One of the primary advantages of gaining an education is higher lifetime earnings. In a 2002 report, "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings," the U. S. Census Bureau revealed the lifetime earnings of those with education degrees. For example, high school graduates could expect, on average, to earn $1.2 million; those with a bachelor's degree, $2.1 million; those with a master's degree, $2.5 million; those with doctoral degrees, $3.4 million; and those with professional degrees, $4.4 million. Thus, more education equates to higher earnings, and the payoff is greatest at the highest educational levels. In contrast, education could be considered a waste of money if you have already met your work position's job requirements without a formal education. Some employees might already be considered well-qualified for their work position, and thus the cost of an education would be burdensome.
Another advantage of gaining an education is that the time you spend in a learning institution acquiring knowledge makes you a well-rounded individual, able to offer insight into a variety of topics. Your time spent learning could allow you to eventually work in a field of your choice and widen the selection of potential fields from which to choose. Critics would argue that studying subjects which are irrelevant to your career are a waste of time and money. Instead, you could increase your knowledge by working in a particular field of interest without spending time and money on an education.
A disadvantage of gaining an education is the amount of stress involved in studying and preparing for coursework and exams. It requires a lot of time and effort to do well in school. However, if you later lose your job, you won't have as much stress about finding a new job because an education would offer you a diverse set of knowledge. Also, you won't get stuck contemplating what to do with limited skills. An education would allow for more work opportunities than no education.
One of the disadvantages of an education is that educators may have an influence on your opinions and way of thinking. Critics of education equate learning with indoctrination. However, education can help you develop into a more well-rounded thinker who is able to appreciate all points of view. Your interaction with diverse thinkers, whether it's classmates or instructors, could prove helpful in your career as you interact with various co-workers and employers.