I stumbled across a piece at Campus Grotto recently that asked the question: Why Go to College? They generally have some good material on their site, but their answer left a taste in my mouth. Their answer wasn't bad, but they placed a lot more emphasis on the social experience than on learning or preparation for a career, I thought.

So I looked around a little...

The U.S. Department of Education has an answer online and, naturally, it's in a PDF format. Their answer was a chart. It showed that in 2006, about seven percent of high school drop outs were unemployed, while a little more than four percent of individuals with just a high school diploma were unemployed. Only about two percent of college graduates were unemployed then. The high school dropouts were making about $21K a year. The diploma-but-no-college kids were making an average of $31K a year. And the college grads had an average income of $50K a year. It sounded more statistical than inspiring.


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I guess I'd like to find an answer in between. My undergraduate years were challenging and mind expanding. That's a reference to humanities classes and the arts, not some psychedelic drug I discovered. Sure, the campus atmosphere was fun. I met people (some of them girls) and made friends. But I actually enjoyed my classes as much as anything. I'd like to think that college often imparts a love for learning. That's a good reason to go.

And the statistics about income and unemployment? That's not a bad reason, either...