Topic: is college education worth it? (Negative side) I. Introduction

  There are several reasons illustrating how unnecessary enrolling in universities is to every individual. Here are four primary issues raised from studying in colleges:

  First and foremost, the total cost of going to college is expensive. With the process of increasing autonomy and privatization in many public universities following the implement of Decree 99/2019/NĐ-CP by the Vietnamese Government (Hạc, 2020), tuition fees in many universities have increased dramatically. It is estimated by the Ministry of Education that the average tuition fee for the 2021 – 2022 school year will be 12.5% higher compared to that for the previous school year (Chung & Trang, 2020). A student now must pay at least 12 million VND/year, with some are required to pay as high as 80 million VND/year. Along with costs for daily needs, high fees create massive burdens for many families, especially for less prestigious ones.

  It also mentioned that the cost of going to colleges also includes the cost of missed opportunities, specifically the opportunity of joining the workforce at an early age. Those who start working early are capable of not only supporting their own lives without interference from parents, but accruing valuable experience, skills, and practical knowledge. Many corporations now prioritize hiring employees with past experience and skill, since those do not require much training, thereby reducing the cost for these companies.

  On the other hand, despite how expensive studying in universities is, the salaries for a bachelor graduate and a high-school graduate are basically equal. According to a survey carried out by Jobstreet.com in 2015, the average salary for a bachelor graduate is around 5-7 million VND, while that for high-school graduates is roughly the same (Jobstreet.com, 2015). Therefore, it is agreed by our group that individuals should seek jobs after graduating high school, rather than pursuing secondary education.

  Second, many people succeed without college degrees whereas many college graduates are unemployed. According to the Newsletter on Vietnam labor market update first quarter of 2019 published by The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs coordinates with the General Statistics Office, there are currently 124.5 thousand unemployed people with college degrees. This figure is significantly high, contrast to the belief held by many that a college graduate could easily earn a job with high pay right after graduation. Many experts blamed the high number for lack of lessons on practical skills and knowledge in many universities, adding with the fact that many bachelors only focus on studying without paying much attention to outdoor activities. Many unemployed have to continue to rely on financial support from their families, further increasing the already high burden that their families had to take before.

Meanwhile, there have been many cases of those without a college degree but still become well-known for their successful business. Many billionaires, such as Bill Gates – founder of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg – founder of Facebook and Charles Culpepper – owner and CEO of CocaCola did not attend universities after graduating high school. All of them are highly intelligent and capable of being admitted in high quality universities; but instead, after acknowledging how unnecessary studying in colleges is, they chose to pursue a career very early and ultimately achieved great success in their businesses. It is clearly seen that a college degree is not a requirement to become rich and successful afterwards.  

  Third, many colleges in Vietnam do not provide job guidances for students. Many study courses in universities these days still primarily focus on providing vague knowledge from books, with not much attention in providing students with soft skills or how to translate theory into practice. Many students may be good at memorizing lessons; but fail when applying them into real life. On the other hand, there is a serious lack of courses to give guidances for students on how to find jobs relevant with their studies after graduation. This results in approximately 60% of bachelors applying for jobs that do not link with their specialized fields in colleges (Ny, 2020), meaning that 4 years of studying is a complete waste of time and money.   

  Lastly, college stress can lead to health problems and other negative consequences. College students now report being more anxious and depressed than ever before. Experts found out that “The competition for grades, the need to perform, relationships, career choice, and many other aspects of the college environment cause stress”. A research carried out by New York University stated that 6 in 10 college students report having felt so stressed they could not get their work done on more than one occasion (James, 2015). Feeling stressful while studying also prevents them from hanging out and making social contacts, they rather stay at home and finish their deadlines. Not only do they fear of failure at schools, but many students also have the pressure to succeed in the future. Parents pay a quite large amount of money for their children’s education, so many students feel awful if they are not able to meet up with their parents’ expectations, especially in Vietnam when the success of a child significantly affects the image of his parents.

  Stress could lead to serious health problems to students, especially with mental issues. With the increasing recognition of child mental health issues and the use of more psychotropic medications, the number of young adults with mental health problems entering college has significantly increased. For example, in a survey of 274 institutions, 88% of counseling center directors reported an increase in “severe” psychological problems over the previous 5 years including learning disabilities, self-injury incidents, and eating disorders (Pedrelli & Nyer, 2014). Some formal sources stated that approximately 43% of the student population within the educational system have been diagnosed with or treated for depression.