College Is Not for Everyone

Society pushes today's youth towards higher education. The goal of grade school is to prepare the students for middle school. The goal of middle school is to prepare the students for high school. And finally the goal of high school is to prepare the students for college. The entire structure of education is to prepare youth for the next level of education. The problem with this system is that not all students are college material, as seen in the essay The Case Against College by Caroline Bird.

Society instills today's youth with that without a college education they will not be successful. But then again what defines success? Success is a wide-ranging term that has different meanings to different people. Some people believe that making money defines success, while others believe that success is having a loving family. Still, society seems to demonstrate and even promote that success is portrayed by making money. The general public states that in order to be a successful person one must make a heavy salary out of college. The problem with this philosophy is that some people are not meant for college. In Bird's article, she writes that college is not been effective for everyone. Half of all high school graduates attend college and the pattern of dropouts is becoming more and more obvious showing that some students don't fit the mold (305).

Another point that society makes is that college will turn its students into better people. But how does college actually turn someone into a better person? College can place students in situations that call for responsibility and in situations where they may demonstrate qualities of leadership. However college does nothing more then give the students the opportunity to demonstrate the qualities that they already possess. As Bird effectively quotes from respected psychologists Bruner and Piaget, "Specific learning skills have been acquired very early in life, perhaps even before formal schooling begins" (306). Piaget and Bruner believe that the skills of leadership and responsibility have been learned prior college. College simply provides an environment to display the basic skills.

However on the other side of the spectrum college does have its benefits. A college places its students in real life settings away from home. It lets the students begin making decisions that they will deal with for their entire life.