“The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation,” states Caroline Bird in Why College Fails Us (209). It seems that in today’s society there are so many young people going to college because that’s what they were taught to do or they did not have anything better to do. But is college as great as it is made out to be? Perhaps furthering ones education may help them develop into a true citizen of society, or assist them in their own personal growth, but nonetheless, college education should mainly enhance a student’s chances for an occupation and assist them in being successful.
The main focus of education is solemnly based on book smarts and basic knowledge when it should be preparing students with the job skills they will need in the future. The purpose of college is for students to obtain the skills they will need in the field of study that they are interested in pursuing for the rest of their life. Bird says “when the specialists turn up for work, they often find that they have learned a lot of things in classrooms that they will never use, th...
In Frank Bruni’s New York Time’s article, “The Imperiled Promise of College,” he argues that college is no longer a guarantee of success because students are not being properly motivated and guided into the programs that will provide them with jobs.
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.
Based on Three Reasons College Still Matters, there are three main reasons why a college education is so important. From an economical standpoint, an education is most of the time needed to earn enough money to live comfortably. Attending and completing college provides a possibility for future economic stability. Within a highly competitive workforce a college degree can put a foot in the door to a job of a person’s choice. Statistics show that people who obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher get paid more than those who do not obtain one. Many question the worth of a college degree because of how expensive it is, though some say that the money spent is an investment on a person’s future. One can say that the worth of a college education is within the eye of the beholder. Many q...
The author’s purpose for writing this argument is to depict the different motives and reasons why so many people are going to college. The author makes the claim that students should learn core knowledge in K-12 instead of going to college to learn this information. Murray goes on to say “Liberal education in college means taking on the hard stuff” (Murray 225). This supports Murray’s claim that too many people go to college because people who go to college should already know the basics of each subject area and be ready to begin their major of choice.
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
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.
As a young girl in school, I always believed that I would one day would be successful and had the hope that a college education would assist me in being successful. I exceled in school even with circumstances such as hurricane Katrina and September 11 and had a thirst for knowledge. At the same time, the teachers that influenced me in life convinced me to attend college for the betterment of knowledge and a potential for a job or a career. However, those same teachers were teaching me textbook methods and no real on hand training that is essential in an education especially a college education. In "Vocation or Exploration? Pondering the Purpose of College”, Alina Tugend ponders the idea of college being either Vocation—job training— or Exploration learning. She starts off by referring to her oldest son is about to graduate high school, but quickly goes straight to the point of her essay with “What exactly is a university education for?” She provides answers such as college is a way to automatically receive a job if one majors in science, technology or a major that can be applied to a changing world that we live
Caroline Bird writes the statement in her 1975 article “The Case Against College (Bird 15-18)” that not every high school graduate is ready to attend college. It is 2010 and this article is still valid today. Some of the college students I have been around were not mature enough for obedience school let alone college. A few of the points she makes in the article are: College has never worked its magic for everyone. Does it make you a better person? Are colleges responsible for your children? Are my children living in a country club? I will use some of my own experiences as an example of college life, as well as examples from my daughter’s college experience, along with my nephews as well. All to find the answer to the big question: Are you ready for a college education?
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.
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
College is the place where people go to retain the necessary training for a job that requires specific skills, which results in earning a higher pay check. In today’s world, employers are scouting out for individuals with the proper dexterities to fill the shoes for that specific job. Blanche D. Blank, the author of “A Question of Degree," argues that possessing a degree of higher education isn’t the only way to have a very successful life. This statement is highly argumentative, due to the fact that college graduates still out-earn people without degrees. Obtaining a college degree is one of the best things someone can do for themselves, when it comes to looking for a stable job. There is also so much more to college than just receiving a
Our society has come to believe that college is a requirement to have a successful future, but is it actually need it? Many ask themselves this question, is there a correct or incorrect answer to it, in my opinion I say that college is not absolutely needed for the future. A majority of the students assisting college are not in college because they want to be in college, but because somebody wants them to go or because it has become the right thing to do in society. “… just as society had systematically damage women by insisting that their proper place was in the home, so we might be systematically damaging 18- year-olds by insisting that their proper place is in college.” I believe that, as stated by the tittle of the essay, college is not really necessary and it is just a waste of time and money, college does not make an individual intelligent, college courses will not give you the experience needed in the work
In “College Is a Waste of Time and Money,” Caroline Bird, a college lecturer makes very good and valid points that college is wasting time and money. She describes how society has pushed students into getting higher education right out of high school. Leaving us with the question, are students getting a higher degree of education to better their future or to keep them busy and paying an institution.
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.
College is a great place to help students explore what they want to do in the future and experience many new things. According to Rouse, “The better-educated workers not only enjoy higher income, but also better health, decreased likelihood of committing crimes and less reliance on social programs.”(Rouse Para 2) College does not only enable one to become economically successful, but it allows them to have a healthy life ahead of them. Attending college is the best way to prepare for tougher job requirements. Experts claim that even though one initially spend a large sum of money to begin a college education, he is most likely to earn it back with the increased pay he receives from having a degree. All people are not born with an innate talent so for those ordinary people to survive and to move on in this world, they need a college education. College education helps them to achieve their goals such as being a successful doctor, mechanic and nurse. According to collegeview.com, “Attending College provides students with the knowledge and experience they are unable to receive from a secondary education, and finding a way to fund a higher education now can pay off in a huge way in the years to come.”(Hudson Para 2) It can infer a message that how being in college help increase in knowledge and experiences and the use of the same experiences to live through this long