CultusWhen it comes time to go to college many students are put under a lot of pressure to have a good experience. For those college students who are looking at higher education as an investment though, there are some definite ways to get a higher return on one’s investment. For instance, students can:
1. Lower your costs
It is a great deal easier to get more out of college when a student is paying less for it. This doesn’t necessarily mean that a student has to go to a cheap college, rather it means that students need to take every opportunity to lower their costs by applying for scholarships and grants.
2. Choose your degree carefully
While there might not be such a thing as a useless degree, some degrees have a much higher price tag associated with graduate’s earnings than others might. Students should look at what they’ll be realistically paying for their degrees, and what the average job in that degree’s field will pay. While the world still needs artists, novelists, playwrights, and other professions besides, students need to look at whether their careers of choice will earn them enough money to actually pay back the money spent on their degrees in the first place.
3. Make connections
It isn’t what you know, it’s who you know. Networking is what colleges are for, and students will find that they are surrounded by good connections to add to their webs of personal contacts. Professors who have experience in a given industry are a good start, but so are classmates who will be the next generation of workers in the field. Often times an individual will find out about a job not because of how stellar he or she is as a professional but because an old classmate, fraternity brother, teammate or other individual called them up and provided the connection.
4. Use school resources
Often times a school provides students more than just an education. Many schools provide career services and job help for students, both current attendees as well as graduates. If a student really wants to get the full possible return on investment from the education he or she received from school, then that student needs to use all of the different resources that school has made available. Otherwise there are resources going untapped that could provide a major advantage in the current job market.
5. Broaden your horizons
One thing that many students overlook is that not everything can be measured in terms of how much money one makes. This is especially true when it comes to college. Students should take the time to explore all of the different options they have available, and to pursue all of their interests. Whether it’s joining a team, a campus organization, or volunteering on behalf of a cause, college gives students time to branch out and to explore opportunities they might not otherwise have done so. This can lead to personal discoveries that are extremely difficult to put a price tag on, and which can shape a student’s life from that point onward.
Thomas Jay is a content writer and blogger at www.Edu-Advisor.com. Thomas lives in Orlando, Florida with his Wife and two kids. He enjoys blogging on a variety of education related topics.
