Three Reasons College Still Matters

In Andrew Delbanco's essay, College At Risk, he talks about college education in America and at some different points, he compares them to other countries education systems. In the beginning of his essay, the basis of American college education is discussed, and how furthering your education past high school helps us become productive adults. It is also mentioned how college is a place to expand your knowledge and critical thinking skills. It is pointed out that other countries may have a better education system and possibly outperform the U.S. when it comes to certain jobs. The author then goes on to mention that the standardize testing that the American education system has, can't measure all the things we have learned in life.

When we look at lifetime earnings-the sum of earnings over a career-the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree.” (pg.211 para. 1) This is an extremely effective use of logos to persuade as to why getting a college degree can yield “a tremendous return” (pg.211 para. 1), as the Hamilton Project stated. This is so effective because the authors lay all the numbers out right in front of the readers regarding lifetime earnings achieved through bachelor’s degrees, associates degrees, and high school diplomas. The authors gathered research from the Hamilton Project and also created graphs to provide the reader with the facts and statistics they need to make their own decision whether they should go to college or not. When the provided data is considered, it’s hard to see why someone wouldn’t choose to attend college and earn a degree. The authors were successful in achieving the goal of getting their point across by simply stating hard undisputed facts on earnings which is why this is a good example of logos in the authors’

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. The answer is: in a sensible world

The fact that not everyone needs to go to college is the main point that Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill write about in great detail throughout their essay. Even though the authors do say that people that go to college usually earn more, they state that this is on “average,” and that the key focus of their essay is to focus on those that the benefits are not greater than the cost of going to college. (Page 211, Paragraph 1). They also include a graph right under the text that shows how “on average” people with a college degree earn more than those that are just high school graduates. (Page 211, Figure one). The authors’ emphasis on “on average” is very effective at showing how their point makes sense and why it should be taken into consideration. I found the way that the authors focused on the minority more than the majority was skillfully effective at showing how some career paths do not require a college education and that the return in investment would not be worth the cost. Throughout their argument I found the writers to mostly use Logos and Ethos in their writing. The Logos is evident by the way they use statistics and the Ethos by how they state telling someone the only way to be successful is to go to college is a disservice. This is effective at making the reader think about how this should affect the decision of going to college and whether they should push someone to go to

The general argument made by author Charles Murray in his article, “Are too many people go to college,” is that the college is not necessary for everyone. More specifically, the Murray argues that students who went to school should have learned the core knowledge they will learn in the college. He writes, “ K-8 are the right years to teach the core knowledge, and the effort should get off to a running start in elementary school” (236). In this passage, Murray is suggesting that start teaching the core knowledge in elementary school until high school is better than to spend money and more time to the college. It is not important to go to college. In my opinion, I agree with Murray’s claim that four year college is not worth, job satisfaction for intrinsic reward, and the dark side of the Bachelor's degree.

As a college student who is currently spending thousands of dollars to further my education and achieve a career goal, it was, at first, disheartening to read Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money”. However, after thoroughly examining her points, I now see that her essay is illogical. In her piece “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird argues against the idea that “college is the best place for all high-school graduates” (1); in other words, college isn’t for everyone. Throughout her writing, Bird supplies her readers with evidence that explains how, for some individuals, college is a waste of not only time and money, but of intellectual effort, as well. It wasn’t until after reading this piece several times that I began encountering flaws within her reasoning. Although I agree with Bird that college is a waste of all these for some students, I also believe that Bird does not provide strong enough evidence to persuade her readers into thinking this.

Lawrence B. Schlack author of ¨Not going to College is a Viable Option” article is persuasive for students entering college. Throughout the essay Mr. Schlack gives many examples to why it is very important for students to know what they want to do before making a lifelong choice. Doing this Lawrence B. Schlack uses ethos, pathos and logos to establish persuasion within the article. Overall the article, “Not Going to College is a Viable Option” is an article persuades readers to stop and think of the choices they’re going to make.

The article titled “Even for Cashiers, College Pays Off” by David Leonhardt is an article that tackles the different reasons why skeptics and critics think spending money and time in college wasting. Despite the advantages that have been experienced by America in comparison to Europe, it does not make sense having to explain why college education for the masses is a noble and profitable venture. The reasons among which are quoted by those opposing and critics is that it is an expensive venture. This might be true but it results in self improvement which is very valuable and not quantifiable in terms of price and can result in a good job which will, in turn, result into more money. Although some of the facts that the workers

Also, there are some students stuck it out in the college for one or two years, and they change their majors, start over, drop classes, and finally drop out without any degree. Schlack think going to college is not always the best option because those students who fail in college because they are not prepared for college, and people told them the only option for them is college. I think student will not succeed in college if they are not prepared. Students who think he or she won’t success in college they should find a job after high school or go to community college. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill in their article “should everyone go to college,” they believed that everyone should have the chance to go to the college, and it is very important in our life. Owen and Sawhill said that college education earnings money to your income. They recommend college education, but before you attend college you should be well prepared for college. On the other hand, the authors said that college may not the best option for some people and it can be wasting time if they don’t use it in a good

3) “Surely, every American college ought to defend this waning possibility, whatever we call it. And an American college is only true to itself when it opens its doors to all - the rich, the middle, and the poor - who have the capacity to embrace the precious chance to think and reflect before life engulfs them. If we are all serious about democracy, that means everyone.”

There is an ample amount of information that leads people to believe that college is a great choice. In Source F, it is shown that, “Adults who graduated from a four-year college believe that, on average, they are earning $20,000 more a year as a result of having gotten that degree. Adults who did not attend college believe that, on average they are earning $20,000 a year less as a result.” Also, provided in Source F, “...55% say it [college] was very useful in helping them prepare for a job or career.” While these statistics are true, the negatives still outweigh the positives. Even though people may be earning more with a college degree, they still suffer the burden of paying off extraordinarily high debts. This means less money is being saved for themselves. Another negative is that people may not have chosen the correct major. In Source F, only, “55%,” of people believed that their major helped them. This concludes that a high percentage of people did not believe their major was useful. For these reasons, college is not as beneficial as it is played out to

If anyone has ever went to high school, then they have heard about college. Everyone has a different point of view on the idea of college. Part of it depends on how someone was raised. If a person’s parent or guardian drilled the idea of college into your head, or if they told you ‘do what you want’ or ‘I don 't care’, or ‘You’re not going’. While college is great, there are other means of education.The value of college is a low because there are people who do not qualify for a college education, and also because there are other ways of post-secondary education other than college.

“Is College the best option why or why not discusses the controversial issue of whether

It has taken many years for people in society to break out of the norms and expectations of how to grow up and live in the world. A huge factor in this “revolution”: attending college. Whether it is taking a gap year to discover the world and the waiting opportunities, or simply running with it all after high school to work, attending college isn’t considered a given anymore. Now not all cases are the same for every person, therefore they can only decide what is the best path for them after high school. Still, the benefits of a being a college graduate will never be diminished. Because in fact, that “gap year” could turn into two or even three years of sitting and deciding what to do in life. Or jumping right into working right after high school, leads to realizing there aren’t many jobs to provide and support oneself. Although many may continue to believe that attending college right after high school isn’t the right path for success, taking advantage of gaining a college education right away is essential for success in life because college broadens job and career opportunities and provides necessary experiences to thrive in the real world after school.

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