I promise you, there’s a brighter side to those all-nighters.
So, you’ve graduated high school, or maybe you’re on the verge of graduating, and you’re debating pursing a post-secondary level of education: Congratulations! However, if you don’t fall into this category of people, and you’re honestly just looking for some inspiration to push through the remainder of your degree program (…like myself…), I’ve got you covered.
Today, I want to take a look at what I feel are the top three perks of pursuing a post-secondary education.
A post-secondary education leads to better employment prospects
I’m sure you’ve heard of this a million times by now: “Graduate university, it’ll help you get a job!” I’m not here to nag you, but rather to offer some insight on studies which have proven that [almost] any sort of post-secondary education may just lead you to a better job, or better yet, a better paying job. But, we’ll get to that later on in the article.
Michael T. Nietzel, a former university president and senior contributor for Forbes Magazine writes about the benefits that a post-secondary education can have on your employment rates.
A “Report on the Condition of Education” is released by the National Center for Education Statistics every year, and it is a mandatory, annual report, mandated by the U.S. Congress to summarize the latest data on American education. This report, assessed by Nietzel, revealed some valuable information to the public.
Looking into the data for 2021, the employment rate of 25-34 year-olds was higher for those with a bachelor’s degree of higher level of educational achievement. For that age group, the employment rate increased to:
- 53% for those who had not completed high school;
- 68% for high school graduates;
- 75% for those with some college, but no degree; and
- 86% for those with a bachelor’s or higher degree.
This is a fairly impressive increase of employment in comparison to the data recorded in 2010. This report revealed that over the past decade, there was a positive increase of employment rates from 73% to 76% for this specific age group.
The increase in employment following post-secondary education is reaching even higher levels in Canada.
In February of this year, the province of British Columbia released its latest Labour Market Outlook: the report shows that a whopping 80% of the new 1-million job openings over the next decade will require some sort of post-secondary education.
Among these 1-million openings, it’s expected that there will be around 500 new occupations in the fields of health care and social assistance; professional, scientific and technical services (STEM); retail trade; construction; and educational services.
About 2/3 of these jobs are based on demographic trends, with regard to the expected retirements that are to take place over the next decade. In addition, as the skills within these industries change, it’ll be expected that people come from more short-cycled post-secondary education programs, with a heavy amount of focus on their training, rather than solely education.
Reason and perk number 1 as to why you should complete post-secondary education: you’ll enter the world equipped for your job and more importantly, you’ll feel prepared to tackle employment challenges thrown at you.
Annual Earnings: Benefits
Stick to the code, stay focused, make money, and get rich!
The 2016 Census, released by the Government of Canada on November 29, 2017 revealed the trends between graduating from a post-secondary education and an increased and secure salary.
To make a long story short, the report revealed the following:
- Men and women in the province of Alberta had the highest earnings at every level of education and above all other provinces;
- Men with an apprenticeship certificate saw a faster growth in earnings from 2005-2015 than men at all other levels of education;
- Specifically, men with an apprenticeship degree in skilled trades had strong earnings, earning 7% more than men with a college diploma, and 31% more than men with a high school diploma;
- Women with a bachelor’s degree earned considerably more than women with other educational levels, earning 40% more than women with a college diploma, 60% more than women with a high school diploma, and 80% more than women with an apprenticeship diploma.
I think that these stats alone can offer you a lot of inspiration and insight on the future expectations of what the Canadian market expects from its workers.
It’s simply a fun experience
Aside from university practically acting as a stepping stone to guide you in your life while you search for employment options — it’s there to help you carefully consider what it is you’d like to be studying — let’s not forget that university is one of the most fun periods of our lives (when we’re not in the classroom).
I am studying online, so in a way, I’m missing out on the full experience of university, but I imagine that the social life which comes with university is equally as exciting as entering high school for the first time.
There’s sporting events, loads of people to meet, parties and events to attend, sororities, events and clubs to join, and the famed “studying-abroad” experience, which I think is pretty unique for those who get the opportunity to travel to a distant country while continuing their studies.
As the end of the academic year is approaching, I’m sure many of you are feeling the exhaustion with this final push left in the year, and so I wanted to use this article to remind you why you started with your post-secondary education. What may seem difficult now, will benefit you in the future, I promise.
Head up, don’t forget to study for your final exams, and remember:
