Dating back to the eighteenth century, around the Renaissance period, the topic of education has been an important asset to an individual, and society as a whole.

The establishment of intellectual institutions such as Oxford, Harvard, and Yale within the early and late Elizabethan era have been centers for intellectuals to grow and learn about the world around them.

Fast-forwarding to modern day society, the role of education has remained the same with the exception of previously marginalized groups being granted the ability to access a standard kindergarten through twelfth grade education, alongside higher education if they so choose. It can also be said that pressures to pursue a higher form of education have increased exponentially, but why is this so?

It is fairly common and encouraged on a federal level for a student to receive a pre-high school education as well as a high school diploma.

After completing these years of academic instruction, a student is not required to attend college, though, they begin to receive a great deal of peer and societal pressures to attend college.

This influence is clearly a carefully implemented marketing strategy administered to the public through the media.

Advertisements promoting a wide range of low budget and highly accredited colleges and universities begin to appear at high rates and are geared towards high schoolers, single parents, and those who dropped out of their k-12 years of school and endeavor to go back to school to attain a better life.

The idea of a better life has inaccurately been synonymized with colleges and universities giving the majority of these targeted groups the idea that not pursuing a higher education is synonymous to having an inferior life.

The question is, are there any truths to such sentiments, and how necessary is a higher education? The answer is simple; it depends on the individual.

According to Dawn Papandrea writing from College Covered, “For some students, traditional college may not be the best choice if you want to work in a trade like plumbing or construction.”

The same can also be said for an individual who desires to pursue cosmetology or aesthetic endeavors.

At the same time, Papandrea also suggests that “attending college is usually a smart decision for students. In fact, for the most lucrative career paths, a college degree is usually a minimum requirement just to get a job.”

In relation to the concept of having a better life, college can be extremely helpful, though it may not be if your potential career endeavors do not require a degree.

So yes, to an individual with a desire to pursue something that requires a liberal arts education, Papandrea states that “a college degree is not only necessary, but worth the expense.”

For a student who seeks to pursue a trade or a career that does not require a bachelor’s degree as a prerequisite, it is not at all necessary.

So what would you truly like to pursue? Your path is solely dependent on you.