Students attend university for a variety of reasons: to study a particular subject in depth, future career, and social life. In the modern world, university education often leads to a better career. If you are considering what the future might hold for you and whether going to university will be a part of this, knowing what you can get out of the experience can help you in making that decision.
Let’s explore some of the benefits.
Personal Benefits:
Many people go to university because they want to advance their career, but they often forget that higher education is more than just an education; it is an experience. Therefore, there are several personal benefits that you can earn from heading in this direction.
Better outlook on life
University studies will help you to get a better outlook on life. Social engagement with different people and personalities will help you understand points of view outside of your wheelhouse. You will meet people from all walks of life, from all over the world, which means you will be introduced to different cultures, food, and ways of life in general. In addition, if you are only just fresh out of high school, one of the outlooks that could change is realizing how much your parents have done for you over the years. With higher education, you often gain independence as you move out of the family home for the first time. This can alter your outlook on life for the better, as well as you realize what it is like to be responsible for your life, what you do, when you eat, keeping your house clean, and so much more. For many, it can lead to them feeling more respect for those who brought them up.
Learn Skills
At university, students learn skills that are essential to becoming a well-rounded person. These can include things like soft skills and communication skills. If you can gain soft skills, this makes you more employable to so many companies out there. They won’t just be looking for the qualifications; they will want to know that you can work as part of a team; they want to know that you are quick to respond to emails and are willing to be involved in client or customer phone calls. Some of the soft skills that you gain from higher education that can prove extremely useful in the future include:
- Budgeting/money management
- Time management
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving skills
- Being able to take constructive criticism and feedback
- Adaptability
- Teamwork
- Presentation
- Networking
- Research
This list keeps ongoing, and all of them will prove useful at some point during your career. While you may learn many of these throughout your day-to-day life, it is rare to learn as many as this all in one location.
Gain friends
Gaining new friends is one of the biggest benefits; in fact, many students find they meet their lifelong friends in college or university. As you will all be bonding over the same situation you find yourself in, living, studying, being away from home for the first time, etc., people can’t help but find that they click with at least one person. As a result of gaining friends, students explore what it is like to have a social life while studying higher education, and this can leave them with lasting memories and break up the studying.
Obtain a better career
University graduates typically have a better chance at obtaining a career of their choice, thus leading to personal fulfillment. If you can achieve your goals, a sense of happiness will quickly follow. Aspiring to obtain a better career leaves you with a chance to get yourself out of a rut and achieve something to be hugely proud of by the end. However, getting a better career doesn’t just provide that; it also means you get to enjoy:
- Higher salary
- Company perks – some may offer free products or discounts
- You will be surrounded by experts who can expand your skills
- Build a better retirement pot
- Provides you with meaning and a purpose
Career Benefits:
Some of the career benefits you can enjoy include:
Highly qualified staff
Students have access to highly qualified faculty, whom they can learn from. As a result, they don’t just learn the theory, but they also gain access to years of experience that their professor or educator has accumulated over the years. These faculty members can provide first-hand information and contacts, being the perfect networking partner for so many students. Many might even become a mentor for some students.
Degrees can open up more doors
Most companies require a university degree as a prerequisite for employees. Therefore, if you want to kickstart a career, gaining a degree is usually the first step to achieving your dream career. While some jobs will, of course, be entry-level, you will find that in almost all industries that a degree of some form is required. Some may require you to hold very specific degrees, such as healthcare, while others, such as advertising, will accept most general degrees. Research is the key when it comes to choosing the degree that will offer you the chance to find a decent job with a company.
Some industries don’t just require a degree upon entry. Some will require further study in order for you to be trained correctly. For example, once you have taken a standard nursing degree, while you will be trained as a nurse, you won’t be able to specialize as a family nurse practitioner (FNP) right off the bat. Instead, you will need to apply for one of the expert nurse practitioner online programs. Getting an accredited online Master of Science in Nursing – from the Family Nurse Practioner program – provides you with the essential skills you will need as an FNP or advanced practice nurse. Without this degree, you would be unable to progress in your career. Therefore, if you have great aspirations of building up a long and fruitful career that constantly sees you pushing higher, degrees and higher education can help you out enormously.
Multiple projects
Students may have the opportunity to work on different projects. Sometimes, start-ups also get initiated from this. You may be wondering how is this a benefit to you? The answer is simple. If you can learn how to manage multiple projects for several modules you are studying for and achieve great grades in them all, this shows potential employers that you have organizational skills and the ability to cope under pressure; these types of skills will come in useful for all job roles.
Stable future
Receiving a higher education can offer you a stable future – both financially as well as socially, making it one of the best benefits of this entire list. This is because by getting a higher education, you are opening up your career opportunities. You have the chance to work for bigger and better companies, with the potential to keep progressing up. Once you have your foot in the door and gain experience on top of your degree, the world is your oyster, and you could find yourself with plenty of job offers that provide a stable future for you and those in your life.
If you are financially and socially stable, the likelihood of facing mental health problems is vastly decreased, stress will be minimized, and you will improve your overall health. You won’t ever have to worry about how you will pay the bills next month or who you will ask to lend you money or help. Instead, you can focus on yourself, your dreams, and your aspirations. What else do you want to achieve in life? If you have always wanted to buy a dream car or want homeownership, having some stability in your life enables you to do just this. Once you are in a stable position, it may even instill some drive in you to achieve even more.
Financial Benefits:
Typically, students who receive some form of higher education earn more than those who do not. Therefore, if you have always loved the idea of living a more luxurious lifestyle or you want to plan for the future by saving, by getting an education, you can make this a reality. It will require hard work and dedication to get there, of course. However, the reward is completely worth it.
To give you an idea of the kind of financial benefit you could enjoy, consider the below careers and their yearly salaries:
- Marketing Manager: $145,620
- Lawyer: $141,890
- IT Manager: $142,530
- FNP: $114,510
- Judges: $136,910
- Sales Managers: $126,640
All of these jobs require some form of higher education to get there, and the financial benefit is worth all the years of study that it will take to get there.
Higher Education is Expensive:
It’s no secret that higher education is pricey. In Canada, however, Registered Education Savings Plans or RESPs are available to help Canadian families save for college and university education. Subscribing to an RESP from a provider like Children’s Education Funds Inc. (CEFI) can help families effectively save.
You can learn more about RESPs by clicking on CEFI Reviews.
