A College Education Is Worth The Cost

Education – An investment and stewardship Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. However, in today, some people opine that college education is a worthless investment and waste of time. Against this opinion, law professor, Rodney K. Smith, in his USA Today essay in December, 2011, “Yes, A College Education Is Worth The Costs,” analyzes the importance of education in providing people with job and benefits. His first goal is to raise awareness of the correlation between the educational attainment and income as well as unemployment rate. His second goal is to demonstrate the value of education as an “investment and stewardship”. By establishing his credibility with his personal experiment and his family’s

In paragraph 6 and 7, he points out the fact that “education adds richness” by reciting the case of a football player: “his education provides him with a job and the love of music fills his home”, “it also brings joy into lives”. To be persuasive, Smith also establishes his credibility when he identifies himself as “president of a small liberal arts college with a strong core curriculum”. At this point, he is using ethos appeal in which he is an authority to present his case. From paragraph 8, he shifts his ideas from outside to his family by recounting the story of his father. He suggests that education is “an investment and stewardship”. Smith mentions that his father “became a steward of those funds” after the family “was sacrificing all their savings.” Smith also notes that “Education is more than an investment in our family. It is a treasure. I followed my father to college and law school, and my children have sought higher education.” Although his father was not successful in his life due to the difficult years of the Great Depression, the motivation of obtaining the education has spread to generations. That contributes significantly to Smith’s success and his children’s. These facts introduce and support the idea that education is certainly a worthwhile investment and

For example, in paragraph 7, Smith notes that education offers graduates opportunities for employment and the wherewithal to pay off debt “if they are wise stewards of that debt”. By using the word “if” in this idea, Smith qualifies his claim but weakens his argument. Throughout his piece, readers can see that the author has not looked at the topic from many angles or situations. By asserting that education as an investment, he leaves out the fact that there are many graduates being in unemployment and big student loan debt. Even though many years after graduating, many people who are having job still have a very hard time to pay off their student loan. Additionally, in paragraph 3, when he says, “Concerns regarding student indebtedness and educational quality are legitimate,” he is acknowledging an opposing argument. At this point, he does not refute this argument in which he should have done. This makes him lose his power in persuasion. Though Smith remains unsupported to his assertion at some point in paragraph 3 and 7, Smith’s article is effective in using facts, examples, appeal to the emotions, logical organization, and stylistic techniques to convince his audience. As a person achieves great success in his education career, the author is considered to be knowledgeable for the audience to trust his opinion. When reading his essay, readers can see the value, benefits, and importance of education