Higher Education: Necessity or Luxury?

1017 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The benefits of attending college

The question of the century is whether higher education is worth the price and everyone feels like they have the winning argument. The article I have chosen to write about that pertains to this subject is by Charles Murray and it’s called “Are Too Many People Going to College?” I chose this article because I feel that the author brings up valid points that resonate with me and my beliefs towards going to college. Charles Murray attacks the specific issue of whether there are too many people going to college. Murray using different viewpoints shows how he believes that too many people are going to college and I agree with his reasoning.
The author’s purpose for writing this argument is to depict the different motives and reasons why so many
The author makes the claim that students should learn core knowledge in K-12 instead of going to college to learn this information. Murray goes on to say “Liberal education in college means taking on the hard stuff” (Murray 225) This supports Murrays claim that too many people go to college because people who go to college should already know the basics of each subject area and be ready begin their major of choice. However, students come into college having little core knowledge and spend their first two years learning criteria that should have been taught to them in K-12. I completely agree with this belief because I’m a student and I have classes with other students who haven’t successfully mastered the core knowledge of a subject and end up having poor grades. Therefore, college isn’t worth the price if a person hasn’t yet mastered the subjects covered by core
Murray puts together strong support with keen counterarguments that make his arguments seem reasonable to the audience as well as me. The author is able to cohesively pull together his different main ideas and use them to bring across his main purpose which was to explain why he says too many people are going to college. All in all, Murray does an outstanding job persuading the audience and backing the idea that college is worth the price, but only to those who truly belong

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis Of Owen And Sawhill's Essay: Should Everyone Go To College

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Owen and Sawhill 208) After all, if our country’s leader is preaching about college being a good thing, it should reflect the views of a majority of people in this country. They then continue to try to make connections with the audience by emphasizing that this is a “we” problem and by recognizing that the decision to go off to college is not an easy one for everybody. These first words in the essay demonstrate a call to the ethos of President Obama and clear cut pathos to bring the authors down to the same level as their audience; However, the rest of the essay is absolutely dominated by

    Read More

  • Dale Stephens's Essay: College Doesn T Right For Everyone

    602 Words  | 2 Pages

    As mentioned before, he based all of his facts off of his own opinions. Dale uses only 2 pieces of statistical evidence to backup his claim. If this assumption were to become something that everyone believed, people would not get the education they would need to have a successful career life. A lot of people would become jobless because all the low level jobs would not need anymore employees. The higher up jobs would be lacking in business because no one would meet the requirements to work for the companies. Reviewing the article, Dale forgets to point out that a lot of people that go to college become successful. Yes, college isn’t right for everyone, but most of the time, the only way for people to have a successful lifestyle is to go to college.

    Read More

  • Should Everyone Go To College? By Stephanie Owen And Isabel Sawhill

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this society, almost every high schooler is told they need to go to college in order to be successful, but that is not necessarily true. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill questioned if everyone needs college to be successful in their article, “Should Everyone Go to College?”. In the article, Owen and Sawhill discuss that even though college is very helpful for many people, but for some the benefits of a college education do not outweigh the costs. Owen and Sawhill discuss this and show the statistics on the pricing of college and general student success throughout the article. Overall, this article does a very well job showing ethical appeals with statistics, does an average job with emotional appeal, and does a very well job showing logic

    Read More

  • Richard Vedder's Analysis Of 'College Is Still Worth It'

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    To go to college or not to go? This is the question many ask themselves before making a life changing decision. Anthony P. Carnevale, in “College Is Still Worth It,” argues that people should go to college and not rely on faulty data on the worth of postsecondary education. Carnevale is a well-known authority on education and was appointed by President Clinton as Chairman of the National Commission on Employment Policy. However Richard Vedder responded to Carnevale with “For Many, College Isn’t worth it” and claims that college is worth it for some people, but it’s not suited for all. Vedder is an economist, author, columnist, and now a distinguished professor of economics emeritus at Ohio University and senior fellow at The Independent Institute. Vedder is able to convince his audience on why college is not always worth it, unlike Carnevale, who was unable to convince his audience.

    Read More

  • Charles Murray's Are Too Many People Going to College?

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    The essay starts off with Murray saying of course more people be encouraged to go to college then countering with a yes and no to the question. He agrees that yes getting a education is important but majority of people are going for what they should have learned years before reaching the college level. The way people see college as a way to be success doesn't sit well with him as he gives many reasons to why this is false. The statement "college is seen as a open sesame to a good job and desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood." proves this point. He argues that yes getting a education is important but it's not always the best way. The hypothetical example involving a student choosing to go college for business or becoming a electrician. Then giving a example of why he would be probably be better off becoming the electrician rather than going to college to do something he may not be as successful as he could've been if he worked as a electrician helps prove his point. Murray continues to argue that the view about college is flawed that many are better off looking for better options rather than following the crowd and going to college.

    Read More

  • Charles Murray's Article Are Too Many People Going To College

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    This makes the paper very ineffective because to parents and other adults, these facts would not apply to them. His article has the potential to become much more effective if he also targets parents, teachers, and counselors because those adults are major influences in a student’s life. If he targets the teachers and counselors, they can start teaching the students that it is okay not to go to college. By integrating this idea into the school systems, the social norm would begin to change and many employers would possibly start looking more closely into the individual potential employees, not just their

    Read More

  • Are Too Many People Going To College Analysis

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article “Are too many People Going to College” by Charles Murray a W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that our educational system needs improvement and that too many people are attending college. Some of Charles arguments on why too many people are attending college are obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree gives you a high paying job, college requires classes that are unnecessary, skill/talent may not need a degree and because they do not want to be labeled as dumb or lazy. Charles Murray makes a lot of good arguments on why too many people are going to college and I concur with his arguments.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Why I Went To College

    1862 Words  | 4 Pages

    When it comes to the topic of college, Martin Espada, the author of "Why I Went to College," argues that college is a must and that if you do not attend college there will be consequences. In comparison, David Leonhardt, author of "Is College Worth it? Clearly New Data Say," also argues that college is very important to get a higher paying job than those who do not attend college. In contrast, Leonhardt also argues that college may not be the best idea considering the substantial amount of debt provided with college. My own view is more with David Leonhardt because I understand both sides of attending or not attending college with the positives and the negatives of the dilemma. This discussion is important in our society today because we constantly push the idea of college on to kids that may not even be ready for college or the fact that the debt may not be worth it; also the rise in the wage gap between college students and non-college students.

    Read More

  • Analysis: The New Liberal Arts

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    College is a popular topic for most, and Sanford J. Ungar and Charles Murray have a unique way of explaining both their opinions. In his essay, “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar advocates that the liberal arts should be everybody’s education, regardless of the fact that most Americans are facing economic hardship. The first misconception that he begins to explain is “a liberal arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford”. Career education” is what we now must focus on.”

    Read More

  • America 's Most Overrated Product : The Bachelor 's Degree

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    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?

    Read More

  • Higher Education Opinions

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    Murray believes that students should receive a liberal education, yet they should not have to wait until college to do so (Murray 225). Murray states that a person should not be forced to obtain a college-level liberal education, simply because they are capable of doing so (Murray 228). On higher education, Murray says, “A large proportion of people who are theoretically able to absorb a liberal education have no interest in doing so.” (Murray 228). Regardless of the fact that a person fits the criteria enabling them to pursue a college degree, does not necessarily mean that they should, if they are not interested. It is more logical to teach students extensively before the time of college, instead of leaving out information and forcing them to attend a school (Murray 225). However, Addison disagrees with this ideology, and believes that a college education is essential to growing up.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography Of A College Education Is Worth The Costs

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ing from 18 and older and an online survey in order to determine what people felt about college education. At the end of the survey they realize that a majority of the people felt that college education is worth their investment and a few felt it was not worth but rather costly, due to the debt they had to pay after their college degree. The article also emphasized that it is high time the government finds ways and means to cut the cost of college tuition so that people can changed their minds of not continuing with their education. The source contributes to my essay in a way that it gives the readers the idea to why people may or may not value college education. The information in the article is accurate and reliable because pew research center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

    Read More

  • Why Is College Worth It?

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    The argument about whether 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?”. Leonhardt and Matthews are two journalists who talk about whether college is really worth it or not, and they both have different perspectives. David Leonhardt thinks that college is absolutely worth all the money you pay and the work you do, stating that “Americans with four­year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.

    Read More

  • Is College Worth the Expense?

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ege might not be for everyone, for one reason or another- college does benefit its students. It gives young adults a place to transition into adulthood, to have a support system of friends and professors, and balance responsibility. The value of this, to a certain extent, is more than that of the actual education. Though colleges aren’t perfect, they do benefit students, and in turn satisfy the ever changing economic needs. A degree does not equal success, and college is not perfect for everyone- but all college students’ benefit from their education one way or another, creating worldly, accomplished young adults.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Are Too Many People Going To College

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Charles Murray’s essay entitled “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, he discusses the influx of Americans getting a college education. He addresses the topic of Liberal Arts education, and explains that not many people are ready for the rigorous challenges a liberal-arts degree offers. In addition, Murray explains that instead of a traditional degree more people should apply to technical schools. He believes that college should not be wide spread, and that it is only for those who can handle it. These viewpoints harshly contrast with Sanford J. Ungar’s views. Ungar believes college education should be widespread, because a liberal-arts degree is, in his opinion, a necessity. He argues that a liberal-arts college is the only place that

    Read More

More about Higher Education: Necessity or Luxury?

Open Document