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The benefits and burdens of a college education are not one to be taken lightly. The value of getting a college education is greatly debated among society today. This is due to the rising costs of tuition and decreasing availability of jobs. In consequence, graduates are finding it harder today to find employment in the jobs they earned their degree in all while struggling to keep up with their student loan payments. Yet, despite the misfortunes, all that hard work does not go to a waste. This is supported through a college graduate named J.D. Roth, claiming that, “I earned a B.A. in Psychology… (with a minor in English Lit…). What have I done with this degree? Almost nothing. Yet I do not regret the money and years I spent working to earn
it.” The reason why J.D. Roth is not regretful in earning his degree is because of the financial value it brings. Even though some people feel that getting a college education is not worth it anymore, despite the setbacks, the benefits of getting one are greatly outweighed. Getting a college education is worth it because it increases the chance of finding job employment and having financial security.
It should not be a surprise that many people believe that a college degree is a necessity in today’s world. We are taught to believe this at a young age. The average citizen will not question this statement due to how competitive the job market has become, yet does graduating college guarantee more success down the road? Peter Brooks is a scholar at Princeton University and publisher of an essay that questions the value of college. He obviously agrees that college can help securing a job for the future, but questions the humanities about the education. He uses other published works, the pursuit of freedom, and draws on universal arguments that pull in the reader to assume the rest of his essay has valid reasons.
“Why College is Still Worth It Even Though It Cost Too Much.” Money.com (2015): N.PAG. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 11 Oct. 2016 The author of this paper address that a lot of college students feel like the time, money, and effort is not worth it; However, studies show that it does pay off by receiving higher pay, better work hours, and better benefits, such as insurance plans. A poll was done using college alumni to see if they thought that college paid off, and of the 30,000 that were in the poll a majority of them agreed that it did. Also, the writer includes several other polls conducted to show the life-long impacts of a college education, which includes better career and friendship
In recent years, many have debated whether or not a college education is a necessary requirement to succeed in the field of a persons’ choice and become an outstanding person in society. On one hand, some say college is very important because one must contribute to society. The essay Three Reasons College Still Matters by Andrew Delbanco shows three main reasons that students should receive their bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, many question the point of wasting millions of dollars on four years or maybe more to fight for highly competitive jobs that one might not get. Louis Menand wrote an article based on education titled Re-Imagining Liberal Education. This article challenges the main thought many americans have after receiving a secondary education. Louis Menand better illustrates the reasons why a student should rethink receiving a post secondary education better than Andrew Delbanco’s three reasons to continue a person’s education.
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.
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
For those who wish to have children in the future, imagine putting ten dollars a week aside from now until they turned eighteen. That money would hardly accumulate up to even a portion of the costs for just a single year of higher education. In the article, “America’s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor’s Degree”, an essay from the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2008, author Marty Nemko discusses all aspects that should be considered before pursuing a serious interest in educational institutions. Being a current student at a four-year institution it concerns me for not only myself but also fellow peers if we are making the right decision. The costs of higher education are increasing drastically along with the amount of Americans in debt from student loans. The value of a bachelor degree is declining and students are faced with the question, do the benefits of a collegiate education out weigh the costs?
A challenge that all seniors face at the end of their high school career is the decision that will shape the rest of their future. Will it be Harvard, Ivy Tech, or a job at the nearest fast food joint? Of course, there is nothing wrong with not going to college, but for the people of society who plan to marry and have at least three children, it is almost essential. After making this decision, the seniors who choose to attend college must then decide which one. Campus size, housing, nearby activities, and available degrees and study programs are all important traits to consider when searching for the perfect college.
The argument about if college is worth it or not has been one of the biggest arguments throughout the media for decades. Students suffer a lot from the debts that they get from college and also the amount of studying that they do in college and when they graduate they ask themselves “is graduation from college really worth all the money that we paid and all the work that we have done?”
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.
For the many high school students graduating this year, how would they react to receiving two free years of community college? Majority of high school students would be very excited to have two free years of community college and it would reduce some of the stresses that come with going to college. Right now President Obama is trying to implement a two year free community college plan that would allow high school students wanting to go to college an option for many of the on-the-fence types of high school students today. High school students who before did not think that they would be cut out for college because of financial reasons are not going to worry anymore about this issue. President Obama’s proposal comes with a few requirements that
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.
Getting into college is hard for almost everyone, and usually hoops are having to be jumped in order to receive an acceptance letter into the four-year college of your choice. But not everyone’s so lucky, if you don’t get into the the college of choice there are other alternatives a gap year, going straight into a profession, or the last resort which is community college. Many factors make or break whether you enter into a four-year college or go straight to community college. Community college is a last resort decision, if everyone got straight A’s and the price of housing and tuition for a four-year college wasn’t so expensive then a lot more students would attend. The two biggest reasons people choose to go to a community college is, the
Although many tend to think going to college and getting a degree is the american dream, that varies, and in most circumstances that isn’t the truth at all. As college prices have soared over the past few decades, and student debt becoming evermore of a factor in the decision of going to college has been increasingly difficult.
College is not for everyone, although, everyone should have some form of higher education. "Should everyone go to college?" is an essay meant to inform students of the pros and cons of going to college. Owens and Sawhill state that the cost of a college degree may not be worth the money that students put into furthering their education. In their article, Owens and Sawhill use three different rhetorical appeals; egos, logos, and pathos; to persuade the readers to think consciously about attending college. Their argument was effective because it forces the readers to look at the overall college experience in different aspects.
A respectable college education gives people the advantage to lead themselves in any direction they want to proceed in life. College is a time that students can truly become individuals. They have the opportunity to become more independent and to take on new responsibilities. The bonuses of a college education include more self-confidence, greater economic stability and security, and it makes you a major contributor to the greatest nation on earth.