Caroline Bird Case Against College Education

Recently, many have begun to attack and degrade higher education in the United States. In the book How College Works, authors Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs claim, “As state support has eroded, and as more students attend college in an increasingly desperate attempt to find viable jobs, the price to students of attending an institution of higher education has gone up, especially at more selective institutions” (172). So is college even worth it? Caroline Bird’s excerpt from her book Case Against College “Where College Fails Us” is an adequately written article that agrees with those who question whether college is a good investment. Bird argues that although some students would benefit from college and succeed, many fall short, wasting

Caroline Bird’s argument against postsecondary education is incorrect, specifically her beliefs that students are exposed to too many options and graduates only desire jobs that save people.
First, Caroline Bird shares her belief that “a college experience that piles option on option …merely adds to the contemporary nightmare.” Although too many options are sometimes overwhelming, limiting choices would also create undue pressure for students. For instance, as a student, I am exposed to several options: what classes I should take, what major I should major in, what professors I should take, etc. This allows me control over my education, so I can avoid being pressured into a class or a major that is not right for me. As a matter of fact, author Virginia N. Gordon found statistical evidence that about 75 percent of students change their major at least once before graduation (Freedman). The ability to explore different paths will ultimately comfort students because they know their major is out there somewhere. By being able to pick from a variety of majors, students do not have to worry about wasting their money by being forced into a major. For this