College isn’t mandatory and it sure isn’t cheap; so why do so many 18 year olds graduate high school after 13 years of schooling and take the right of passage into college? Maybe the freedom of a dorm room and the gourmet meal plans beckon some. Or it could have to do with the want to learn about true interests for the first time in your academic life. Either way, in 2012, 66.2% of high school graduates were enrolled in a college or university, so there has to be a reason why people go.
College is a time for people to discover who they are, independently from their parents, and to determine what they like. Becca Johnson, the former editor of the MDO, now attends Elon University and notes, “Most kids in high school only join clubs because they want to look [more] impressive for college. When you’re actually here though, everyone only does what they love and enjoy. You’re with a group of impassioned people, and that passion is contagious.” Most of the time you are spending time with people who share your similar interests or people who are interested in making friends; either way, you’re meeting people. The college experience is what you make of it, and it can be the best four years of your life.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm