In 1975, Caroline Bird’s “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” describes why college degrees cannot buy you five years in the work force. Bird’s essay heavily describes the emotional struts these students encounter while attending college, and the anguish of dreadful classes which seem irrelevant to your actual desired occupation. High school students are inevitably being pushed to believe that college is a fundamental difference between working a desk job making $80,000 a year, and working a minimum wage job the rest of your life. Many college students are finding out that your twenty-thousand dollar degree won’t land you your dream job. Although some may advocate that college is the proven method to a successful career path, the majority of people that attend college are setting themselves up for failure with barricades like loans, low graduation rate, lack of experiences, and career success rate after receiving a degree.
The first issue that comes to hand is the financial aspect of it. Although people think college is the smartest investment you can make, it comes with a price. Today’s average cost to complete a bachelor degree runs right around $22,000, not including alcohol and fast food. Before beginning college, the majority of students will take out loans to finance college expenses. Roughly, twenty million loans each year, and additionally 60% of the previous year (nces.ed.gov). When repetitively borrowing of money from our government occurs, there will always be a percentage of students who will not be able to pay them back immediately or at all.
At first glance, these loans don’t look horrible because of the comforting idea of not having to begin making payments till six months after graduation or you drop out. Once ...
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...roblematic because the students miss critical experience of work and communication on a professional level in their area of study. Not only are they more than likely exposing themselves on social media but decreasing their chances of getting hired and being more counterproductive!
In today’s time, colleges have slowly turned education into a commodity and made a market. People are continually informed that going to college is the essential difference in our competitive job market. The numbers are often neglected, and people are misled to believe that everyone is meant to go to college. Although not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, and some majors don’t pay in the long run college, it is still a great opportunity for those who can properly prepare for the time and money it requires. College is not the difference between success and failure if you don’t attend.
While some say that college is a good investment due to its tendency to grow a student's character and intellectual ability, the downsides to college sorely outweigh the potential benefits that it has. While college does grow a student in multiple ways, “57% say that the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend.”(Doc F). This majority opinion demonstrates that the growth you can achieve in college is sorely outweighed by its economic cost, and not worth doing.
In Frank Bruni’s New York Time’s article, “The Imperiled Promise of College,” he argues that college is no longer a guarantee of success because students are not being properly motivated and guided into the programs that will provide them with jobs.
In her article “College Is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird attempts to pursued her readers that colleges are overflowing with students who don’t belong there. Her article first appeared in Psychology Today (May 1975). Since this material is outdated, I find it hard to believe that most of the responses by students and parents quoted in the article still hold true. The author has set out to pursue the readers that college is a bad and unnecessary choice for today’s youth. Yet the author holds a bachelors and a masters degree from two different universities. I would think that if she thought college was really a bad choice and a waste of time and money, she would not have gone back to get her masters degree.
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
In this article Nemko is illuminating the issues that our modern society is facing involving higher education. Students are starting off college with bare minimum requirements for next level learning and feeling disappointed when they are not succeeding in their courses. The author acknowledges that the courses being taken by students are sometimes not beneficial to life after college. Nemko states, “A 2006 study supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that 50 percent of college seniors scored below ‘proficient’ levels on a test that required them to do such basic tasks…”(525). Students are specializing in areas of learning to in turn be denied to working in that field and stuck with unnecessary skills. “Many college graduates are forced to take some very nonprofessional positions, such as driving a truck or tending bar”( ...
Imagine telling that to a student who just finished four years of hard, grueling, expensive work; or, even worse, a parent who paid for their child to finish that same grueling work. But, in some ways, that statement can’t be any further from the truth. College can prepare a student for life in so many more ways than for a career. However, in the way that college is supposed to prepare soon-to-be-productive students, that statement could be right on. As a student myself, I’ve found college to be a little bit of both. I often find myself asking, "How will this help me later in life?" But, then again, college gives me more control over my life and where I want it to go. In trying to figure out what exactly made college like this, and whether the way I felt was felt by others as well, I interviewed an Anthropology teacher at Las Positas College, Mr. Toby Coles, and I examined an essay by Caroline Bird called College is a Waste of Time and Money. The two sources offered interesting views from both side of the spectrum.
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
Imagine telling a student who just graduated from college that you have wasted four years of hard, stressful and even worse, expensive work. Unfortunately, in this cynical society today, the world isn’t just full of competitors, but it’s full of greedy money-grabbing businesses. The worst businesses aren’t manufacturing or electric companies, but colleges and universities. In Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” she examines how college has been viewed for so long as the best place to send high school grads no matter whether they actually want to go or not. She adds that students don’t realize how much college costs and are wasting their parents time and money, which is especially a horrible thing to waste. Now that the economy is better since September 11th and states have been stabilizing their budget debts, it doesn’t make sense that tuition prices higher than ever for college students.
College is the place where people go to retain the necessary training for a job that requires specific skills, which results in earning a higher pay check. In today’s world, employers are scouting out for individuals with the proper dexterities to fill the shoes for that specific job. Blanche D. Blank, the author of “A Question of Degree," argues that possessing a degree of higher education isn’t the only way to have a very successful life. This statement is highly argumentative, due to the fact that college graduates still out-earn people without degrees. Obtaining a college degree is one of the best things someone can do for themselves, when it comes to looking for a stable job. There is also so much more to college than just receiving a
Attending college has changed quite a lot throughout the years. When it first arose, it was only accessible to the wealthy, and it was unheard of for everyone else. Only a few decades ago a bachelor degree could almost guarantee a comfortable job, and it was another advantage to any resume. In our current times, many students struggle and are unable to go to college due to the rising price tag that is not showing any signs of slowing down. A college degree is what most employers look for now-a-days, making it more essential than ever before. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to attain one. College tuition and fees should be lowered because 1) student loan debt is crippling for college graduates, 2) lower tuition will increase the accessibility of education, and 3) regulated tuition would lead to a
In the article "College is a Waste of Time and Money", Caroline Bird explains why higher education may not be the best choice for high school graduates. Bird writes that students do not attend college because they want to, but because of what others expect. College is merely the trend in today's society. It is an escape from the real world. Students may be shuffled into a system that is neither financially nor academically beneficial.
How does the rising cost of college tuition affect us? Every year thousands of students attend a college or university, usually of their choice, with the goal of achieving a higher education and to better their future. The cost of attending college is too high and it needs to go down; there needs to be more scholarship and grant opportunities. The high cost of attending college is a major reason that students aren’t able to achieve higher education; others take this as a challenge and it is motivation for them to work harder to achieve their goal. One might ask why would someone want to spend money to receive more education and miss out on more years of work that they could’ve performed? For many, it is so they can receive more salary for the jobs that they will have later in life, also so that they can get training for their wanted career. The cost of attending college is high and continues to rise without indications of decreasing. The rising cost has many benefits such as earning more pay, but it also has its disadvantages such as the debt that is accumulated from student loans. Not everyone can afford to drop down thousands of dollars and attend school for a few more years. Students who wish to receive a post-secondary education must decide whether it is the right choice for them depending on their financial standpoint, meaning that they must decide if they have the resources to further their education.
College was once seen as the only way to better your life, and immensely increase your income. But now that is all the past. Caroline Bird states in her narrative “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” that “A great majority of our nine million college students are not in school because they want to be or because they want to learn” (Pg. 373). Sadly the author has a good point, and goes into detail what makes college, so obsolete in our day and time. In particular Caroline Bird mentions that students nowadays see college as something sad and depressing. She then goes on saying that most kids go to college to please their parents, or a way to get away from intolerable home situations. Today I will be talking about why I think is a waste of time and money, and will be elaborating on questions like, is college even worth it, and is it becoming obsolete.
In Caroline Bird’s “College is A Waste of Time and Money”, it’s argued that there are many college students who would be better off if they were to begin working after high school graduation. Colleges and universities can no longer ensure that one will go on to get a better job, getting paid more than they would have without a higher education. However, high school seniors still stress about where they will be attending college, how they’re going to pay for it and what they’re going to study for the next four years. Bird points out how college has changed over the past few decades and how, in turn, it has set many young adults up for disappointment, if nothing else.
Is a four-year degree all it 's cracked up to be? Are colleges still a relevant cornerstone of our society? Are vocational schools the future of education? In his college hit-piece "Are Too Many People Going to College?", author Charles Murray attempts to persuade the reader that in fact the current educational system is outdated and becoming obsolete, that colleges are becoming irrelevant to society, and that vocational schools offer a better value for most students. In his examples, Murray overlooks the great variants of interests held by individuals, and diminishes the benefits colleges have to offer students. Murray 's lack of consideration for the human experience aspect of higher education calls into question the validity of his assertions.