COLLEGE IS WORTH IT
Since I got into college, I have always wondered what my life would be like after it, is college really worth it? I have chosen the issue of whether or not college is worth it to discuss in this class because being a college student myself I believe I have first hand knowledge about this issue. In my research position paper I will discuss three main reasons backed up with evidence to support my claim that college is indeed worth it. I believe a college degree can take you anywhere. Without a doubt the opportunities are more when one has a college degree.
As a full time enrolled student at a 4 year college I am greatly interested in this issue and to answer the question of “so what?” and “who cares?” this is an issue because this affects us college students and prospective college students so as to be fully aware of our situations and educate those that are not very knowledgeable on the facts that support my claim. I think I can use my personal situations to best explain why I think college is worth it. I have been a student at the university of Texas at Arlington for 2 years now and I changed my major form biology to economics my second semester because it was then I realized that I didn’t have the passion for biology or to end up being a doctor. I have been a makeup artiste for about a year and a half now and I absolutely love what I do, I don’t just have the passion to do makeup but also to someday be the creator and owner of a makeup company. I felt economics would give me the management skills to be able to start up and run my makeup company. Without a college degree, I don’t know how my dreams and aspirations would come true. Yes the advantages are really appealing but a lot of people see only ...
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... follow it because it is something that affects me everyday.
WORKS CITED
Rauf, Don. "The Real Cost Of College." Careers & Colleges 28.2 (2008): 6-10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Stephens, Dale. "College Is a Waste of Time." CNN. Cable News Network, 03 June 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Farnen, Karen. "How Much More Money Does a College Graduate Make Than Just a High School Graduate?" Everyday Life. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
Banya, Kingsley. "College Education Provides Intangibles to Students, Society." Education News College Education Provides Intangibles to Students Society Comments. N.p., 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 03 May 2014.
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"Is College Worth It?" Time. Time Inc., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
While some say that college is a good investment due to its tendency to grow a student's character and intellectual ability, the downsides to college sorely outweigh the potential benefits that it has. While college does grow a student in multiple ways, “57% say that the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend.”(Doc F). This majority opinion demonstrates that the growth you can achieve in college is sorely outweighed by its economic cost, and not worth doing.
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 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?”
In addition, the writer of “The Benefits of a College Degree” wrote that”One of the most important and obvious reasons to earn a college degree is to increase your earning potential”(“The Benefits”). While it is true that college is indubitably expensive, the years of learning a particular trade or skill for the future of career of these students is important and worth the cost. Also, students can apply for a variety of scholarships for different amounts of money to help pay for college and lower the amount of debt caused by schooling. Furthermore, multiple students believe that a college education is not needed for their future and that they can get good paying jobs without it. This philosophy does not apply to any good paying careers with the exception of the military and some construction jobs. The good paying jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree in many cases, except for a few that require an
Nguyen, Dung. The True Purpose of College and Higher Education. 2000. Delta Winds. Web. 15 April 2014
In 2012, the rate of graduation stays low as the rate of attendance goes up at community colleges. People say that they go to college to get a better education and to have more opportunities, but we all know in the long run it’s so they can make more money. In order to learn you must be willing to work hard, Confucius once said, “You cannot open a book without learning.” I believe that this is true because at some point you have to read something about what you are working on. In 2014 of 2.9 million high school students who graduated, 2.0 million of them went on to college to get a higher level of education. In addition to the promise of a higher salary, college offers a myriad of benefits to students who participate in the academia experience.
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.
Staff, Peterson. "College Admission Requirements and Your GPA." Peterson's. N.p., 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
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
Works Cited Farr, Michael. America’s Top Jobs for people without a four-year degree. Sixth ed., Indianapolis,IN, JIST works, 2003. Oachs, Emily Rose. The Rising Cost of Education.
“Is College Worth It?” Pews Research Center. May 15, 2011. Pg. 26. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2011/05/higher-ed-report.pdf. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
College was once seen as the only way to better your life, and immensely increase your income. But now that is all the past. Caroline Bird states in her narrative “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” that “A great majority of our nine million college students are not in school because they want to be or because they want to learn” (Pg. 373). Sadly the author has a good point, and goes into detail what makes college, so obsolete in our day and time. In particular Caroline Bird mentions that students nowadays see college as something sad and depressing. She then goes on saying that most kids go to college to please their parents, or a way to get away from intolerable home situations. Today I will be talking about why I think is a waste of time and money, and will be elaborating on questions like, is college even worth it, and is it becoming obsolete.
“Many institutions have begun to use hard-sell, Madison-Avenue techniques to attract students. They sell college like soap, promoting features they think students want” (Bird 372). This is a strong statement to use because it seems like some kind of item of need in everyday life for young adults. Colleges have gotten to the point where they have become so much like a business that they feel the need to satisfy the customer on what they are selling so they include all sorts of programs and curricular activities that could please the new students. Not only does it seem as if they are being pressured into attending college by their high school counselors and parents but also by their own classmates as most of them are going so many don’t want to feel out of place and they attend anyways. Due to society make it seem as if college is a necessity people feel the need to attend but also as if it is just a way to “temporarily get them out of the way…” (Bird 374) Today even some sociologist believe that college has become an institution so people just accept it without question. That’s wrong because people make it seem as if you won’t get far in life if you don’t have or get a college degree. But that shouldn’t be the case because in the past many jobs were done by people
Decker, Fred. "What Is the Annual Income of an Orthopedic Surgeon?" Everyday Life. Globalpost. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Why is it important to achieve a college degree, certificate or diploma? Generally speaking, what is the importance of having a college education? This is a question that I have been debating and fighting with myself for the past five years. Is it because with a college education a person can get a better job, earn more money and ensure himself of a better life? Or is the whole concept of college a fraud and a scam to manipulate individuals in feeling inferior without it? In this paper, I am going to enlighten you of the pros and cons of having a valid college education and what it means to me.