Financial and Education Challenges Are Primary Barriers to Student Success
The following is an excerpt from the Envision White Paper “Youth Believe They Will Surpass Their Parents.”
When asked, people agree that most successes in life are the result of learned skills, hard work, a little luck, and a consistent dedication to passion and overcoming challenges and/or barriers. We asked Envision students what they thought the biggest challenges facing them were. Their responses focused on immediate college-oriented issues; finances, or making the right choices to ensure a successful future.
Not surprisingly, money topped the charts for potential challenges. What is potentially more interesting was the correlation students drew between their future success and their concerns about having the right skills, education, experience and making good decisions.
When asked to be more specific about the most important issues that will shape their lives in the next five years, students overwhelmingly referred to college and education choices in their top responses. This was followed by finance and money; career, life, and family were considered secondary issues.
Students are well-founded in their concerns about getting into the right school. Further, those concerns directly correlate to their financial well-being.
It is proven getting a college degree impacts financial success. Those who graduate earn over $700,000 more than those who receive a partial college education. According to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, 97% of good jobs added in the Great Recession recovery have gone to college graduates. The Center defines a “good job” as one that is in the upper-third by median wages of occupations in which it is classified.
A positive advantage in salary between a top college degree and one that comes from a less prestigious school also exists, albeit primarily earlier in a career. But for students who choose to pursue STEM degrees, salaries show little variance, due to a high demand for workers with an understanding of science and math based disciplines.
Download the whole white paper “Youth Believe They Will Surpass Their Parents” today.