Andrew Delanco's Three Reasons College Still Matters

3 Reasons College Still Matters What purpose does having a college education serve beyond obtaining a degree? Can a person acquire the same results without having a college education? Why does college matter? These are all questions to ask in making a decision on whether or not furthing education beyond highschool is important. In his essay "3 Reasons College Still Matters," Andrew Delanco argues that receiving a higher education provides economic, liberal, and political advantages. Attending college and obtaining an education has benefits that are both calculable and incalculable relating to ones outcome economically, socially, and politically. The fact of the matter is, college is indeed important, and it does hold value in today's society.

"It's clear that a college degree long ago supplanted the highschool diploma as a minimum qualification for entry into the skill level market, and there is abundant evidence that people with a college degree earn more money than people without one" (Delbanco 506). In our economical system the presence of education is not only relevant but pertanent to being able to navigate through the systems put in place. It is hard enough for individual who do have some form of formal education to obtain employment because of the increasing competition in the job markets, let alone for a person who does not have any formal education. In the system that is in place, a person without a college degree is equivalent to the square peg in a round hole. The obtainment of a degree usually determines the difference between the individual's path to a job or a career. Certain

One thing that is immeasurable is the people, the connections, the preparation it provides for life itself. It allows for certain conversations that one may not have had outside of the college setting to thrive. College also enhances the opportunity to meet other like minded individuals, and on the contrary, encourages contact with individuals of opposing perspectives as well. Delanco makes the point that education and the importance of an education goes far beyond the black and white pages that lay in our textbooks, and the brick and mortar. It's relationships that are gained through class projects, and intrumural sports leagues, the beauty in the differences of culture, language and ideologies. This segment of experiences is what the phrase "liberal education" derives from. To under estimate and undervalue these experiences would be a mistake. For most the experiences gained in college shape the man or woman that they become, it that transitional period from the adolescent mindset to a more mature mindset. It cultivates skills needed in adulthood, such as the meeting of deadlines, problem-solving, critical thinking and aiding in the overall building of