Online Custom «Benefits of Higher Education» Essay Sample

The benefits of higher education are numerous and varied. These benefits can either be to an individual, to the family or the society by extension. The benefits to the individual can be basically divided into two categories, extrinsic benefits and intrinsic benefits. The other benefits are to the family and to the society as a whole.

The extrinsic benefits of higher education include high income that I might earn as a result of my education. This is because higher education will provide me with the opportunity to compete for the few available job opportunities where I will get the chance to earn an income that can sustain me and my family. In fact, studies have shown that there is a considerable positive difference between what is earned by individuals who have gone through higher education and those that have not done so (Walter, 2009). For example, studies have shown that people who have gone through the higher education system earns twice as much as those who have not. In the modern society, most if not all employers require employees to have gone through the education system. Having gone through the education system, I will be in a position to demand better pay from my employers than those less educated. A better lifestyle is also an extrinsic benefit that I will get as a result of having gone through the higher education system. This is not only as a result of the higher income, but also the social status that I will attain. All this will improve the living standards for me and society by extension. Another benefit that I think will result from pursuing higher education is better management of my money and savings. How one manages his savings and earnings is crucial and could even be labeled as the difference between poverty and wealth. The ability to make crucial decisions such as investment or saving decisions require people with higher education.

On the other hand, the intrinsic benefits of higher education include ease in relating with people of diverse cultures and backgrounds (Walter, 2009). Higher education makes us appreciate the society as a mixture of people from different cultures and we realize that there are people who are different from us. This makes it easy to adapt to any working or living environment as relating to people of diverse cultures is easy. Relating with others is crucial in attaining a successful career. Since we all strive for success, learning to relate to people is important. I will be able to appreciate everyone’s opinion as I have learned that everyone should be listened to irrespective of differing opinions. Another intrinsic benefit is better health, which leads to long life. Part of higher education is learning to lead a healthy life. I think higher education will give me the opportunity to enjoy these intrinsic benefits.

Apart from the above personal benefits, other benefits of higher education will be to my family and society. Higher education will enable me to support my family financially as I can manage to earn a decent living. To the society, higher education provides holistic individuals, able to make crucial decisions. This is important in making decisions such as election of appropriate leaders. It is well known that a learned society is able to elect competent leaders compared to one that has not been through the higher education (Keller, 2008).

In conclusion, I think the above benefits justify the need for higher education and explain why governments and families make sure young people like me go through this system, these benefits also prove that I made a good decision by going through the higher education system and will definitely benefit from higher education.