The Importance of Secondary Education for Future Success: A Comprehensive Blog Article

Research from 2020 shows that 62.7% of high school graduates enrolled in college. This has drastically gone down from 86% in 2019 for US high school students.

You may be wondering why secondary-level education is so important. After all, not everyone ends up graduating from high school or going on to college.

The reality is that having a proper education is very important in American society. Secondary-level education opens up many opportunities that you may otherwise miss out on.

Keep reading to find out why high school is so important for your future.

What Is Secondary Education?

Secondary-level education can mean different things depending on the country you are in. In America, this is categorized as high school.

High school is the next step after middle school, where students spend an extra four years. The majority of students are 18 years old by the time they graduate.

The majority of Americans have gone to high school for at least a few years. In rarer instances, they may not have gone to high school at all.

Why Is It Important?

Now that you know what secondary-level education is, why is it important? After all, you have already received so much education prior to getting to this point.

Many students end up underestimating just how important high school is. This is the next step of your education that set you up for success in the future.

Here are some examples of why high school is so important for your future success.

College Options

One of the biggest reasons to go to high school is to pursue college. It is important to clarify that not every college requires a high school diploma.

The majority of schools do, but that isn’t the case for every college you may look at. That being said, having your diploma is still very important.

The majority of colleges determine your worth by how you did in high school. They look at your grades and scores to see how good of a student you were.

This is also where colleges will look at your extracurricular activities. They do this to see what kind of student you are and what your potential is.

If you did not go to high school or you didn’t graduate, this will be a huge gap. Colleges will not be able to look you up as easily and may bypass you because of this.

This will also make it much harder to get scholarships. If you are applying for scholarships, these foundations also look at everything you did in high school.

Without that information, it will be difficult to compete with other students.

Career Opportunities

Another huge reason to pursue secondary-level education is your career path. A great majority of jobs in the US require a high school diploma or GED.

It can be very difficult to find a decent job if you don’t have this. You also will be very limited when it comes to careers you can join.

This is especially true if you do not go to college, missing out on some of the necessary skills. Most jobs that offer good opportunities require a high school diploma or a college degree.

Most people who do not graduate from high school end up needing to get their GED. You can take a GED test that gives you a kind of diploma.

This is not as good as a high school diploma, but it will help you to get more job opportunities.

Life Skills

Something many students do not realize is that high school teaches life skills. This is furthering your education, incorporating more realistic requirements.

You will be learning things that you will most likely use in your everyday life. This is different from all of your prior education, which was just covering the basics.

This is part of why the majority of jobs require a high school diploma. It shows that you have acquired these skills and will be able to handle the work.

Extracurricular Activities

Another thing that secondary education exposes you to is extracurricular activities. These are activities outside of education that help you to learn more skills.

Examples of this include cooking classes where you can learn how to cook and bake. Or you may join shop class where you learn how to use tools and build things.

Other more common extracurricular activities include a variety of sports. Keep in mind that extracurricular activities are very important if you want to apply for colleges or scholarships.

Higher Income

Graduating from high school opens up your opportunities job-wise and salary-wise. You will be able to get better jobs with higher income possibilities.

If you didn’t graduate, you won’t be able to find more profitable jobs. This greatly reduces your chance of being able to eventually achieve a better income.

This also could prevent you from receiving job promotions. You won’t be able to move up the ladder if you don’t qualify education-wise.

This can make your future success very difficult to achieve with so many limitations. Unless you find more creative job options, you may be stuck in certain categories.

Making Friends

The social aspect of high school is that you are able to find friends. A large majority of people end up staying in contact with their high school friends later on in life.

Some end up going to college together or joining the same career field. Friendships formed in high school are often more meaningful as you have known each other for longer.

This is something that you could end up missing out on if you don’t go to high school. It is very rare for people to keep friendships from the time before high school.

Find Your Passion

Another great benefit to secondary education is finding a passion. A lot of students end up finding their life‘s passion during their high school years.

This often gives them time during those critical ages in their life to find out what they are interested in. They may do this through their classes or through their extracurricular activities.

Some students go on to pursue sports careers and get a sports scholarship. Others may realize that they want to go into teaching or some other profession.

Without going to high school, it can be difficult to figure out what you want to do. You don’t have this section of time where you are able to experiment and learn.

This can result in you working a bunch of odd jobs without really feeling passionate about anything. If you eventually find your passion, it may be difficult to break into it.

Should Everyone Go to High School?

Even though secondary education is important, you may be wondering if it is for everyone. This is a common question since some people don’t think it will benefit them.

The problem with this is that there is no way of knowing for sure if you need that diploma. You may have a plan for your life, but it could always change later on.

You may want to be self-employed and run your own business. This is a great dream to have, and you don’t necessarily need a diploma to do this.

But what if something goes wrong and it isn’t successful? You are needed to get a normal everyday job to get by, and you may not be able to do that without secondary education.

You may also decide later on that you want to go back to college to learn. This is very common if people decide what career path they want to follow later on in life.

This may be very difficult to do if you didn’t graduate high school. Although it’s not a requirement for all colleges, it is a very important determining factor.

Secondary-Level Education: Why It's Important

You may not understand why secondary-level education is so necessary. The reality is that this opens up opportunities for your future that you wouldn’t otherwise have.

This includes things like finding a better job with a higher salary potential. It could also be the determining factor in whether you get into college or not.

Secondary education also helps you to figure out what your passion is. This way, you can jump right into the career path that you want to take.

Are you interested in furthering your career? Contact us today at Honor Society to view our career and college resources.