Education: High School Vs. College Essays Examples

Foremost, the workload college students deal with is significantly larger than that which secondary school students have to complete. In college, each course has an instructor who is at liberty to issue any amount of tests and assignments before the final exam to ensure his or her students grasp given concepts. Consequently, based on the number of courses an individual takes on campus each semester, students can have multiple assignments to finish and many more examinations to take. On that note, one assumes that college professors do not discuss the classes they teach, or the assignments they issue, and each serves to ensure they complete teaching their syllabus. As a result, different instructors can give assignments with similar deadlines that can even coincide with sitting exams. Expectedly, students end up stressed and under a lot of pressure to submit high-quality work with no room for negligence lest they risk failing their courses.
In contrast, secondary school children have a smaller workload that is less complicated and requires minor effort in comparison to college. One can safely make the assertion that the time and research needed in completing college assignments are considerably more than in working on a high school paper. That does not mean students are at liberty to do as they please or hand in insubordinate work, instead, there are observable differences between works written by college goers and secondary school pupils. After all, professors teaching courses at the postsecondary level are stricter when grading papers. All educators insist that students write papers that coincide with the school guidelines, and failure to adhere to the instructions automatically means failure. A good illustration is evident in the insistence of most college professors to check submitted papers for plagiarism to ensure their validity before beginning the marking process that determine their quality. Plagiarism checks were not typical for high school as students could even duplicate each other’s work without risking teachers finding out. On that note, high school assignments account for just five percent of the final grade, allowing them more chances to cancel out a fail with a pass. The situation in college is not as favorable because instructors determine the worth of each assignment, which can even be more than fifty percent if they wish. As a result, the academic pressure in college is higher and more intense because the chances to fix a failing grade are smaller if not non-existence.
Secondly, multiple expenses involved with acquiring a postsecondary education make college more expensive than high school. The costs of joining college include money for tuition, living expenses, and the purchase of textbooks whose prices are too costly for students because each unit needs a different book. In “The Economics of Higher Education”, researchers estimate an increase in the tuition of public institutions from “$3,350 to $8,660” between 1991 and 2013 (3). Private colleges are a different matter because they cost almost triple by standing at $29,060 after steadily increasing from $16,410 within the same period (U.S. Department of Education 3). The figures provide the average amount needed per an academic year for most four-year college courses. Even so, such quantities of money are exorbitant when compared to the fact that parents with children in State secondary school do not have to pay fees for their children. Aside from tuition, college expenditure also encompasses funds for reliable living conditions that do not interfere with the studies. In other words, even when one finds an accommodation within campus grounds, he or she has to include money to pay for the accommodation, utilities, and food. With that in mind, at a personal level, life in college has not been economical especially when a student realizes that it is not only every meal that needs planning but also everything pertaining to the same. For instance, when preparing coffee one needs to account for the price of milk and sugar as well, all of which were free at home. When coupled with the expensive textbooks, college life requires a lot of money inside and outside the lecture halls.
On the contrary, most high school students have fewer living expenses because they live at home and have their parents to cater for them under the same budget set for the household. The government provides the school fees and leaves a small percentage of the students’ needs at the hands of their parents. A good illustration is evident on the availability of textbooks in high schools where officials provide students with books for the year, after which pupils return them in favor of another set for the next education level. For this reason, high school goers do not have to spend money on expensive textbooks or worry about rent and food purchasing because they are under the care of their parents or guardians.
Finally, yet importantly, college provides more social exposure than high school does. Harnisch reckons that college enhances “the ability to make informed judgments and take effective actions regarding the current and future use and management of money” (1). Harnisch’s findings concur with the high costs of college mentioned above that force students to consider bills that were once the concern of their parents or guardians. In college, because students are in most cases aged eighteen years and above, they legally exercise more self-autonomy than high school students do. Concurrently, one easily notices that college fraternities provide diverse interaction avenues in the form of associations and teams that bring students from varied backgrounds together. Simultaneously, the facilities on college campuses far surpass those in high schools in terms of size and number because of the larger student population. Hence, while learning to manage expenses and living alone enhances personal growth, interacting with people from diverse communities and different attitudes encourages people ethics. Contrasting the environment that colleges provide are secondary schools that have a tightly knit community and have pupils who most likely know each other from childhood years. From parents protecting their children and governing all their moves to the responsibility the government imposes on guardians for their children aged below eighteen years, colleges are more indulging. Consequently, the amount of socioeconomic exposure people have in college is expectedly more in comparison to secondary school.
Conclusively, when one compares college and secondary education based on the inputs and outputs of each, they are considerably different. The efforts that include paying tuition fees and completing workloads for a successful completion of each level cannot match or be similar unless under exceptional circumstances. For instance, this study did not consider private high schools that can even cost more than a public college. On the other hand, not all courses can be strict, and a student’s workload can reduce if he or she takes lesser units per semester. Outputs also differ because of the social aspects available to a college and high school student. On one hand, a college student can meet a new person every day on campus because of the diverse people and groups that visit the college grounds. On the contrary, a secondary school student can know everybody in his or her school and still be aware of a new student the minute they enroll. In other words, most if not all postsecondary education institutes are bigger and less enclosed with little to a non-existent monitoring system. That is why student enrolling in colleges need to be over eighteen years old, capable of achieving self-independence and be legally responsible for their actions. Students looking to join college need to take into account all facts this study emphasizes, and even prepare for them years before actual enrollment. For instance, one can get employment and start saving for college years before leaving home and even study hard throughout high school to gain scholarships and grants for tuition. Assuming high school and college are similar is a major blunder that can cost students a fruitful education.

Work Cited

U.S. Department of Education. The Economics Of Higher Education. Governmnet Findings. Washington: U.S. Department of Education, 2012. Print.
Harnisch, Thomas L. "Boosting Financial Literacy in America: A Role for State Colleges and Universities." American Association of State Colleges and Universities (2010): 1-23. Print.