setting, consider college. Discover what career God created you for and visit Grace campus to see the opportunities available.