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-Greater sense of self-efficacy—the belief that they can influence or control the outcomes of their lives
-Higher levels of psychological well-being and mental health

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Opinion
By Linda Williams
A college education is one of the most significant milestones in one's life. As a parting gift, your college education will reward you with innumerable practical and workplace-applicable skills to improve your marketability. Traditionally, most assume that a college education is only about financial and academic benefits. However, this preconceived notion couldn't be further from the truth.

While it's certainly true that a college education often furnishes us with economic and intellectual advancement, other hidden benefits come with a college degree. For example, while earning an associate's or bachelor's degree, a student will derive emotional and health benefits vital for success in one's education, career, and personal life.

Of course, to access the above-mentioned benefits, you'll need to successfully apply and enroll in the higher-education institution of your choice. If you're in the process of applying for colleges, it's important to [know how to write essays and] check out the admissions calculator by CollegeData. Using this online resource, students can calculate their chances of gaining admission to over 2,000 colleges and universities in the country. It's an easy process that helps estimate your admission chances and explains the rationale behind the results.

Social and emotional benefits of college education

After submitting a college application and receiving an acceptance letter, you might wonder what awaits you in college. The reality is that these two to four years of college are packed full of fun and opportunities to exercise your independence, two things most college-aged students seek out.

However, the fun of spending time with your roommates and exploring the real-world are just two components of most students' college experience. By the time you earn your associate's or bachelor's degree, you'll have gained numerous social and emotional benefits along the way.

The social/emotional learning (SEL) that students go through in colleges is incomparable. It helps students achieve the following:

Emotional intelligence: the ability to understand their emotions and those of others

Setting achievable positive goals

Showing empathy and sympathy to others

Being responsible

Interacting positively with others

A concrete SEL program helps students capitalize on the following emotional and mental health benefits.

Boosted self-esteem

If you finished high school and felt plagued by low self-esteem, by the time you've completed your undergraduate degree, your self-esteem will have increased. Why? Because the college environment promotes emotional and mental growth.

Without your parents' physical presence to provide guidance, social interaction is an unspoken survival tactic in colleges. As a college student, you'll get to refine the interpersonal skills that help you interact better with your peers, raising your self-esteem. Upon graduation, you can carry these skills into a workplace environment or a potential interview.

Increases independence

One of the hallmarks of a college education is an increased sense of independence. Most graduates will claim the most notable benefit of the college experience is the freedom to set your sleeping schedule, plan your study sessions as you see fit, and engage in risky behaviors your parents would otherwise disapprove of. While a college campus may sound like a free-for-all, it's a perfect environment to cultivate your autonomy.

Although some students choose to ignore their parents' advice to abstain from drugs and alcohol, this increased sense of independence isn't entirely dangerous. For many, college empowers students to live on their own. It helps students make decisions and own them. Similarly, if they make mistakes, they learn from them and make better judgments in the future.

Improves self-awareness

The support system, composed of roommates, mentors, professors, and friends, helps students become self-aware of who they are. In a college environment, students understand why they behave in a certain way and learn how it affects other people. This self-awareness helps students make responsible decisions and stay mindful of others' needs.

Additionally, self-awareness encourages college students to mature into the adults they're supposed to become. To avoid stunted growth, immerse yourself in clubs, study groups, and roommate bonding activities.

Promotes emotional stability

Through programs like SEL (social and emotional learning), students are less likely to exhibit stress, depressive symptoms, and symptoms of anxiety conditions. Even when faced with challenging situations, students feel equipped with enough life skills to resolve the problems at hand and self-soothe.

Unfortunately, SEL programs can't guarantee that students will remain 100 percent stress-proof. However, these programs promise to equip students with proactive stress management skills, reducing the chances of suffering from a debilitating mental breakdown due to intensive course loads. [To further decrease your stress, consider getting help on editing or writing services through do my essay for me.]

Enhances relationships with others

College education instills social skills in students, which leads to positive social behavior. With these skills in their back pocket, students can relate better with peers, teachers, parents, and the general public. These interpersonal skills are enhanced further when teachers challenge students to look beyond the classroom and engage in networking activities. [You will need to use one of the best laptops for college students to hand in all your assignments in time and keep in touch with your peers and professors.]

In most cases, college students get to build relationships that last for a lifetime. Sometimes, a student will connect with a professor, who can later refer them to a full-time position. Others will build a close group of friends bound to appear in the graduate's bridal party. Either way, these two to four years are an excellent opportunity to expand your current social network.

Increases motivation

This self-driven motivation will eventually kick-in when students leave their parents and home communities to start their college journey. Once a student has acquired the discipline necessary, they'll notice an innate drive to excel in academics and personal growth matters. This drive is even more pronounced when students participate in extracurricular activities, such as sports and political organizations.

Non-academic engagements provide a fertile ground for students to learn group dynamics. This way, students develop leadership and followership skills that motivate them to become dependable team players in the future.

To conclude

No longer are the days when faculty and staff expect students to cast their emotions aside and focus solely on academics. Today, besides benefiting students academically and financially, a college education is integral in equipping students with emotional benefits to cope with daily challenges.

Students cultivate excellent skills in problem-solving and emotional management when attending university. Such benefits guarantee long-standing effects that benefit schools, society, and the workplace. With these bonuses in mind, consider attending college even if a degree won't necessarily ensure a pay increase in your chosen industry.

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The Unspoken Social and Emotional Benefits of a College Education - The Apopka Voice

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By Linda Williams A college education is one of the most significant milestones in one's life. As a parting gift, your college education will reward you with innumerable practical and workplace-applicable skills to improve your marketability. Traditionally, most assume that a college education is only about financial and academic benefits.

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-Have lower rates of smoking and obesity
-Live longer and healthier lives"

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Education: It Matters More to Health Than Ever Before

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-Are more open to new ideas
-Have more advanced levels of moral reasoning
-Make more effective consumer choices and decisions
-Make wiser long-term investments
-Have a clearer sense of self-identity, including self-awareness and knowledge of personal talents, interests, values, and needs

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For just a second, forget about all of the other benefits of college, such as the potential for higher earning power and getting to have four (give or take) years of semi-supervised fun before entering "the real world." For now, just focus on the most basic (yet arguably the most important) benefit of college - the intellectual benefits. Indeed, when it comes down to it, this is why you attend college: to be able to learn more, think deeper, be tested, and find your passion.

Let's break down the intellectual benefits of college:

Learn More. At its most basic, college provides the opportunity to learn. Not only to learn about subjects with which you're already familiar, but also about topics that you've never heard of before, let alone studied. This will enhance your knowledge and increasingly mold you into a well-rounded member of society.

Think Deeper. College coursework will challenge you in ways that your high school classes did not. Your professors will have you thinking in ways you may have never thought before. Even if you studied a particular subject in high school, you'll be going into much more depth and detail in college. In doing so, your ability to read demanding works of literature and grasp complex, abstract concepts will increase - you'll gain the capacity to think deeper.

Be Tested. This doesn't mean the literal act of taking tests (though you'll be doing plenty of that in college). In college, your professors and peers will test your preconceived notions about the world and the way you think about things. In this way, college acts as an aid to reflection, which can help you broaden your horizons and mindset.

Find Your Passion. Perhaps the most important intellectual benefit, college enables you to find your passion. It is an exploratory time for you, in the words of Andrew Delbanco*, to "take stock of [your] talents and passions and begin to sort [your life] in a way that is true to [yourself] and responsible to others." Perhaps you already know what you want to do with your life, but for the majority of students, college provides the opportunity to explore, check out your options and find the thing (or things) that you care about most. College can help you find your purpose. For more on Andrew Delbanco, check out his entitled, "College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be".

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Intellectual Benefits of College - Set to Go: A JED Program

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For just a second, forget about all of the other benefits of college, such as the potential for higher earning power and getting to have four (give or take) years of semi-supervised fun before entering "the real world." For now, just focus on the most basic (yet arguably the most important) benefit of college - [...]

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-Career Satisfaction—college graduates are more likely to find themselves in careers that interest them and in positions they find stimulating, challenging, and personally fulfilling.
-Career Advancement—college graduates have greater opportunity to move up to higher-level positions. (College graduates have more opportunities for job promotions.)

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In today's economy, people are beginning to wonder about the benefits of going to college and earning a college degree. It is true that in recent years college grads are having a harder and harder time finding employment -a fact typically applies to new graduates. The rising cost of a college degree is nigh outrageous, yet the rising cost of not going to college are about the same. The economic gap between college-educated persons and their less-educated peers is widening every year and that trend is continuing year over year. Here are some compelling reasons to show that earning a college degree is still more beneficial than not.

7 Benefits of a College Education

A college grad earns more than a non-grad. The earnings gap between Millennials with a bachelor's degree and those without is widening year over year.

Benefits go beyond financial earnings. Millennials with college degrees have lower unemployment rate and poverty rates than those without degrees. College-educated Millennials are more likely to be married and less likely to be living in their parents' home.

College grads find more satisfaction with their jobs. Millennials with college degrees see themselves as having a career path, instead of just a job to pay the bills.

The cost of not going to college is rising. Compared to earlier generations,Millennials with only a high school diploma are suffering more economically.

College grads agree that a college degree is worth it. Nearly nine out of ten college graduates state that college is or will be worth the investment.

College majors matter more than you know. Science and engineering majors are more likely to stay in a career related to their field of study than other majors. They are also the least likely to say that another major would have better prepared them for the jobs they really desired.

College grads are happier and healthier overall. Those with college degrees have better health, exercise more, and smoke less. They tend to live about 9 years longer than those who don't graduate from high school. College educated people also volunteer and vote more, creating a great addition to their communities.

Other sources

Features

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The 7 Benefits of Going to College & Earning a Degree

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In today's economy, people are beginning to wonder about the benefits of going to college and earning a college degree. It is true that in recent years college grads are having a harder and harder time finding employment -a fact typically applies to new graduates.

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-More social self-confidence
-Stronger interpersonal and human relations skills

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-More interest in national issues—both social and political
-Greater knowledge of current events
-Higher voting participation rates

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7.Higher Quality of Life for Their Children

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7.Higher Quality of Life for Their Children

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-Less likely to smoke during pregnancy
-Provide better health care for their children
-Spend more time with their children

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There are many reasons to pursue higher education. But for parents, one of the most significant reasons is the desire to inspire and create a powerful legacy for their children.

Ample evidence indicates that a college education is not only a major benefit to parents, but serves as an important factor in their children's success as well. Thus, many parents continue to pursue educational opportunities after they've had kids. In fact, approximately one in five students are parents, according to recent data from the Institute for Women's Policy Research. However, just like any student, when a parent enrolls in school, it's a commitment of time, money, and resources. Which begs the question: Is it worth it for your family?

As we dig into the details of studies related to parents in higher education, we discover that, in general, the answer is yes-when children have educated parents, they are likely to be more open-minded, more enthusiastic about their own pursuit of knowledge, and more likely to succeed.

A college education, whether pursued on campus or online, is a valuable asset when it comes to discovering your passion, expanding career options, and breaking through barriers to achievement and growth. It also has specific benefits for your school-aged children. We'll explore some of these below.

College-Educated Parents: Fast Facts

Studies from Wayne State University, Florida State University, and the National Center for Education Statistics have all tackled the topic of the unique benefits that educated parents tend to bestow on their children. Even when they did not set out to address education in particular, these studies all concluded that, with genetics out of the equation, a parent's education is a key variable affecting a child's personality and life outcomes.

Evidence from the above-referenced studies indicates that your education:

Affects your child's own educational aspirations during their prime school years

Indirectly affects the probability of positive outcomes for your child as he or she moves through early and middle adulthood

Creates a "more stimulating physical, cognitive, and emotional environment at home," according to the Wayne State study, which can lead to higher IQ scores for kids

Correlates with lower neuroticism, higher extraversion, and higher "openness to experience" in kids, according to the British Psychological Society

Correlates with higher household wealth, which positively affects your child's wellbeing

Parents as Role Models

Children naturally emulate behaviors they see modeled by their parents. If parenting by example is an effective and proven aspect of raising kids with more responsibility and integrity, then engaging with education into the adult years can set a positive example for your little ones. Ultimately, when you invest in your own education, you are equipping your children with a model for lifelong learning.

Some, like the University of Arizona Global Campus student Cheryl Brown, even make homework a game for their kids. The healthy competition has proven beneficial to Brown, who is pursuing an MBA while also working full time.

"They are inspired by my choice to return to school, and I hope to show them that if I can do it with all the adult responsibilities I have, they can too," she says.

There are also more tangible benefits of how your education can have a lasting impact on your family. Research shows that parents who earn a higher income tend to have children who earn higher incomes as well. But the correlation is not just about wealth-it's about education. Parents with a college degree are more likely to find employment, thereby creating more stability for their family, thereby leading to greater economic mobility for their children.

Education as a Method for Successful Parenting

Being a good student makes one a better teacher. Thus, parents who remain engaged with their own education into adulthood are often more adept and helping their children complete their homework, improve their vocabularies, study for tests, and effectively "advocate for themselves," according to a study from the Scholars Strategy Network. When it comes to a child's thirst for knowledge, your education matters not only by way of example but also in your capacity to teach in your own right. You can pass on information, share wisdom and insight, and help your children grapple with abstract ideas and other tough concepts. Helping your child with their homework not only helps them excel in the short run, but it also indicates a long-term investment in your child's success, which can help them keep going when things get more challenging.

Parents are faced with a lot of tough choices. Deciding whether to pursue higher education, and how to balance academic and family obligations, deserves serious consideration. However, the rise of online degree programs, such as those offered by the University of Arizona Global Campus, makes it easier and more practical than ever before. Now, you can take university classes from anywhere, at a pace that doesn't detract from your parenting duties. You'll also be able to further your education with a schedule you can handle and the support of a strong network of mentors and peers.

The decision to pursue higher education is a big step for you and your family. If you're ready to transform your future, contact UAGC to get started.

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By University Staff

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How A College Education Benefits Parents of School-Age Children

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There are many reasons to pursue higher education. But for parents, one of the most significant reasons is the desire to inspire and create a powerful legacy for their children. Ample evidence indicates that a college education is not only a major benefit to parents, but serves as an important factor in their children's success as well.