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College in today's society
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Is a four-year degree all it 's cracked up to be? Are colleges still a relevant cornerstone of our society? Are vocational schools the future of education? In his college hit-piece "Are Too Many People Going to College?", author Charles Murray attempts to persuade the reader that in fact the current educational system is outdated and becoming obsolete, that colleges are becoming irrelevant to society, and that vocational schools offer a better value for most students. In his examples, Murray overlooks the great variants of interests held by individuals, and diminishes the benefits colleges have to offer students. Murray 's lack of consideration for the human experience aspect of higher education calls into question the validity of his assertions.
The first incongruity in Murray 's argument is his one dimensional view of individuals. In one example, Murray fabricates an archetype of a sub-standard high school graduate with no outstanding personality traits. "He is exactly average in interpersonal and intrapersonal ability" (246). This statement burdens this fictional character with the inability to grow and assumes his current capacity will stagnate through his education. Murray then assigns him a single interest and above-average aptitude in an arbitrary vocational trade, an
He assumes students have no varied interests and will not develop any new interests throughout their educational careers, and underestimates the importance college campus resources and amenities have to students that utilize these features to facilitate their metamorphosis into a well-educated member of society. College is where people go to better themselves, it 's an experience you can 't simulate virtually, and there will always be individuals who thirst for that
“We want to emphasize that the personal characteristics and skills of each individual are equally important”. (Page #221, para #3) Owen and Sawhill are inquiring that to be successful in any major requires dedication and personal motivation, which is another example of the authors bringing pathos into their argument. Owen and Sawhill state that “if they don’t just enroll but graduate, they can improve their lifetime prospects”. (page #220, para #1) Owens and Sawhill statement is taken as, applying with great intensions is not good enough to be successful in college. Owen and Sawhill are completely open about the fact that college isn’t for everyone and that’s perfectly acceptable. “It may be that for a student with poor grades who is on the fence about enrolling in a four-year program, the most bang-for-the-buck will come from vocationally-oriented associate’s degree or career-specific technical training”. (Page #222, para #1) this statement opens the argument to be about both, is college worth it financially, and also academically. Owens and Sawhill want their reader to understand that, being pushed to achieve something that you have no passion for attaining, only robs someone of their true
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.
In “Two Years Are Better than Four”, Liz Addison argues against Rick Perlstein’s article “What’s the Matter With College?”. While Perlstein questions the value of college as it currently is, Addison argues that the “community college system is America’s hidden public service gem”(Addison 257). By way of that, she defends the value of college. Unsurprisingly, as with most situations, the truth is somewhere in between ends of a spectrum created by these two articles. While I agree with Addison’s idea of community college being an accessible starting point for everyone, she fails to appropriately represent the unique culture often found in these types of colleges. Also, I think that she also fails to look at the overall purpose of attending school and then neglects to acknowledge the benefits of a four year university.
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
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.
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.
Can you name four or five careers you can realistically aspire to?”(Schlack 11), Then follows with what one could do with their response. “For those who answer, ‘Yes, I know my strengths and I have a pretty good idea where I want to go in life and I do need college to get there,’ college is the right choice. If the answer is, ‘ I’m not really sure what my strengths are or where I want to go in life,’ then deferring college is the better choice.”(Schlack 12), In conclusion Schlacks main claim is that if a student doesn't know what they want to do in life then college is not the right choice. In addition Schlack does introduce more claims such as the way he ends the writing, “Too many students believe this. School leaders can get out in front and help them see there are many paths to a successful life and college is only one of them.” (Schlack 17), Schlack has valid and explained claims throughout the article, that can alter the reader's position on the
... evidence as to why he is more certain of his future than a younger student. Adams failed to realize that a well rounded education gives graduates the ability to work a variety of jobs and that the title of college graduate means that you have demonstrated the ability and completed the requirements of a well rounded education. He instead deemed that he did not need algebra for a well rounded future and he was certain of what his future held (20).
He says that it is hard to get students to learn because they have more freedom than they had when they were in school. Students do not have their parents with them to motivate them. Students are more focused on having fun than they are with learning. If students do not learn then they will struggle when it’s time to actually get a job. The author says that they will exhibit the same lack of motivation in their careers. If students do not go to college to learn, then it will actually be a waste of time and money, and they will not get anything out of their career.
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.
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.
...a career to something that guarantees a successful life. This negative light gives many student the ugly side of college that maybe it isn't as good as it sounds. The function of the essay to deter students from becoming like sheep and following social norms, Murray wants students to become informed before making decisions that can change the outcome of their life for many years.
...ity of a four year education; those restrictions would also deny the opportunity of higher education to many who could achieve even greater success than those who had been chosen. Throughout history, there are stories of ordinary individuals who rose up to live extraordinary lives. To not allow someone the opportunity to achieve their potential would serve not only to separate the classes farther, it would also cause the stagnation of our economy. Jobs would be easier for the chosen educated, as there would be less competition. The truth is, it is that very competition that pushes every sector of our economy, driving companies to make better products or offer better services. Without competition, industries quit moving forward and better products don’t get engineered. It is clear to me that returning our education system to one in which only the chosen few were admitted would actually cause far more damage to society than the danger the author speaks about. If someone chooses to take the necessary steps to achieve greatness, no one should be able to hinder them except themselves.
Studying a university degree is one of the biggest achievements of many individuals around the world. But, according to Mark Edmunson, a diploma in America does not mean necessarily studying and working hard. Getting a diploma in the United States implies managing with external factors that go in the opposite direction with the real purpose of education. The welcome speech that most of us listen to when we started college, is the initial prank used by the author to state the American education system is not converging in a well-shaped society. Relating events in a sarcastic way is the tone that the author uses to explain many of his arguments. Mark Edmunson uses emotional appeals to deliver an essay to the people that have attended College any time in their life or those who have been involved with the American education system.
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.