Charles Murray Are Too Many People Going To College Analysis

In his article, “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray argues that too many people are going to college universities when they should be focusing on other lifestyle options. In his opinion, whether or not to attend college is a personal decision that should be thoroughly thought through. When weighed with the unrealistic prerequisites, the financial expenses, and the time needed to obtain a degree, many people will find that attending college will not be beneficial to them. Speaking of this Murray attests, “The question here is not whether the traditional four-year residential college is fun or valuable as a place to grow up, but when it makes sense as a place to learn how to make a living.

Education at its core should be about an individual going to an institution in which they are taught ways to expand their, often limited, knowledge whilst growing into a well-rounded individual who is able to think logically and form a well educated opinion. This should be a right to everyone. Yet Charles Murray is questioning if too many people are taking up higher education, a place where a liberal education can shape people into smarter human beings. Charles Murray wrote in his essay Are Too Many People Going to College? that it’s a “Yes and No.”

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.

Attending college is an important life choice everyone should make. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, the authors of Should Everyone Go to College?, explore that “…the median earnings of about $30,000 for 25-34-year old high school graduates working full-time in 2010, this implies that a year in college increases earnings by $3,000, and four years increases them by $12,000” (They Say/I Say pg.209/para. 3). In the Owen and Sawhill article they provide information on the difference in a person’s salary with a high school diploma compared to a person’s salary with a one year certificate and a bachelor’s degree. Owen and Sawhill continues on to state that, “there are many non-monetary benefits of schooling that are harder to measure but no less important” (They Say/I Say pg.210/para.3). The authors used information gathered from research reports that they conducted to determine salary and/or wage earnings for an individual who attends one year of college versus four years of college.

“On average, college graduates make significantly more money over their lifetime than those without a degree… What gets less attention is the fact that not all college degrees or college graduates are equal. ”(pg.208 para. 1) Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill are senior researchers at Brookings’ Center on Children and Families, Sawhill is also a senior fellow in economics study at Brookings’. Owen and Sawhill authored the essay, “Should everyone go to College?” The authors use a wide variety of rhetorical devices in the essay, including ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audience to take another look at whether college is the right choice for them.

A liberal arts education teaches arts, sciences, and humanities, which results in many people having their opinions on the value of having a liberal arts degree. Some college students believe that following their career track is the only way to be successful, as opposed to going to a vocational school or pursuing a career in liberal arts. On the other hand, some students feel that pursuing a liberal arts degree can not only make them successful in their career, but educate them on how to communicate effectively as well as how to think critically. In my opinion, I think that whether a student wants to pursue a career in liberal arts depends on the person. Charles Murray and Stanford J. Ungar, authors who wrote about higher education, have different

Analysis of “What’s Wrong with Vocational School?” The essay “What’s Wrong with Vocational School?” by Charles Murray can be found in the second edition of “Practical Argument”. It is an opinion piece that explains Murray’s views on vocational schooling, it states that the amount of students going on to college is unnecessary.

“College in America” Caroline Bird thinks that a college education may not be the best choice for all high school students because college education does not bring about social equality, it does not benefit them financially, and it is not guaranteed that college will lead them to an elite profession. First of all, high school students are expected to bring about social equality through four rigorous years in college. However, college is an expensive way to categorize the highs and lows in society. It is pressuring to younger students to pursue a higher education that only a few could achieve, and is also difficult for them to established an identity in society. Second, a college education does not benefit the youth financially because it is

High school graduates are starting to feel that they must go to college. Students are consistently being bombarded with different ideas of what to do after high school, most of which require some type of schooling or degree. Instructors and counselors commonly persuade students to think that we only have one option to be successful with a college degree. College might not be for everyone! From my research, I found many articles on reasons why people go to college, reasons they do not go to college, and statistics on going and not going to college.

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.