Is a Degree Still Worth It When Everything Is Becoming Expensive, Except Our Salaries

There was a time when getting a degree meant getting closer to a better life. Today, it often means getting closer to another loan, another unpaid internship and another salary that barely lasts until the end of the month.

Rent is rising, food is becoming expensive, travel costs more even if it’s just from your work city to home town, even the simple act of living independently is turning into a luxury. Yet salaries seem to be standing still, as if the cost of living has forgotten to tell them that the world has changed. Also, now with the new rules and regulations, the in-hand has decreased. This dire situation is pushing the whole country into a state of psychosis. 

And somewhere in between, a student is spending three or four years, lakhs of rupees and the best years of their youth earning a degree. But what happens when the degree arrives and the financial freedom doesn’t?

Are We Educating Students or Preparing Them to Struggle?

We’re told to work hard, pick the right course, improve our skillset and get a great job. We do what we’re told and gain lots of certificates, internships and hopefully enter the job market.

However, employers want you to have experience. They don’t pay much and require professional skills. Often there isn’t much opportunity for learning and the salary you receive is supposed to help you live your life which is getting more expensive.

Having a degree is still useful. Knowledge is key and education can open doors, however we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking a qualification will automatically make us financially secure.

Perhaps It Is Time to Question the Return on Education

The issue isn’t whether students should avoid degrees. But rather whether the education system, universities and employers are providing enough return on investment. Students should be learning skills that can make money, great opportunities and a salary to live a dignified life.

Education shouldn’t be teaching someone to “earn money” but should give them a fair opportunity to live as a decent human being.

And perhaps the most uncomfortable question to ask is if the cost of getting qualified continues to increase but the value of being qualified continues to decrease then who really benefits from education? The student or the GDP?