Charles Murray Are Too Many People Go To College Summary

I recently read an essay called “Should Everyone Go to College?” by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill who write a great argument stating that going to college should depend on the situation instead of stating that everyone should go to college. Stephanie and Isabel go over the rate of return on education through graphs and statistics that show that those that go to college are often time more successful than those that go straight into a career. However, going to college should be dependent on the chosen career path more than anything else because some career paths do not require a college education. Also, the rate of return is a big thing to think about before committing to going to college because paying for college to go into a career that

In addition to this modern philosophy, he mends a potential gap of knowledge between college students and students that follow another route. He proposes that a liberal education, a style that can only be given in college, should be given in primary education, giving a sense of equality between grade levels from primary to secondary schooling. As an effect, the stress of needing a degree diminishes and respect for people with or without one becomes indistinguishable. Murray stresses the importance to the

This would be an understandable reason to not continue college, but is very specific to certain people or families. Another personal case of why an individual would drop out is college is it is just not the right fit for their life. College does teach valuable life skills and provides an advanced education for those who need it, yet some professions do not require a degree. If a student is not getting valuable instruction for what they want to do, it would be the smart thing to back out and peruse an apprenticeship for example. Careers such as plumbing, welding, electricians, cosmetics, etc do not need a four-year degree.

With great detail, it provides an accurate perspective of the education experience one might expect from a university and from a community college. Furthermore, I felt the essay contrasts the old style college experience with modern day community college life in a way that reminds us not every college student has the privilege of being able to afford to attend an expensive 4-year university. When Addison talks about how the college experience Perlstein describes is that of “his own nostalgia,” I also felt that that Perlstein’s experience is no longer indicative of the modern educational experience that students obtain today at the many community colleges (1). I would have to agree with Addison’s statement, “My guess, reading between the lines, is that Mr. Perlstein has never set foot in an American community college”

People who are thinking of college would typically include parents who want to know if college is best for their child or children, high school students, adults looking to complete their schooling or even enhance it, and even people who have dropped out of school entirely. In order for Delbanco’s article to be well supported and robust, he would need to go over the cause for why people don’t think highly of college as a wise educational plan in life. He explains the basis of people not going to college, he says, “Some on the right say that pouring more public investment in higher education, in the form of enhanced subsides for individuals or institutions, is a bad idea.” This is important in an argumentative article to have a refutation; otherwise, the argument is weak and fails to support the claims that have been made by the writer. Introducing a counter argument in an argumentative article is an intelligent decision to do when writing; this provides insight on others thoughts that oppose the statement, which has been made by said person.

In Marty Nemko’s essay, “We Send Too Many Students to College,” I thought he presented his argument about how a college degree does not necessarily mean that you will succeed in life in a subtle yet smart way by utilizing a personal connection with the subject of his essay. Or as Aristotle explained in The Art of Rhetoric, the appeal to authority (Ethos). Additionally, I thought his incorporation of the two stories about the individuals who obtained their degrees, but could find a job with their aforementioned degrees was a very honest way of descripting what I believe is happening in today’s educational institution.

It’s hard to even think about that seeing as not going to college is often seen as lazy and irresponsible, but should it be seen that way? Is college really worth it? A college education can be very valuable and useful, I will not even try to deny that, but a lot of jobs don’t require a college education. For example, I have heard a lot of my friends saying that they want to become photographers.

Throughout the essay, Charles Murray stresses the idea that college is the wonderland of finding oneself and to find the career that one would want to follow for the rest of their lives. “College is seen as the open sesame to a good job and a desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood. Neither reason is as persuasive as it first appears.” Murray, C (2008) Practically spoken, this is not normally the case. College is a fair amount of work, much more work than one would normally acquire through any course of a high school or secondary school setting.

The third reason people think loans should not be based off income is because students know what amount of money is good to take out and which amount is not the best for their limit. When a student goes in to get a loan most of them do not go over a limit that they know they cannot pay back. Last reason people think students should not base loans off income is because more students would go to college instead of not going at all or dropping out, because of how much household income is coming into their

College Isn’t for Everyone "By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice" (Owen). This quote from “Brookings Paper: Is College a Good Investment” goes into detail about how college isn’t for everyone. By educators, parents, and authority figures telling graduating high school seniors that college is necessary, they are limiting the potential of that student’s true skills. College isn’t right for everyone and not everyone wants to go to college.

In the article it talks about how college does not prepare you for work life but college teaches how to do a specific job. I agree with Harbowski statement because in today’s world of work many companies require you to have a degree, whether it is a bachelor’s degree or a Master’s degree. It is true that not all jobs require you to have a degree but, the jobs that do not require a college degree are also the jobs that are more likely to lay those off who do not have a college but do obtain a high school diploma. Others may say that you can make a good living working at job with only a high school diploma. Although, that may be true studies have also shown that you have to work harder than others to get to that comfortable living place and college graduates are much more likely to be employed and earn more than those with a high school diploma.

After analyzing the two articles, both authors share their opinions about college, but they have different beliefs towards college. Deborah Lieberman believes college is very important, she thinks college is necessary to be valued in life. However, Bird feels that college in not necessary because it is not worth the time and money that is spent. Lieberman says that education is an investments that pays off, because adults with a college education are best likely to get hired than those with a high school diploma. Bird, on the other hand, says that a college diploma no longer opens vocational doors, because people from the past were able to do the job without a higher education.

Another goal of mine is to build a network to help find employment and increasing my knowledge of the career field I intend to enter upon graduation. This is not impossible at Wayne County it is, however, difficult when the field of my choosing is an academic one; Anthropology. I would like to continue my social growth. While universities share the focus that community colleges posses, universities leave room for social interaction and connection. Furthermore, when I chose to attend a community college instead of a university, I was well aware the two-year college would not be the final stop on my educational journey.

In “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray offers his opinion on the number of students that pursue a B.A. He believes that two year or four year colleges are not needed for a majority of students who could instead pursue other life paths. He discusses the ability for the general knowledge needed to be learned in primary and secondary school, and for a lessened need for a “brick-and-mortar” institution the problems with the current secondary and higher educational issues including the lessened need to acquire a B.A. All members of society need certain skills in order to be productive members of society. They need to know general facts about the country they live in, general history, and general geography.

EA #2 College Will Take You There For some people, a college education is not viewed as optional, while for others it is nothing but irrelevant. The idea of spending at least two years to earn a post high school degree, may be viewed as a futile obstacle standing in the way of one’s dreams. It is a testing journey, and an expensive road, but it will pay off.