More opportunities are opening up for people to complete their bachelor’s degree, from on campus to online programs, and adult-focused programs. Here are five reasons why you should think about completing your bachelor’s:
1. People with college degrees earn more money.
On average, people with bachelor’s degrees earn more money. A recent study published by Anthony P. Carnevale, Stephen J. Rose and Ban Cheah of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce documents that, on average, a bachelor’s degree is worth $2.8 million over a lifetime and people with college educations generate, on average, 84 percent more lifetime earnings than what is earned by high school graduates.
2. People with college degrees live longer.
A recent report from the Center for Disease Control includes statistics revealing that men with bachelor’s degrees had a life expectancy about nine years longer than those without a high school diplomas, and women with bachelor’s degrees had a life expectancy over eight years longer than those without high school diplomas. The report mentions that this may be due to healthier lifestyles lived by college-educated individuals.
3. You will expand your horizons.
Benedictine’s diverse range of degree programs and course offerings will expose you to new people, places and ideas that you may have not experienced before. You will explore topics and issues across time and disciplines, as well as today’s “hot topics” to enrich and expand your life experience.
4. You will surprise yourself.
Whether it is the broad range of liberal arts courses you will take as a Benedictine student or meeting the challenge of finishing your degree, you will undoubtedly surprise yourself as you complete your college education. You may have questioned your abilities or even your motivation for earning your degree, but you can do it! It is never too late to surprise yourself in life.
5. You can fit it into your busy life.
You may think you are already too busy to fit attending college into your current lifestyle, but Benedictine University’s online courses are made for people just like you. You will participate in online course discussions several times a week and submit weekly assignments, but you can make your own schedule each week to find the right balance for work, family, life and education.
References
Carnevale, Anthony P.; Rose, Stephen J.; Cheah, Ban (2011). The College Payoff: Education, Occupations, Lifetime Earnings. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED524299.
National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2011: With Special Feature on Socioeconomic Status and Health. Hyattsville, MD. 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf.
About the author
Amy Hanridge is a Senior Lecturer for Benedictine University. She has taught online anthropology, humanities and writing courses for Benedictine since 2012. Her short story, “Starter,” was published in April 2014 in the anthology Living in the Land of Limbo: Fiction and Poetry about Family Caregiving. You can reach her to discuss writing, social sciences, the liberal arts in business or healthcare settings or the benefits of completing a bachelor’s degree at ahanridge@ben.edu.