Is it worth paying large sums of money to go to university to be successful? To answer this question, to begin with, we have to start off to look at what we determine as a success whether that be money or happiness.

Sadly in this world success is clearly being measured in money. From the ages of 5 onwards, we find ourselves entering a system of schooling whose major goal is to get us into a well-paying job. Of course, there are some different schooling systems such as the UWC’s, but as for the majority of schools getting a future job to make money is the main goal. Woefully, success is defined as wealth or even as it was in the past, property. Yet quite standardly other people can also commonly define success as happiness in people’s life or being able to live without worries. But generally, success is defined as wealth in our day and age.

Have people been able to achieve success without going to university?

According to the Guardian, only 27.2 percent of the British population aged 16 to 74 in 2012 had a degree or equivalent. This data clearly shows those whole populations are able to survive and live without going to a university and paying the 11,000- 18,000 US dollar payment a year. This proves in some cases people can be successful without going to university on a larger scale than those who do go. Sir Richard Branson is a clear example of a someone who managed to make their fortune of 5 billion dollars successfully without a university education; having only gone to school up until the end of high school he dropped out and started working straight away, becoming a clear example of the fact university may not be necessary.

But on the other hand, success is more commonly found with people who have gone to university and graduated. According to the telegraph UK “Graduates earn £500,000 more than non-graduates” in their lifetime. This evidence proves in some senses that actually to be successful you generally need to have been a university graduate. Not only that but almost all of the world richest people such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have been to university proving university is at least a boost in the economy for graduates.

Yet what does success being defined as wealth show for us as a national community? should being successful be the point of going to university? If so do we need to go to university to achieve it?

Sadly Success’s meaning at this time shows that we believe that happiness, love, kindness and other human specialties no longer matter to us as much at the moment as they have in the past. The fact that we need to go to university alone shows the fact that our world is shaped around money. But when it comes to success for those who go to university there may be actually a surplus in unneeded success for university graduates, not a dominance. Meaning that really when measuring success as being accepted because of wealth and happiness combined you don’t actually have to aim as high on the money scale as many graduates of universities. Furthermore according to the BBC “Families need £36,800 to live acceptably ” in today’s world study shows. From this information, I found from some probing in 2009 the average weekly income for people with high school diplomas was $638 a week. In continuance, my math dictates which you can check at the bottom non-graduates earn, £26,690.25 a year, £10,109.75 less than the BBC suggests for acceptability in soceity, 27.6 dollars less than recommended a day. Meaning that technically people that go to university aren’t that much of the average wage needed to live an “acceptable life.” Of course, it could be argued that these facts are in British terms so based only on the cost of living in the UK, but this is just an average example showing it is possible to be almost socially and economically acceptable without a university degree. Henceforth being not socially acceptable economically doesn’t mean you are not “happy.”

To be truthful, it could be argued that money can cause happiness through granting you opportunities and happiness is a true success as there is no greater achievement. So in this case money could be a means to an end if you define success as happiness as it can grant you happiness through the opportunities such as a better house and the way of living it brings. Meaning that success being defined as money is a way to show the development of happiness due to opportunities coming with that money in our national community. So therefore technically you would be better off going to university to get more money to become happier through what opportunities money bring.

So do we need to go to university to achieve success?

In conclusion, success in the form of wealth can be found without going to university but is generally found in greater abundance if you do go to university. This should not be though what you are aiming for unless you believe that success in the form of wealth is a means to the end of success as happiness which should be our goal as a race.

Again, Then. “How Much Do You Need to Earn to Be Happy?” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. aston, Mark. “Families Need £36,800 to Live Acceptably, Study Says.” BBC News. BBC, 10 July 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Country at a Glance United Kingdom.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2017

Ball, Charlie. “Most People in the UK Do Not Go to University – and Maybe Never Will.” Blog. Guardian News and Media, 04 June 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. Anderson, Elizabeth. “Graduates Earn £500,000 More than Non-graduates.” The Telegraph . Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. 638*52.1429 = 33,267.1702 26,690.25 when converted to pound 10,109.75 difference in cost compared to ideal wage /365 = per day 27.697945205