Pharinet's Essay: Is College For Everyone

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

The article Are too many people going to college sheds light on why only a handful of most intelligently able students should go to school in many respects. The main points Charles Murray makes in the article are that college is too intelligent demanding, and it’s not necessary to attend physical college simply for making a living. He splits the passage into five parts and backs up each part with relatively convincing facts and statistics and applies various rhetoric appeals and reasoning to the passage. However, he establishes an ethos as a prejudiced libertarian from his other works and somehow diminishes his credibility. In this essay, we will discuss how Murray’s ethos plays on the persuasiveness of his article and how he develops his ideas

Many students sometimes just leave out of high school and don’t even bother going to college due to the amount of time they think is going to be wasted. College does take a lot of time from a person’s day rather it be with being in class or doing homework , but the end result of it all is well worth it . Being able to spend all this time and money for college can be stressful, sometimes even difficult but being able to finish and get a diploma will prove theater hard work pays off. Although finding a job after college can sometimes be the most stressful thing to do it will all turn out for the better. Many times some people can’t find a job in the city or state they currently live in but other places may have the dream job they’ve been looking for since leaving college.

You must understand that most people that go to college do not get the degree they want in the timespan they are hoping to get it “only 21% of first-time, full-time students earn an associate’s degree within three years” (Weise). many people don 't finish college even when paying all the expensive costs ,“The 2013 6-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time undergraduate students who began their

“3 Reasons College Still Matters” by Andrew Delbanco 3) “Surely, every American college ought to defend this waning possibility, whatever we call it. And an American college is only true to itself when it opens its doors to all - the rich, the middle, and the poor - who have the capacity to embrace the precious chance to think and reflect before life engulfs them. If we are all serious about democracy, that means everyone.” 4) In this part of the writing Andrew Delbanco tries to persuade his audience by using the pattern of logic that agrees with the overall argument but also considers another striking point of view to strengthen the argument (While these arguments are convincing, they must also consider…).

Throughout the essay, Charles Murray stresses the idea that college is the wonderland of finding oneself and to find the career that one would want to follow for the rest of their lives. “College is seen as the open sesame to a good job and a desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood. Neither reason is as persuasive as it first appears.” Murray, C (2008) Practically spoken, this is not normally the case. College is a fair amount of work, much more work than one would normally acquire through any course of a high school or secondary school setting.

The decision to attend college immediately after high school is one of the many challenges high schoolers face upon graduating. There are several reasons why that attending college promptly after graduation is a good idea. It is more beneficial than waiting because one will already have the drive to continue on with school rather than waiting, one will also graduate sooner which in turn will result in better job opportunities, and one is more likely to apply one’s high school knowledge. By attending college immediately after high school, one is more like to continue with one’s momentum. If one stops and waits to return to school, one would lose that drive to challenge that higher education.

Is college worth the money? This has been a question asked by millions of high school seniors, current college students, graduates, and parents across the United States. Many argue that it opens more doors over those who chose not to attend while others argue that we send too many students all while increasing the national student loan debt. Author Marty Nemko argues in his article, “We Send too Many Students to College,” that too many students are pushed to go to college. Nemko assumes that those reading his article are parents questioning if college is the right decision for their child.

College Isn’t for Everyone "By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice" (Owen). This quote from “Brookings Paper: Is College a Good Investment” goes into detail about how college isn’t for everyone. By educators, parents, and authority figures telling graduating high school seniors that college is necessary, they are limiting the potential of that student’s true skills. College isn’t right for everyone and not everyone wants to go to college.

In “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray offers his opinion on the number of students that pursue a B.A. He believes that two year or four year colleges are not needed for a majority of students who could instead pursue other life paths. He discusses the ability for the general knowledge needed to be learned in primary and secondary school, and for a lessened need for a “brick-and-mortar” institution the problems with the current secondary and higher educational issues including the lessened need to acquire a B.A. All members of society need certain skills in order to be productive members of society. They need to know general facts about the country they live in, general history, and general geography.

“Is College the best option why or why not discusses the controversial issue of whether college is important or not. On one hand, while some argue that college is very important. Stephanie Owens and Isabel Sawhill writers of article “Should Everyone Go to College” asserts that we may be doing a disservice by telling all young people that college is the best option. Owens feels that college may be of service to some people, but not the best option for everyone.

A rising issue in today’s society is deciding whether or not college is worth the cost. There is an extreme amount of pressure that is forced upon high school students by parents, teachers, and peers to further their education and attend college. However, there is research that challenges the thought that college is the best possible path for a person to take. College may be a great investment for some people, but it is not meant for everyone. This is supported by the arguments that colleges are expensive, jobs do not always require a college degree, and students are forced to choose a lifestyle before being exposed to the real world.

If a person’s parent or guardian drilled the idea of college into your head, or if they told you ‘do what you want’ or ‘I don 't care’, or ‘You’re not going’. While college is great, there are other means of education. The value of college is a low because there are people who do not qualify for a college education, and also because there are other ways of post-secondary education other than college. College is not valuable because many people will not make it into a 2 or 4-year college, much less graduate from one. To support this, in the article Why College Isn 't For Everyone, it says, “As a general rule, I would use graduates in the top quarter of their class at a high-quality high school should go on to a four-year degree program, while those in the bottom quarter of their classes at a high school with a mediocre educational reputation should not.”

Imagine that you have just graduated high school. You are more full of life, enthusiasm, and energy than you have ever been. Your four years of hard work have finally paid off, and now it is time for the next step. According to your parents, teachers, and just about every other authority figure in your life, college is that step. However, what if that did not have to be so?

Growing up, for most people, going to college is not an option- its an expectation. In our society, going to college has become a fundamental part of our education, becoming an adult, and for most people just simply part of our lives. However, as people grow up and experience reality, the realization hits that college may not be as simple as once thought. As much as attending college is expected from the majority of young people, dropping out of college is not. Even with the idealization of the college experience, some students are forced to cut their education short due to a plethora of issues.