Students who take math classes in school are more likely to go on to complete a college degree and less likely to use public assistance. By encouraging students to develop their critical thinking skills, mathematics also helps them in other subjects and sets them up for success. For example, taking a calculus class as an undergraduate may help you understand physics or biology later on. Mathematics is also one of four areas of study that can lead to jobs with high salaries, especially for certain careers such as finance or engineering. If you plan on continuing your education at a four-year college or university, it’s important that you start preparing yourself now—and keep working at it all through high school!