The United States education system has been blamed by businesses and economists for failing to help students acquire critical skills needed to make the transition from school to work. Critics argue that America’s emphasis on college preparation has isolated academics from vocational education and weakened the system in the ability to prepare high school graduates for the demands of employment (Corson and Silverberg,
1994). This argument continues today as the Center for American Progress (2006) reports that despite several decades of intensive efforts to improve educational outcomes, the
United States graduation rate in not keeping pace with the needs of business and industry.
32
A 2006 report from the New Commission on The Skills
When college attainment improves, the tax base increases, reliance on social welfare programs declines, and civic and political engagement increases” (White). Even though it may seem obvious, in most cases it truly is very important to have a degree to be able to become successful. Despite some arguing against this, it comes down to the basics. A degree from higher education automatically gives that person an advantage in life. Whether it helps with job applications, housing, or just relief from worrying about money, an education is not just beneficial but becoming almost a necessity.
In today’s society, it has been found out that college graduates have a hard time seeking a job and end up with a sky-high student debt. This reality then poses a question, is going to college worth the time and money? An essay in the New York Times published in May 2014 entitled, “Is College Worth It? Clearly New Data Say,” by David Leonhardt states, “For all the struggles that many young college graduates face, a four-year degree has probably never been more valuable” (33). In his essay, Leonhardt sets the stage by describing the struggles a college graduate might have such as student debt, no work after graduating, and accepting jobs they feel overqualified.
In the article, “Should Everyone Go to College,” authors, Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill’s, published by the Brookings Institution, discusses the benefits of a college education. The article begins by mentioning the arguments related to the requirement of having a college degree while entering the middle class in the United States. Having a college degree reminds people that higher education is the best advancement humans can make to allow them to make more money in their lifetimes, rather than if they just had a high school education. A fact that does not get much attention is not all college graduates, or college degrees, are equal. Even though Owen and Sawhill focus, in general, alternative career paths may result in equally lucrative
Two year degrees, technical, and trade schools were looked down upon. Nemko wishes his reader to learn a different truth. He wants to educate the educators who have misguided today’s youth into thinking that four years is the only successful path to take. He writes his article to alert parents and students that a four year college education is not for the majority of high school graduates. His argument is well formatted, as he establishes both his credibility to the reader and uses statistics and citations from other credible sources
What does it mean to be a college graduate and do they really care about your career? In this essay, “We Send Too Many Students To College (2011)”, Marty Nemko’s, asserts, that colleges are a business as well as students are a cost item. Nemko supports his claim by illustrating authoritative quotes with the nationwide survey conducted by UCLA researchers. Nemko’s purpose points out the way colleges misinform high school students who are seeking a degree where sometimes employment is difficult to acquire, in order to collect billions of tax dollars with minimal accountability.
In 2008, the Bureau undercounted the number of postsecondary educated workers roughly by 22 million people. Carnevale adds his opinion on how to reconcile the BLS projections with real life, “is to assert that the Bureau’s projections reflect the number of college degrees employers actually require, not the actual numbers of college educated workers they decide to hire” (Carnevale 370). This statement help show his opinion is backed up by
According to a recent study presented by Tami Luhby in her article, “College Grads are Getting Nearly All the Jobs,” the relationship between a college education and success is very evident. Of over 12 million available jobs created after the Great Recession, 8.4 million were occupied by people owning a bachelor’s degree and 3 million jobs were given to those with an associate’s degree or some other form of college education. Through
In his essay, "College isn't for Everyone. Let's Stop Pretending It Is," Michael Petrilli uses the title of his article to clearly state the opinion that college is simply not for everyone. He supports this opinion on the statistically low college graduation rate of lower income students. He links this low rate of graduation to poor performance in high school, which leaves students unready for college upon completion of twelfth grade. On the job technical training is presented as a viable alternative to college, where a skill can be obtained to provide a career.
Hourly wages are dropping and “it will likely be many years before young college graduates-or any workers-see substantial wage growth” (Source C). Since wages have dropped it is becoming pointless to get a degree due to the amount of debt and stress caused. Even though, we need to learn, higher education is becoming a risky
In his Essay “Are too many people going to college,” first published in a 2008 issue of AEI, Charles Murray explores many insights onto the topic of furthering education as well as exploring various other options to pursue after high school. Who exactly would think that too many people are going to college? Well with more and more students flooding campuses at the end of every school year and less and less going into trade schools, a shift in the job market is just beginning to be seen on the horizon. Charles Murray’s essay “Are too many people going to college” shows that not only are there other avenues to pursue a potential life long career, but that much of the time pursuing these avenues may offer better results for some wanting to go to college.
With today’s college degree being the new high school diploma, many experts believe the value of college degrees are watered down. Yet society dictates higher education is a necessity for anyone striving for job security in a hugely competitive job market. What options exist for students to earn an education that will lend to their ability
makes more than the average person without a B.A., getting a B.A. is still going to be the wrong economic decision for many high-school graduates” (209). Although I agree with Murray on a few examples, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that he made his opinion on the basis that much of high-schoolers should not attempt to aim to get a college degree due to being intellectually or fiscally incapable of getting one. Moreover, I believe that high schoolers should be encouraged to go beyond what they think is capable as it is often worth the effort reap the financial benefits of a college degree. Murray maintains, “The increase in wealth in American society has increased the demand for all sorts of craftsmanship” (247).
Imagine the United States in its near future: while a select few successful, affluent and influential people take power over the rest of the country and essentially control the way it operates domestically and internationally, the remainder of the population remains at a state comparable to the Great Depression in the 1930s, where unemployment rates are high, few unskilled jobs are available to the public, and the majority of urban residents are forced to rely on soup kitchens and live in shantytowns. The state of most United States schools today is absolutely atrocious, and should they continue to educate the modern generation of children and teens, a dystopian society is bound to arise in what is now considered one of the most powerful and
American society places a huge emphasis on education. Many individuals are encouraged to go to college and earn graduate so that they are able to be competitive in the job market. Because great jobs can be difficult for one to acquire, many stress the importance of higher education. There is a strong belief that those who do not graduate high school will be unable to positively contribute to society because they are not marketable. In 2012, about 750,000 students did not graduate from high school (Camera, 2015).
The education system produces skills that are not valued by employers, while raising the expectations of those who acquire them. Consequently, the unemployed do not take up existing job vacancies, and employers are unwilling to hire available candidates (Njonjo, 2010). The mismatch is more marked for school leavers and graduates who have just finished school, partly providing an explanation for the high unemployment rate among youth and new entrants into the job market. The suggested remedy is to reform the education system and increase focus on technical education and vocational training, matching them to the needs of the job market (Coenjaerts et al. 2009).