{"id":788,"date":"2018-05-04T21:30:28","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T21:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/?p=788"},"modified":"2022-04-27T14:44:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T14:44:20","slug":"7-reasons-to-consider-going-back-to-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/788\/7-reasons-to-consider-going-back-to-college\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Reasons to Consider Going Back to College"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you considering going back to school? It can be a hard decision to make.<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of things to consider, both pros and cons.<\/p>\n<p>To help you in your decision-making process, we&#8217;ve compiled the top 7 reasons you should consider going back to college.<\/p>\n<p>Check them out below!<\/p>\n<h2>1. Make More Money<\/h2>\n<p>All your life, you&#8217;ve probably heard that a college degree will help you make more money. Well, guess what? It&#8217;s true!<\/p>\n<p>In fact, one study found that college graduates make <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/infographic\/economy\/college-degree-earnings\/\">twice as much<\/a> as high school graduates. In other words, it&#8217;s totally worth it.<\/p>\n<p>If it seems like too big of a financial burden to go back to school, think of it this way. It&#8217;s an investment! It&#8217;s a cost today that will have a certain payback over a certain number of years.<\/p>\n<p>You don&#8217;t want to be making an entry-level salary or hourly wage 20 years into your career. But without a degree, it may be much harder to advance.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, career advancement is the number one reason for many people when thinking about going back to school.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Greater Job Security<\/h2>\n<p>Even if you&#8217;re happy with your current job situation, going back to college is still a great idea for future job security.<\/p>\n<p>The data proves this. The unemployment rate for those who haven&#8217;t gone to school averages around 4.6%. For those with a bachelor&#8217;s degree, that rate is cut almost in half at only 2.5%.<\/p>\n<p>So what this means is that having a degree decreases your chance of unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>Furthering your education can also often make you more valuable to your current employer. With your increased knowledge and skills, you have more to offer.<\/p>\n<p>Think about this. If your company has to lay off someone, they will probably keep the employee with greater education.<\/p>\n<p>Another reason college is worth it is because of what it says about your character. Taking lots of classes, each with many assignments, tests, quizzes, and projects says a lot about you. If you can finish that, your employer sees that you follow through on what you start.<\/p>\n<h2>3. A Sense of Accomplishment: Another Perk of Going Back to College<\/h2>\n<p>This is another reason you should go back to school. When you finish your program, you can be proud of your work.<\/p>\n<p>College is not for the faint of heart. With so many credits needed to graduate, it&#8217;s a large task. So when you finish, that is a very satisfying feeling!<\/p>\n<p>Completing your degree is a great way to prove your worth to yourself and to remember your value. Many times, close loved ones will also celebrate your accomplishment with you, which feels wonderful as well.<\/p>\n<h2>4. A Shift in Direction<\/h2>\n<p>In today&#8217;s day and age, you don&#8217;t have to pick one career and stay on that path forever. If you aren&#8217;t happy with your current position, it&#8217;s okay to make a change.<\/p>\n<p>In many cases, a college education is the perfect way to change your direction. Here are just a few reasons people have chosen to shift careers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boredom in their current line of work<\/li>\n<li>Job loss<\/li>\n<li>Becoming an empty nester<\/li>\n<li>Death of a loved one<\/li>\n<li>Divorce<\/li>\n<li>Lack of growth in current industry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whatever the case is in your situation, now&#8217;s a great time to start doing what you really want to be doing.<\/p>\n<p>As you start in a new field, you might have a different background than many other professionals around you, but that&#8217;s okay! Employers will respect the work you put in to qualify yourself for a new career path.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Confidence<\/h2>\n<p>If you have ever felt consistently unconfident about being able to fulfill your job, you know how terrible that feels. Often times, this feeling stems from a lack of knowledge or understanding.<\/p>\n<p>A college degree is a great way to have more confidence in your position. This is because having the education you need will give you the ability to perform your job better.<\/p>\n<p>And you will leave your college program with improved skills that will help you stand a little taller as an expert in your field.<\/p>\n<h2>6. Set a Good Example<\/h2>\n<p>For all the parents out there, this is for you. If you have teenagers, it&#8217;s likely you have encouraged them to pursue a college degree after high school.<\/p>\n<p>Well, if you don&#8217;t have a degree yourself, you might have realized that it can be hard for your kids to take you seriously. In other words, you haven&#8217;t exactly practiced what you&#8217;ve been preaching.<\/p>\n<p>But don&#8217;t worry. Going back to college and finishing your degree is a great way to show your loved ones the importance of education. This can often have a rippling effect, helping to motivate them to also get a degree.<\/p>\n<p>Another side of this is if none of your family has ever been to college. Being a first-generation college student can be hard since you don&#8217;t have any family members to turn to for advice, but it&#8217;s totally possible!<\/p>\n<p>And you never know the power of your example. You getting a degree may inspire your parents, siblings, or other family members to attend college. If you have young kids or plan on having a family in the future, your example of being a first-generation college student will have a large impact on them as well.<\/p>\n<h2>7. Networking Potential<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking to further your career or switch industries, it can be hard to do it if you don&#8217;t have any connections. That&#8217;s where networking comes in.<\/p>\n<p>Going back to college will provide you with lots of new social ties in the form of classmates, professors, and industry professionals. These relationships can develop into job opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Being in a college setting with other people whose interests align with yours is a perfect networking opportunity.<\/p>\n<h2>Last Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Now that you&#8217;ve read through these reasons you should consider going back to college, it&#8217;s time to make a plan.<\/p>\n<p>Have questions? Feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/contact-the-upgifs-com-team\/\">contact us<\/a> anytime.<\/p>\n<p>Or check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/category\/self-improvement-posts\/\">self-improvement blog<\/a> for other self-help advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you want to land your dream career? Here are some reasons to consider going back to college so you can start working towards your ultimate goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22695,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/22695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}