Personal, Family & Health Benefits

Benefits to You Personally

Earning a college degree is not just about securing higher earnings. Education beyond high school gives you many other benefits, including meeting new people, taking part in new opportunities to explore your interests and experiencing success. A college education makes you a rounded person. It shapes your communication skills, expands your knowledge base, makes you methodical and organized, and exposes you to a whole new world of learning.

• According to experts, college graduates are self-confident, have greater knowledge of governance, are less likely to become criminals, are emotionally and financially secure, make better partners and parents, and have a deeper understanding of human nature.
• Self-esteem and confidence are built through knowledge and experience. With knowledge comes empowerment and an increased awareness of yourself and the world.
• College instills a deep sense of right and wrong, and is the very essence of a democratic world.
• Education opens the door to many things like multiple jobs, career choices, the chance to further education at any point in life, and the option of teaching others what you have learned.
• Returning to school can help you cope with life transitions: returning from the military, job loss, divorce, kids moving out or graduating, death in the family, a need to take on new challenges or to fill a void of some type.

Benefits to Your Family

The best way to lead is by example, so start a college-going culture in your family. Hesitant because no one else in your family has gone to college? Don’t be nervous, be the first! Your family will admire your courage and fortitude.

• Children of parents with higher levels of education are better prepared for school and are more involved than other children in all types of extracurricular activities such as sports, religious and arts-related after-school activities.
• The cognitive skills of children between the ages of three and five are highly correlated with the education level of their mothers.

Benefits to Your Health

People with a college education have better value systems and are healthier. They are able to guide their family positively.

• Sixty-one percent of four-year college graduates ages 25–34 exercised vigorously at least once a week in 2005. Only 31 percent of high school graduates did so.
• Only about 20 percent of adults smoke. Among four-year college graduates, only 9 percent smoke, and more than half of those made an effort to stop in the last year.
• Low-income bachelor’s degree recipients are more likely than high school graduates at any income level to report excellent or very good health.