With the rapid advances in technology, many of today’s jobs now require more than a high school education or trade skills. Success in the workforce is increasingly defined by the ability to think critically, manipulate a computer, and to work collaboratively in a teaming environment. Today’s college education develops these abilities, providing individuals with invaluable business and personal skills and knowledge, as well as opening the door to better career opportunities and increased earning power.

As American society becomes more diverse, the workforce and marketplace must also become more diverse. The long-term viability of any organization is dependent on the skill and experience of all employees (Jackson, et al 204) and managers are often tempted to rely on a chosen few to get results. A person with a college education will very likely be successful in this business climate. During the course of a college education, a person has the opportunity to learn from and work with people from diverse backgrounds. Academic learning teams (a major component of the educational curriculum at University of Phoenix) are comprised of students from different cultural, social, and economic b

The skills and knowledge that a person acquires during a college education are beneficial in both the personal and professional worlds. The bottom line is that the average college degree holder will earn significantly more money than the average high-school educated worker. Though a college education is expensive, it pales in comparison to the cost of ignorance: “If you think the price of an education is expensive, try the price of ignorance. You pay for education once; you pay for ignorance everyday for the rest of your life” (Anonymous).

According to the Wall Street Journal (9/26/94), college graduates earn 75 percent more than comparable high-school graduates; moreover, 63 percent of high school graduates went to college in 1993, compared with 53 percent in 1983. The good news is that the premium paid by employers for a college degree doubled in the 1980s. The bad news is that the increase was mainly due to the decline in the wages paid to those without a college degree. (Cummings).

As these studies show, higher education unlocks doors to many opportunities. College graduates have acquired skills throughout their college experiences that provide a competitive edge in the job market. As opposed to learning a specific skill for a specific job, the skills a person acquires throughout the college experience, in addition to the actual college degree, can generally be applied to many different types of jobs. For example, if a person receives training and acquires skills as a mechanic, he can fix cars; whereas, if a person receives a college education and acquires a business degree, that knowledge can be applied across a broad spectrum of the job market such as ma

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