Getting Education vs. Getting a Degree

Many college students often lament that they just need to accumulate sufficient college credits so they could earn a degree and simply move on. This ‘just-get-by’ attitude is very discouraging and disappointing, especially to educators who want to give students useful education rather than a degree. You should be wondering by now, is there a difference between getting education and getting a degree?

To begin with, college degree is just a representation. It is a certification attesting that an individual has actually studied in a variety of useful fields. It also indicates that the individual has achieved a target level of subject mastery. In contrast, education is everything any degree is representing. It should be regarded as the more important between the two. That is because it is education that would help individuals get on with the real-life challenges in the workplace. It is education that would make anyone rise from above the rest.

Traditionally, students are usually told that earning a college degree is the real key to success. When success is tackled, it could mean financial and personal. There are already many studies that show how individuals with college education are able to win the workplace. They are usually the ones earning substantially higher salaries throughout their lifetime compared to those who are without degrees. Information like these makes anyone infer that college degree is simply leading to a difference. Thus, many students believe that to be able to achieve success, college degrees are essential.

If you want to make a difference, you should get into the realization that it is college education that truly makes the difference, not the degree. Is there a difference between the two other than the abovementioned? There is. It is possible that an individual attain a college degree without real education. It is also possible that an individual get real education without earning a degree. Are you confused?

Many college students just aim to pass subjects and get on to earning the sought-after degree. They do not pay much attention to learning and much of the lessons they take in class are not retained. However, they could still pass exams and earn good grades at projects. In the end, they could still manage to graduate from college without much seriousness.

On the other hand, a student may take college courses seriously that they are practically adapting and using the lessons learned to daily life situations. They could have learned lessons through the heart. Thus, retention is not a problem. However, due to unlikely and inevitable circumstances, they could not be able to finish college and earn a degree (usually due to financial constraints).

So which is better, attaining a degree or attaining education? Initially, everyone would say it is both. But a closer and deeper take on the issue would lead you to a single possible answer: it is the education. However, the world and the workplace are yet to learn from this realization. Nowadays, degrees are still regarded as synonymous to education. People have yet to see companies and prospective employers looking more closely into this argument.

For the meantime, individuals with both a degree and education are on the winning end. It is just very important that you open up to learn more while you are studying to earn a degree. You could have both if you only would be more serious in finishing your college and learning basic professional skills.