With unemployment remaining relatively high, many young people are revisiting the idea of earning college degrees and recent graduates are beginning to question the decision to earn their diplomas.

Last Monday, I caught CNN Business Correspondent Ali Velshi’s report about this troubling national issue.  According to the College Board, the average tuition rate has tripled since the 1980’s and even state schools have increased their tuition fees significantly.

But the bad news is not over for college graduates.  The unemployment rate is dropping, but at an exceedingly slow pace.

According to the Adecco, a job placement firm, 60 percent of recent graduates entering the work force are not finding full-time jobs in their chosen professions during the current employment down cycle. Eighteen percent of those grads take jobs outside their fields, many in low-paying positions requiring only high school diplomas.  Adding to their frustration is the pressure to repay student loans for their degrees.

I am sure that we can all relate to this situation.  If we are not living it, we probably know someone who is.  For instance, whenever we promote job openings available in our public relations firm, we usually hear from a healthy amount of applicants who hold degrees in unrelated majors and careers.  Also, who doesn’t have a friend currently working in a job completely unrelated to his or her field of expertise?  A high school friend of mine earned her Master’s degree in Architecture last December and she currently works as a bartender in a Hollywood Beach hotel, alongside her boyfriend who is in the same predicament.  Like many others, she is making ends meet to pay for her student loans, while she waits for a job in her field.

Despite the fact that the majority of young adults in this country do not attend a four-year college, mostly for economic reasons, and the pessimistic public opinion about the worth of an education, we shouldn’t be too quick to give up on the value a college education.

According 2010 Census Bureau data analyzed by a Pew Research study, the gap in median annual earnings between a worker with a high school diploma and one with a college degree is about $20,000. What is even more impressive is that a typical college graduate earns $500,000 more than someone with no college degree over the course of a 40-year career, even after factoring in the additional costs of paying for a college education.  And none of these facts addresses the intellectual benefits that a college education provides.

So, strictly talking numbers, a college education is still valuable.  Make sure you get yours or, if you already have it, make it count by continuing to pursue your dream job.

By Anay Villar