{"id":137092,"date":"2020-11-29T08:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-29T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=137092"},"modified":"2022-01-21T08:43:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T15:43:27","slug":"guest-column-college-a-good-investment-for-students-and-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=137092","title":{"rendered":"GUEST COLUMN: College \u2013 a good investment for students and communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chancellor Venkat Reddy published the following guest column in the Colorado Springs Gazette<\/em> on Nov. 29, 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Venkat Reddy, UCCS Chancellor<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

More than ever before, the value of a college degree is under intense scrutiny \u2014 especially from those who wonder if a degree is necessary to find a good job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is real economic value in a college degree. A recent study from Georgetown University found that, on average, college graduates earn $1 million more over their lifetime than those with a high school education. Investing in a college degree delivers a 15 percent rate of return \u2014 more than double the average return on the stock market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beyond economic success, its most significant value is in improving the quality of graduates\u2019 lives and the lives of those around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education provides the analytical and critical thinking skills necessary for graduates to pivot into new fields. Our University of Colorado President Mark Kennedy has been speaking across the state about the Fourth Industrial Revolution that could leave millions of less-skilled Americans unemployed. Research tells us that as many as 40 percent of today\u2019s jobs could be lost to automation in 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, these emerging technologies will create jobs and change those that still exist. A college education prepares our graduates to navigate these uncharted territories and transform them into opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to recognize that a college degree is not just about creating individual economic value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

College education pays at an individual and a societal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education widens your mind. It raises the quality of your life. Research shows us that those with college degrees are more likely to vote, more likely to have global awareness and more likely to be philanthropic. They are less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise and lead healthier lifestyles. They volunteer at twice the rate of those with high school diplomas and are more likely to be civically engaged. They go out into their communities and make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I speak about the power of education to transform lives and communities, I often share the story of Mike Fryt, a 1977 UCCS graduate with a successful career at FedEx as the senior vice president of global tax affairs. Mike grew up here in the region. His education, provided by our local public schools and UCCS, created countless opportunities for him and fueled his successful career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education opened doors for Mike \u2014 and through his determination and hard work, he committed to providing a similar opportunity for Colorado students. He created a scholarship endowment with a matching challenge that creates access to higher education for students coming \u2014 as he did \u2014 from middle-income families. His Bridge Forward scholarship opens doors for bright, talented students, many of whom will continue to live and work in Colorado Springs long after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is just one story of many that illustrate how our college graduates give back to support education, our community and the communities they call home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education doesn\u2019t just grant individual financial freedom. It gives graduates the tools to become powerful catalysts to transform their communities for the better \u2014 one day, one action, one person at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Chancellor Venkat Reddy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Venkat K. Reddy, Ph.D., is the seventh full-time Chancellor of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). As Chancellor of UCCS, Dr. Reddy has committed himself to the university\u2019s access mission and student success. In changing one student\u2019s life for the better, UCCS transforms the lives of families and community members forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to his role as Chancellor, Dr. Reddy is also a professor in the College of Business at UCCS, where his research has focused on strategic financial investments and improvements to distance and online learning. He serves on the National Cyber Security Center Board of Directors and is an Honorary Commander at the United States Air Force Academy. He received his Ph.D. from Penn State. Learn more about Chancellor Reddy<\/a> online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than ever before, the value of a college degree is under intense scrutiny \u2014 especially from those who wonder if a degree is necessary to find a good job, writes Chancellor Venkat Reddy in a Gazette guest column. But beyond economic success, its most significant value is in improving the quality of graduates\u2019 lives and the lives of those around them. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":137094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,21],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-137092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-memo-from-the-chancellor","tag-chancellors-office"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Communique-Featured-Image-1400-x-1052-px-double-size-7.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-zFa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137095,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137092\/revisions\/137095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/137094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}