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How to Make Sure Your Higher Education Will Bring Value, Not Drain It

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How to Make Sure Your Higher Education Will Bring Value, Not Drain It

Photo : How to Make Sure Your Higher Education Will Bring Value, Not Drain It

Deciding on a career requires careful planning. You don't have much time to choose, and on top of that, you have to pay an insurmountable amount of money for the path you choose.

To be honest, you're just betting that the degree you earn will be valuable. Most people don't like to talk about this reality, but it's something young students face all the time. What's worse is that if you pay attention to the numbers things start to look more dire than they should.

Why Should Students be Concerned?

An estimated 41 percent of grad students have jobs that don't require a degree.

People spend their time and effort to become college graduates only to work in a job that doesn't require that. Some of these folks are probably dispirited and may be seeking another higher education degree, which will cost more money.

It's no wonder that many graduate students are drowning in debt. It's actually a trillion dollar crisis in this country.

The job they thought would help them pay back the money they borrowed did not materialize. The cost of education is incredibly high in America, unlike many other developed countries. Other countries have in one way or another decided to collectively pay for student's education beyond high school and consider it an investment in the future.

The pickle that America is in due to debt is much bigger than some might think. Many of these students aren't able to become homeowners or even car owners.

Student debt is so crushing that they can't invest or start businesses. This is affecting America's younger generation, and while the effects of it might not be seen just yet, it's going to come crashing down, creating an even bigger problem down the line.

What can younger students do to avoid this fate? Besides fighting for student debt forgiveness, a policy that makes college tuition free, or any other sensible solution, students could rethink the way they choose a career.

Making Sure Your Degree Makes a Difference

Students have to rethink their futures not only because of some of the aforementioned issues but also because the pandemic has exasperated the problem.

Some jobs went out the window during this crisis, and some companies are struggling so much that they aren't willing to take a chance on new hires. This is the reason students who are trying to figure out what kind of degree to choose will have to go back to the basics and focus on practical degrees rather than anything else.

Education specialists like the folks at School Authority suggest that you also consider the school. It needs to be one with competent professors and an impressive alumni success rate. You don't want to go to a school that produces jobless graduates.

Ask yourself some of the following questions:

Is it an Essential Degree?

You, along with the rest of the world, now know what an essential worker is. Use this knowledge to guide you to degrees that will make a difference in this world.

For example, you could consider being a doctor, nurse, or another profession in the health field. You can also consider becoming a vaccine researcher. This does mean you'll need the right undergrad degree in something like microbiology or cellular biology, just to give you a few examples.

Virology is also an interesting field to consider. It encompasses a lot, but one thing you could do is track viral emergence around the world and maybe help prevent the next pandemic.

Will it Help People Get Back to Normal?

The nation and world will need a lot of hands to get back to normal after it overcomes the pandemic. There are careers perfectly suited to help people get back to some kind of normalcy, and all you need is a little foresight.

There are a lot of ways you can help. For example, a degree in psychology could be of the utmost importance at the moment. Many people lost family members, sometimes a number of them in a short period. The people left behind might need some help confronting the trauma.

Frontline workers themselves, especially doctors, have pretty much lived through a warzone. Dozens of people died in front of them, and they couldn't do much to prevent it. That's trauma that they'll need help with.

Teachers, economists, and supply chain managers are also important careers to consider. There's going to be a new need for lawyers to help employees who were put in unnecessary danger by their employers during the pandemic. Software developers might also be vital as the world moves to a more digital world, which was propelled by the pandemic.

These are just some things you could consider now that you're trying to choose a career that won't leave you jobless. Of course, this is still a gamble, but it's not as big as the risks some students were taking in the past.

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