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Why is having a college education important
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In our society, many people can build different types of careers by holding various jobs in fields such as education, science, business, political, entertainment, and much more. However, there is one particular question that comes up when we look at those people holding jobs we aspire to have, “What did those people have to go through to get those jobs?” Those people probably earned a college degree to get their high-level job that requires years of learning and preparation to acquire, such as a doctor or a programmer. With colleges, students have a means of landing that dream job of theirs or maybe discover that they had a passion for a different kind of career instead. Although, many students have to endure years of stress and pressure in college before they can get their degree or figure out what they want to do for a living. In William Zinsser’s essay, “College Pressures,” he “sees four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure” (Zinsser, 452). From what Zinsser’s quote, college students have many obstacles and barriers to overcome to get a degree: large financial costs to pay for tuition and other college expenses; parents wanting their children to get a job in a particular field that the children might not be interested in; and pressure to do as well, if not better, than their peers to stand out in a competitive environment, even if it meant overworking themselves to near exhaustion. With all of the pressure and difficulty students have to put up with in college, I do not think that college will be worth it for many people.
When many young students enter high school, they begin to take their first steps on deciding what they would want ...
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...orking for a degree.
Works Cited
Peralta, Katherine. “College Grads Taking Low-Wage Jobs Displace Less Educated.” Bloomberg. 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. < http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-06/college-grads-taking-low-wage-jobs-displace-less-educated.html>.
Porter, Eduardo. "Dropping Out of College, and Paying the Price." The New York Times. 25 June 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. .
United States. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Tuition costs of colleges and universities. 2012. National Center for Education Statistics. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Zinsser, William. “College Pressures.” Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. 12th ed. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Bedford. 2012. 450-56. Print.
The real problem, according to Bruni, is that a college education is now far less likely to result in gainful employment. While statistics suggest that the rate of unemployment for college graduates is far better than for those with only a high school education, Bruni argues that these statistics
As David Leonhardt states in his article, It College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say, “ When experts and journalists spend so much time talking about the limitations of education, they almost certainly are discouraging some teenagers from going to college...”. In spite this argument, I believe the purpose of college is to prepare me for a good, well- paying job when I graduate. Since I came from a family background in which girls are always on the bottom and can’t get out of the tradition in boys zone.
Unemployment is on the rise and, always trying to be avoided. By obtaining a degree, the chance of being out of work is reduced. Baum, Ma, & Payea (2013) claim, “The 2012 unemployment rates for 25- to 34-year-olds were 9.6% for those with some college but no degree and 7.2% for those with associate degrees” (p.20). With just an associate's degree, the chance of being unemployed plummets 2.4% compared to those compared to little college, proving when the higher of a degree is obtained, the lower
Murray, Charles. “Are Too Many People Going to College?” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 222-242. Print.
The argument about if 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?”
For the past decade, The United States has stressed the importance of college education, to those seeking employment, and better careers. For most people, college is the logical next step in education, as it provides a working knowledge of a desired field and opens the door to many opportunities, but college has become increasingly more expensive as time goes on. Many people feel that college is no longer an option financially. Even with financial aid and scholarships, the cost of a college education can still be very taxing. This is due to massive price increase across the boards, but the main issue on most people’s minds is the debt that will be acquired from higher education.
Vance, J.D. "The college trap: our higher-education system hurts the poor." National Review 27 Jan. 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Is a question most children hear from time to time though out their childhood. Most people ponder on that question as they grow up and become adults. The question that usually comes up when thinking about what they what to be when they grow up is “Is college worth it?” Are the risk of the high loans, and the challenge of finding a job after school worth the time of the college education?
The second chapter of this book advocates students to attend college, even if they must take on a moderate amount of student loan debt. They give statistics showing the tremendous gap in wages between a college graduate and a non-college graduate. The third chapter of this book argues the opposite viewpoint of the second chapter. The author states that the cost of college today is too high and that there are too many college graduates flooding the job market causing many of them to go unemployed or seek low level jobs that do not pay enough to pay off their student loans. Both of these chapters will help me to show the two main ...
Imagine telling that to a student who just finished four years of hard, grueling, expensive work; or, even worse, a parent who paid for their child to finish that same grueling work. But, in some ways, that statement can’t be any further from the truth. College can prepare a student for life in so many more ways than for a career. However, in the way that college is supposed to prepare soon-to-be-productive students, that statement could be right on. As a student myself, I’ve found college to be a little bit of both. I often find myself asking, "How will this help me later in life?" But, then again, college gives me more control over my life and where I want it to go. In trying to figure out what exactly made college like this, and whether the way I felt was felt by others as well, I interviewed an Anthropology teacher at Las Positas College, Mr. Toby Coles, and I examined an essay by Caroline Bird called College is a Waste of Time and Money. The two sources offered interesting views from both side of the spectrum.
The debate on whether or not students should attend college after achieving a high school degree is one that many would like to consider two-sided; Debra Humphreys says that “going to college is clearly better than not going,” but Claire Potter mentions the opposite side, quoting an unnamed professor who says that “the vast majority of people who end up in our community college system don’t belong in college at all.” I would argue that the issue is not two-sided, and that there are more complexities to the issue than are always printed in media; to say that all college students should go to college or that all should not attempt to place a variety of different cases into a single group. Perhaps a better option is to say that college (in the traditional sense, with boarding and special liberal arts programs) should be recognized as an option for students immediately after their high school graduation, but other options, including the choice to go to vocational school or entrance straight into the workforce, should be considered.
Imagine telling a student who just graduated from college that you have wasted four years of hard, stressful and even worse, expensive work. Unfortunately, in this cynical society today, the world isn’t just full of competitors, but it’s full of greedy money-grabbing businesses. The worst businesses aren’t manufacturing or electric companies, but colleges and universities. In Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” she examines how college has been viewed for so long as the best place to send high school grads no matter whether they actually want to go or not. She adds that students don’t realize how much college costs and are wasting their parents time and money, which is especially a horrible thing to waste. Now that the economy is better since September 11th and states have been stabilizing their budget debts, it doesn’t make sense that tuition prices higher than ever for college students.
The key motive for students to attend college is not because it is a want, but they have to. Furthermore, most high school graduating seniors are under pressure by their school counselor(s) and their parents to go enroll in college because it is “the best thing for your future.” In an essay written by Caroline Bird, called “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, she states that students go to college because “. . . Mother wanted them to go, or some other reason entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized” (217). A student may have a different direction on where and what they want to do for their life, but since students contemplate whether their “supporters” identify what is...
“Is College Worth it? Clearly, New Data Says” by David Leonhardt, “The Value of a College Degree” by Emily Hanford, “New study shows the value of a college education” by Hope Yen, and “Is College Worth It Anymore” by Kristen Sturt, all primarily discuss the advantages of a college education and its true value. In the United States, the student debt is over $1.2 trillion dollars. It is the second largest cause of debt following mortgage debt. When the media spends so much time talking about the limitations of a college education, they are discouraging some students from attending college. Regardless of all the debt, attending college and attaining a higher education is the best decision a student pursuing a bright future, could make today.
In John Cassidy’s article, he states, “About seventy percent of all high school graduates now go on to college, and half of all Americans between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four have a college degree” (Cassidy 2). With that reality, the business world becomes much more competitive for jobs, and it comes down to whether a person has a degree or not. College should be thought of as a prerequisite for the growing jobs of the economy today. Next, college is worth it because it can provide a better life and make more money. According to economists studying the effects college has on a career path, “Once you enter the labor market, the theory says, you will be rewarded with a better job, brighter career prospects, and higher wages” (Cassidy 2). More options in life means more opportunity, and while some may be able to obtain a job more quickly than others, college will almost guarantee a job opportunity. Finally, college unlocks the true potential of everyone, including displaying a person’s characteristics or talents. According to the end of John Cassidy’s article, “Providing access to college for more kids from deprived backgrounds helps nurture talents that might otherwise go to waste” (Cassidy 5). Although it could be just for deprived kids, the same applies for all students. College helps students find themselves, and being on their own will make them broaden their horizons. Overall, a college degree has a lot of importance