Does College Matter?

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Recommended: Is it still worth going to college

Many students see college as the stepping stone to a successful career and a happy life. Which can be true for some, however, many overlook whether college will actually help them succeed, or if college will truly be right for them. College is expensive and it is not for every kid who graduates high school, although it is marketed that way, high school graduates must think critically about their decision. Should I take some time away from school, to know myself better? What do I intend to do for a career? Am I more interested in educating myself toward things that interests me now and discovering my major as I learn, or do I feel I know what I want to do? And also essential questions like, how much debt will I go into? And can I realistically pay it back?
In the film Declining by degrees: Higher Education at Risk, John Merrow, the author, finds that colleges don’t tell students that many colleges just focus on their need for bodies, not necessarily you, but yes, you’ll do, if you can pay of course, and have what they are “looking for” don’t worry about the debt. Colleges want you and your money because the state cuts spending for schools, so colleges raise tuition costs, and increase enrollment. The price of an education is becoming more and more expensive, and the courses aren’t getting better, in fact class rooms are becoming larger which requires teachers to teach a more standardized version of their course. College graduate employers are complaining that college graduates lack critical skills such as written and oral communication, and comprehension, as well as their abilities to think creatively. Not all good jobs require a degree to work there, in fact not all jobs want them anymore. College graduates are discovering this ...

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... and profession do care about. However, the flipside is that college isn’t the right choice and the only reason the person is in college is to get a degree, when getting a degree may not actually be the necessary course to go. That can be an extreme headache undertook with no reasoning behind it.

Works Cited
Astin, Alexander W. What Matters in College?: Four Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. Print.
Merrow John. Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk. PBS, 2005. Online Video. Learning Matters, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Egan, Timothy. "No Degree, and No Way Back to the Middle." Class Matters. New York: Times, 2005. 105-10. Print.
Leonhardt, David. "The College Dropout Boom." Class Matters. New York: Times, 2005. 87-104. Print.
Wilkerson, Isabel. "Angela Whitiker's Climb." Class Matters. New York: Times, 2005. 202-33. Print.

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