Higher Education: What They Don’t Tell You Steve Jobs. Henry Ford. Steven Spielberg. What do these three distinguished men have in common? They are prime examples of men who were offered high paying jobs without the need for a college degree. However, Ford and Jobs are not used to show how college isn’t for everyone, but rather to show that colleges must change in order to better suit the needs of students. In today’s society, higher education systems continue to treat students as a cost item while educating them in the cheapest way possible with only 16.4% of students left feeling satisfied with what they learned (Nemko 2008). Although people may disagree, not everyone is cut out for college; not to mention, the cost and time spent during four years is not worth the measly …show more content…
Additionally, students are left with a devastated self-esteem, a Mount Everest of debt, and a job they could have obtained without a degree. What many individuals are not aware of is that colleges aren’t held liable to produce effective, successful students. Instead, they are rewarded with ever-greater taxpayer-funded student loans, which allow colleges to raise tuitions even higher. On the other hand, individuals who plan on attending college are expected to earn one million dollars more than high school graduates over the course of their lifetimes, with more depending on their degree (Bond 2015). However, the amount of money will seize to cover the cost of their loan debt. Meanwhile, high school graduates have the benefit of a four-year head start to work and they are blissfully free from any student debt. Around 15% of graduate and professional school students graduate with a six-figure student loan debt (Bond 2015). Students left with such debt often are left with diminished prospect of their
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
In today’s society, it has been found out that college graduates have a hard time seeking a job and end up with a sky-high student debt. This reality then poses a question, is going to college worth the time and money? An essay in the New York Times published in May 2014 entitled, “Is College Worth It? Clearly New Data Say,” by David Leonhardt states, “For all the struggles that many young college graduates face, a four-year degree has probably never been more valuable” (33). In his essay, Leonhardt sets the stage by describing the struggles a college graduate might have such as student debt, no work after graduating, and accepting jobs they feel overqualified.
In the article, “Should Everyone Go to College,” authors, Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill’s, published by the Brookings Institution, discusses the benefits of a college education. The article begins by mentioning the arguments related to the requirement of having a college degree while entering the middle class in the United States. Having a college degree reminds people that higher education is the best advancement humans can make to allow them to make more money in their lifetimes, rather than if they just had a high school education. A fact that does not get much attention is not all college graduates, or college degrees, are equal. Even though Owen and Sawhill focus, in general, alternative career paths may result in equally lucrative
“Generation Debt” by Alethea Spiridon is an argumentative essay that outlines the harsh reality of student loans. The author examines the consequences of student loans as well the reasons higher education should not come as an expense to the individual pursuing it. In the current job market a post-secondary degree is a prerequisite for almost any profession and the sad reality is that this costly degree is not a guarantee of future wealth. The author effectively explains why treating education like a luxury good can impoverish everyone, and outlines ways student debt can burden graduates’ lives. However, she fails to examine the reasons student loans can be advantageous, and this is problematic because there are several missing benefits including manageable reimbursement options, lower interest rates, as well as student friendly terms and conditions when compared to a standard loan.
Going to college is similar to going to the casino, in the sense that many people are told they should be willing to take a loss for a possible win in the end. In his essay “It’s Time to End Tuition,” Jon Wiener tackles the problem we have in America in which students incur massive amounts of debt as a result of attending college. He is successful in painting a picture for his audience with an analogy describing how many people attending college in pursuit of higher education end up owing “more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards” (Wiener). In order to stop student loan debt problems in America we should provide more opportunities for individuals who desire more education by making tuition at public colleges free which
Student loans is the second highest source of debt of $2.1 trillion dollars in the U.S. economy right now. This student loan debt is not only affecting the entire economy as a whole. In America, people believe that earning at Bachelor’s degree is the key to success in order to be financially secure be set in life. However at the same time, the cost of tuition has skyrocketed, and the borrowing of loans rise with it. The rising of student loan and debt will reduce consumption, lower investing, lower the rate of home ownership, and overall make it difficult to sustain financial stability.
Loans can quickly turn into a substantial amount of debt by the time a student completes their standard 4 year degree. As a result, this debt can carry on throughout their adult life and make starting that life more difficult. “A record share of students are leaving college with a
Most of my friends who are currently in college have between 5000$-20.000$ in federal and private loans. In many cases, besides for the loans, students have to work and study at the same time, which results in a stressful life for the student. In fact, many students are not able to finish their education because, since they can’t afford it, they have to work over their studies. Out of all the possible reasons to drop out of college, “the No. 1 reason many young adults drop out of college is an inability to juggle school and work” (Johnson). Finishing college is the most decisive forecaster of prosperity in the workforce and the inconsistency in college completion between children of rich and poor families duplicated since the late 1980s (McGlynn 55).
Anyone in this situation or one who knows someone in this situation can understand the anger and many other feelings that graduate is left with. Moving on, Murray positively suggests that society will adapt to the reality of things like cost, time of education, and job market. Using ethos, Murray presents Bill Gates and Steve Jobs being “exemplars” of success with their skill, rather than a college degree. He goes on to say “Every time that happens, the false premium attached to the college degree will diminish.” (679)
The tuition and cost of college is detrimental to thousands of families across the country and brings student debt to future graduates. Some students have seen their debt climb over $30,000. Friedman writes, “The average student in the Class of 2016 has $37,172 in student loan debt…” (Friedman). With the debts being over the average income for single people households, college has transformed from a benefit to a burden. Young adults not only have to worry about their education but also paying for the next semester or years of college ahead of them.
In his Essay “Are too many people going to college,” first published in a 2008 issue of AEI, Charles Murray explores many insights onto the topic of furthering education as well as exploring various other options to pursue after high school. Who exactly would think that too many people are going to college? Well with more and more students flooding campuses at the end of every school year and less and less going into trade schools, a shift in the job market is just beginning to be seen on the horizon. Charles Murray’s essay “Are too many people going to college” shows that not only are there other avenues to pursue a potential life long career, but that much of the time pursuing these avenues may offer better results for some wanting to go to college.
Many people dream of a life filled with riches, but that dream is hard to obtain without a college degree. It is somewhat ironic how people dream of being a successful student and going to college but the cost of tuition turns that dream into a horrible nightmare. It is not a shock to most people when they that college tuition is expensive, but in the past few years it has increased to an all-time high. Lower and middle class students have now begun to realize that college tuition is holding them away from their dreams. Even though college tuition could provide opportunities for job creation and economic growth, tuition is not affordable for the average American household which in effect, prohibits students from taking opportunities like going to college in the first place.
Loans allow receiving a college education seem like a smoother process considering that such a hefty amount to pay is divided so that it can be paid for in moderation. Despite the fact that it’s split into many payments, it’s still a large quantity all in all so unless indebted students aim for high income jobs, there would many years of difficulty to come after college. For this reason, undergraduates make it their goal to go after jobs which would prevent them from being constantly pressured to pay off debt. Thus, student debt is both a crisis and a reason to encourage persistence towards greater ambitions (Hillman, 41). It is a tremendous thing when a student seeks to be financially comfortable or even rich in the future but not when it is for the wrong reasons.
The phrase “education being worth it no matter the cost” has been drilled into students as well as their families. This has led to student loans eclipsing a total of $1 billion every year, and in total reaches more than $1 trillion. While most loans don’t have to be paid off until after graduation, many students aren’t able to find jobs to subsidize the loan payments once they have
As a High School Junior looking at jaw dropping tuition prices, my family and I often ask ourselves a question I’m sure many other American households are challenged with: Is a college degree actually worth it? Once you look past the recent unemployment rate for college grads, you’ll find that a college degree proves to be highly beneficial once placed in a career. Degree holders often enjoy benefits such as higher pay, higher-skilled work, and an intellectual advantage over their coworkers that do not have a degree. These benefits often outweigh the seemingly outrageous cost of college, making the price tag more than worth it.