The purpose of an education is to prepare students for financially rewarding careers

Wherever there are successful entrepreneurs, there will be individuals who argue that education is not a necessary component of financial success. It is certainly true that there are cases of individuals who succeeded in the business world and became quite wealthy without the benefit of an extensive education. Heavyweight boxer George Foreman is one such individual, who went on to have great financial success despite dropping out of high school. Hairstylist Vidal Sassoon and media mogul Walt Disney also dropped out of high school, going on to earn fortunes in their respective fields. And steel magnate Andrew Carnegie gained his enormous financial success without even finishing elementary school!

Admittedly, these individuals were all able to build large businesses and earn great financial rewards without the benefit of an extended formal education, so clearly education is not necessary for a financially-rewarding career. Yet, the Bureau of Labor Statistics records show a distinct positive correlation between educational attainment levels and annual earnings, so it is safe to say that for most people who are not blessed with a stroke of entrepreneurial genius, a good education will result in a better paying job.

One purpose of education is to earn more money, to be sure, but this is not the only goal. Education brings so many more benefits than simply monetary ones. One of its purposes, simply put, is to help us become more fulfilled and live happier lives. On a strictly materialistic level, an educated person with a better paying job is likely to be more satisfied with her standard of living and lifestyle. Education is also critical for helping individuals develop the skills to do work they truly
enjoy, which further increases happiness.

Along with helping us lead happier lives, education helps us to develop relationship skills and the emotional maturity to handle life’s setbacks. Individuals who play on school sports teams have to learn to deal with other players as they bask in the glory of victory or suffer the agony of defeat. Physical education classes include as part of a curriculum teach students the value of teamwork and how to manage conflicts with other players. Teacher-student interactions can also reveal valuable lessons about how to deal with authority, lessons different from those a student might learn at home. Finally, the friendships inevitably forged as part of the school community’s social structure help students to deal with relationships in ways that prepare them for what is to come later in life.

Another important purpose of education is to help students become better problem solvers. This skill may be developed in math courses, where numbers are used to work out problems. It may also be taught in science courses like engineering, where structural queries are posed and students must find ways to work out solutions. Students in the social sciences learn to problem-solve from investigating historical and present-day situations involving human interactions. Even in literature and other humanities courses, problem-solving techniques can be modeled through the messages some literary works convey.

In addition to improving problem-solving, education further serves to build self-confidence. A student who must research data for a school science project will become more adept at navigating through the maze of available information to find concrete facts that address a scientific question. The student who must give an oral presentation in history class strengthens his or her ability to speak in front of peers. Through composition courses and the requirements of essay tests, students become more confident as writers and learn to hone their written skills. Simply the process of answering questions in class can help students to become more confident speakers, skills that may benefit them enormously in later job interviews.

Education also helps individuals to become more valued contributors, in whatever realm they choose to interact. A more educated worker will often have additional skills that enable him to gain not only financial rewards, but also more responsibility in his work. This individual is able to use his judgment more often and to contribute his expertise. He makes leadership decisions based on his own unique perspective, an opportunity that might have been lost had he not had the necessary training for advancement.

Without the education that he obtained before becoming president, for instance, John F. Kennedy might not have been in a position during the Cuban Missile Crisis to make the decisions he did to respond to Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, and the U.S. might not have avoided a catastrophic war with the Soviet Union. Nobel Prize–winning scientists Marie and Pierre Curie might never have discovered radium or developed their theory of radioactivity without obtaining their educations in science. Their training brought them to a level of skill where they could know enough to experiment and finally succeed, making contributions for which history will always remember them.

Not many of us will be remembered in history for our contributions. But even the first-grade teachers or school social workers who help in a circumscribed community will, due in part to their educations, make contributions that change student’s lives. Those students will go on to positively affect others, as Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey, recognized about his own contributions in the Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. Education helps provide individuals with better financial prospects in their jobs, certainly, but that is only part of what it does. Its greater purpose lies in helping empower us as thriving individuals by increasing our own personal happiness, relationship skills, emotional maturity, problem-solving abilities, self-confidence, and societal contributions.