Government Investment in Education: Worth the Cost?

This article discusses the impact of government investment in education and its worth in terms of productivity and human capital. It explores the benefits and challenges of such investments and suggests the need for diversification in investment types to cater to different mindsets and talents.

Running head: RHETORIC
Rhetoric
Name of the Student:
Name of the university:
Author’s Note:

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Korea, where I am from, is a country well-known for excessive enthusiasm for education.
Typically, a lot of Koreans prioritize being educated and consider it is the only way to be socially
successful. I grew up in the mecca of cramming education, city full of young students dedicate
themselves just to go to better college. One of the biggest reasons why those students have a
short-sighted view of value is because the government encourages them to. Government
expenditure on education is 5.05% of total GDP in 2015 and has been constantly increasing from
2% in 1975 (Mundi). Growing up as an adult with experiencing the same agony of Korean
teenagers and a tax-paying citizen, one curiosity grew in me as well. All those investments from
the government for students, is it actually worth? I have chosen this topic as I feel that education
is really very important for all the people living in the world. As per my opinion, it is only
through education that man can be able to overcome all the darkness and the social evils present
in around him through the light of education. Having been a resident of Korea I have always
been able to understand the effects of education in a very age-old predefined manner. As my
parents were also into the profession of teaching I have been guided to work hard so that I can
get admission in one of the best industries. However, I have seen that there are some or the other
kinds of disparities that often lie among people in terms of education. I feel that people must be
made aware of taking up educational opportunities in an even serious way so that they can get a
good independent life.
Growing up with the professor as a parent, I was informed to go to graduate school and
took it for granted. Accordingly, education and learning are intimate lifetime career to me, and I
was interested in human resource. That is why topic related to education first came to my mind,
thinking of I-search topic. As brought up ideas for government and human resources, education
was not so one-dimensional. Because the human potential is abstract, the specific concept of

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potential and investment was needed to judge the statement. Before I started my research, I had
the same typical idea of Korean students that academic studying and following path of scholar
student is the only key to achieve my goal and be successful. In Korea, people with different
education level showed a comparatively huge gap in salary. However, students have potential
regardless of scale and area. Although most the students scour to seek their potential in academic
areas, there are athletes, drawing, acting, and countless areas outside of academics. I feel that a
student who is interested in dancing must be allowed to pursue his or her career in that particular
aspect itself. Government is making a huge investment in order to give a strong boost to educate
people. However as the country is undergoing many changes in this 21st century, people all over
the world must also change their mindsets. I feel that the Government must invest in all the
different sectors of training kike dancing, drawing, sports and many other such cultural aspects
rather than only investing in the educational arena. I am sure that there are several people among
the readers who have been forced to take up some career choices just under the force or pressure
of their families. Some of you might also have heard your parents saying there is not much
opportunity in the field of painting so the only option is to do majors in certain subjects. It is for
these reasons that the Government must try to allocate the investment on different sectors of the
country so that people having different choices can pursue their dreams freely.
Government investment in education can be figuratively speaking of stock. Stocks are a
type of investment people make even if they do not know how they will change. Instead, they see
the stocks' potential. Investors put money on the stock, which can be compared to supports which
government make. The difference is that human potential is more complicated to predict because
the depth of possibility is unknown. Propulsion of government on education is illustrated in

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numberless ways. An increasing number of instructors, supporting with federal student loans,
and offering public servant participation can be representative examples of government's
capitalization. Outcomes of the investmentcan are seen by the increase of national income and
human capital inherent, but they seem to be vague. Since it is hard to demonstrate a clear relation
between capitalization and investment in education, it is hard to prove adequacy as well.
Commonsensically, to measure the productive value of physical capital, differences in wages
among people with different level of education is the easiest indicator. Setting up criteria for my
curiosity, I chose productivity in human capital and growth in national income as a most
influenced factor of government's sowing. However, the Government has to make sure that the
investment for education is taking place in an all-pervasive way. In other words, people living
even in remote areas must be able to avail the opportunities. I feel that the tuition fees is one of
the major issues that people often face while availing the opportunities for education. But there is
a huge disparity between tuition fees in different countries (Ehlen 2015). I remember that many
of the classmates in my college often became dropouts as they were not able to avail the tuition
fees. I wanted to help them but as I was young I could not do much. I still feel that there must be
some discounts or concessions for people who belong to the minor or economically backdated
regions. However, according to data from the OECD’s Education at a Glance report, the United
States, Canada, Australia, Chile, Japan, and South Korea all have annual tuition fees higher than
$4,000.
As the world becomes globalized, higher education to make country competitive has
become a strategy to foster as an advanced country (Winthrop). Higher education leads to higher
competition. If the country produces experts or an influential person who can bring profits to the
society, the society will develop as well. Accordingly, it can be promoted by having higher

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education in university. The U.S. Census Bureau has released data proving the substantial value
of a college education in the United States. Average earning of workers with bachelor's degrees
was $51,206 a year, while those with only high school diploma earning $27,915. This data
concluded that a college degree almost doubled annual earnings compared to a high school
diploma. Ripple effect of higher earnings is not simple (Abdullah et al. 2015). It will mean
higher GDP, larger market breadth, and growing economic circulation. To get deeper of this,
Hanushek states the average year spent in school and economic growths are directly
proportional. Specifically, each additional school year led to increasing average 40-year growth
rate in GDP by approximately 0.37% among 50 countries (Hanushek, 62-70). Some economic
research has claimed that there are additional factors that affect a country's economic growth.
However, Sala-i-Martin identified that primary education turns out to be the highest proportion
by analysis of 67 variables (Sala-i-Martin, 315-8).
In order to cultivate more people of talent, human capitals, federal scholarship for
undergraduate students became one of strategies government established for the nation's
economic growth (Katarina 35-8). As a result, diverse government programs exist to help student
cover college tuition. They offer diverse programs of grants and scholarships to students who
suits qualifying criteria, regardless of income level or position (Psacharopoulos, George and
Harry Anthony Patrinos 2018). The reason for lax criteria is because government demands more
students with higher education (Mulder 2018). A federal student loan is another form of
government's investment in education that loans for students to pay for the cost of education after
high school in low-interest (Duncan). The FDLP (William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan
Program) is the sole government-backed loan program in the U.S. The program is designed to

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lend students $106.7 billion in the interest rate of 3.86% during 2012. Because the U.S.
government's profit out of student loans in 2013 surpassed $41 billion, misconceptions can occur
(Tamia). However, it is part of government's investment in education and government can make
more investment with the profit. Imposing new policies to attract finer teachers and professors is
the third way of government spending on education. Korea government is giving privilege in
taxation to international instructors including teachers with a J-1 visa. The J-1 visa is a visa for
the non-immigrant visitor for approved to participate in study-based occupations (J-1 visa
basics). As referred to the information above, the government is making expenditure on
education in different forms to aid students' higher education. As Korea, like many other
counties are going forward to become one of the global identities the Government has to
overcome many challenges. In order to do that it has to use the investment structure in such a
way that more people are capable of understanding the importance of making education a life
long process. I feel that Korea is doing a very good job in terms of education but one of the
issues is the low ambition and passion among some of the citizens. I want to take up the job of a
teacher in the future so that I can help people know about the importance of education and
learning (Hultberg et al. 2017). I think that it will be good if the Government makes some kinds
of investments on the awareness purpose as well.
Improvement of productivity and increase of human capital inherent are results of
education. History of South Korea bespeaks of an increase in human capital inherent. During the
period of Japanese colonialism since 1910, Koreans had been inhibited by the Japanese
education system which shut Korean out from the secondary schools and higher education
institutions. The education system lasted for approximately 50 years, until independence in 1945.

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78% of the Korean population was illiterate when the government started boosting up education
after the occupation. The strategy the Korean government aimed was Low-Cost Approach, which
enlarging class sizes with low teachers' salaries. Undivided government support had conduced
South Korea to rank second in reading, fourth in mathematics, and sixth in science according to
PISA assessments in 2009 (South Korea Overview). The outcome means that Korea's human
capital resource has increased. Compared to countries like Saudi Arabia, where petroleum
industries are animating, Korea does not have natural resources. Unlike Korea in the 1950s when
the country had nothing to nominate to compete with other countries, manpower has become a
representative resource in nowadays. As the fever on education continues, Korea will produce
more competent individuals like Ban Ki-moon. I think that the Korean Government must invest
in individual training and development process so that the students can take up their own goals.
Family training programs must also be financed by the Government so that choosing the
educational goals are no longer only within the hands of the selective principals. However, the
Government must make more investment in opening up job opportunities for the high school
graduates as well A common trend is that only the student's graduation from top well-known
colleges is able to draw a very high salary. Thus I would like to see a reduction in the disparity
between incomes.
I have learned that there are different views of people. This difference is because of the
variations in their thinking pattern. There are some people claim that education does not take
high proportion in developing human potential and they exploit people like Abraham Lincoln,
Bill Gates, and Will Smith. I have known people belonging from remote undeveloped places
who know nothing about education. I think that the Government has to make its expense in a

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more dynamic and widespread manner so that all these people can be brought under the arena of
literacy. They are just precious few, not the majority of people. The majority of people do not
know what they desire and what their latent abilities are. Consequently, exertion to find what the
potential is required and the government's investment is part of supporting the exertion.
Although the government is expanding on course of study by federal loans, scholarships and job
creation, more diversified investment is needed. In conclusion, enumerated data from economic
outcomes such as the history of South Korea and an increase of GDP countenance my stance
about government's spending on education is profitable in later days and developing human
potential has a powerful effect on society. I would suggest that the investment types must be
diversified so that people with different mindsets are able to learn about the importance of
learning.

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