By Joelle DelPrete
In 2010, President Obama gave a speech at the University of Texas where he said that in coming decades, “a high school diploma is not going to be enough. Folks need a college degree.” This is not a radical statement, but today, it might be met with more skepticism.
The number of Americans with “a great deal” of confidence in higher education has fallen from 57% in 2015 to just 36% in 2023, and as I’ve observed at Devine + Partners, public relations professionals are tasked with the significant challenge of rebuilding trust and maintaining reputations.
The most obvious reason for this cynicism is the soaring cost of a college education. Between 1980 and 2020, the average price for an undergraduate to attend college rose 169%. As a college student myself who pays out-of-state tuition, I can confirm that one look at my bill leads to a feeling of hopeless frustration, especially as headlines report that more and more companies – and even the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – are dropping their college degree requirement.
I chose to attend college primarily because my mom always regretted not going herself. I’ve watched her struggle over the years to find employment without a bachelor’s degree. My father went to Providence College (PC) and studied history, which has nothing to do with his 30-year career in the mortgage business. Despite this, he encouraged me to pursue higher education, emphasizing exposure to literature and political ideologies. He claims that PC taught him how to think critically, which he considers invaluable.
While part of me was skeptical about attending college, especially in 2020 when the world shut down, a bigger part of me thought mom and dad were right. Recent research still shows that college graduates earn more and experience a lower unemployment rate than those without a bachelor’s degree.
I knew from taking a few community college classes in high school about television production that I wanted to enter the field of communications. Most jobs including journalism, public relations and human resources require a bachelor’s degree. Statistically, communications-related jobs are stable and even in demand.
I picked the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple because it touted an 82% employment rate for its alumni, a statistic that speaks volumes not just in career counseling but also in PR efforts to attract prospective students.
I believe that earning a liberal arts degree was valuable and yes- worth the cost. My dad’s emphasis on expanding the mind proved true. The first time I read the Bhagavad Gita, it blew me away. Despite its significance as a foundational text of Hinduism and widespread recognition, I had never encountered it in the public school system.
I read primary sources and wrote about them, getting remarks from professors that truly helped my writing flourish. For perhaps the first time in my life, what I was reading made me consider humanity as a whole, and how far but also how little we have come since the days of Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Now, as I’m about to embark on a career in media production, I can see that my mom was also right about the advantage a degree gives you in landing your dream job. Career fairs, professors with years of experience in the field, affordable field trips and study-away opportunities, led me to discover occupations I had never even considered. Thanks to networking events organized by my school, I secured a total of 6 internships or part-time jobs in my field – including this one at Devine + Partners – despite losing a year of in-person education to the coronavirus pandemic.
While I acknowledge the exorbitant cost of higher education, I truly believe it’s a worthwhile investment for those with clear career goals, a desire to broaden their perspectives and the willingness to research the right institution.
College isn’t the perfect path for everyone, but as President Obama and my parents rightly emphasized, it’s an invaluable experience worth aspiring to.
Rising Stars is a series of thoughts, reflections and perspectives by the interns at Devine + Partners. Joelle DelPrete graduated from Temple University in May and is now working on her master’s degree in media studies and production, also at Temple.
Devine + Partners is a Philadelphia public relations agency . We offer a full range of communications services – from message and content development and media relations to issues management and employee and community engagement.
