Ask A Librarian: Databases

You may want to consider what the benefits of earning a college degree are, as well. We see from a report by George Mason University's Center on Education and the Workforce that college graduates earn, on average, 84% more than their high school graduate counterparts. The full report is interesting, in part because it breaks down which degrees are better and worse to earn.

But knowing that general fact -- that it's economically advantageous to earn a college degree -- means that it might be hard to argue from a monetary standpoint. If you earn a degree, you'll probably earn more money in your lifetime than if you didn't earn that degree.

BUT! it costs money to go to college. What is the debt like for students after they graduate?

You might be interested in reading a report by The Institute for College Access & Success, which details the amounts of debt that the graduating class of 2013 had upon completion of their degree. It's not a small amount, but is it enough that it should dissuade you from earning a college degree? 

We might also consider this scholarly article from the Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare called The Impact of Youth Debt on College Graduation. Clicking this link will ask you for your HCC W number (for students) or full name (faculty/staff) and personal password, because it comes from an HCC database. You can find more information on accessing library databases from off-campus at the link here.

So now what? College, as most things, makes you pay in time and money. So is the cost of attendance -- the years of your life you spend in college -- worth it? You might want to read some of these facts about time to degree completion from the Department of Education.

So maybe it takes a lot of your time. Maybe it takes a lot of your money. You'd have to argue that these things outweigh the benefits of a college degree.

I hope the above information is interesting, but I don't think it's the end of your research. You can search through HCC databases like Academic Search Complete on your own in order to find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. This research is considered the gold standard in academic research and is credible and authoritative. If you have never done research before, I recommend going through the Begin Research tutorial.

Remember that you can always contact the HCC libraries by choosing a location from here: https://library.hccs.edu/libraries/home or by using any of the methods found at https://hccs.libanswers.com/