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.
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.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, some 20.5 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 5.2 million since fall 2000. In addition to this increase of incoming college students, the constant question of “why” does as well. You have one side that says yes! They believe that college is the answer to America’s problems, while the other hand, says that college is not necessarily the answer. Although both of these sides seem to be on the opposite spectrum of everything; they both agree on a few common themes. One being that they both desire for America to be greater and that the quality of everyone 's lives to be the best they can possibly be.
A college degree is one of the best educations that a person can get. It not only develops your mind, but it helps to develop you as a person as well. No matter what kind of degree you receive, whether it be a bachelors, associates, or masters you are more likely to get a better job than without it or with just a high school diploma. Workers with a college degree will earn much more and are much less likely to be unemployed than those with only a high school diploma. This paper will argue that with a college degree you are more likely to get a higher paying job than without a degree. I will support this argument with multiple scholarly articles and other valid sources to further convince you.
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?”
Since I grew up in a household with two parents who are college graduates, and even two grandparents who had graduated from college, the idea of attending college was never seen as a unique opportunity, but rather as a necessary part of my future. I’m not going to complain about growing up with parents who valued the pursuit of knowledge, but it certainly never exposed me to the mindset that maybe college is not the best option for everyone after high school. Today, there is a huge debate over if the price of college is really worth it in the end, with the high cost of tuition and the number of people who just aren’t prepared for the demands that college has to offer. And on the other side, some say that college is a necessity not just in one’s
Many Americans today tend to believe that a college education is valuable financially, yet some others strongly oppose this, since they look at the college education as being both time and money consuming. A person who successfully completes a college education may obtain one or all of the following; an associate’s degree after two years, a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or a PhD. The institutions that provide the college education can be public or private. Whereas a college education might be seen as being very expensive, it actually increases people’s chances of getting higher paying jobs, instills knowledge into them, and raises their enjoyment levels.
College has long been a bastion of hope for those not fortunate enough to inherit a business or fortune from their predecessors, on the other side of the coin; it has also been the site of major controversy and debate, especially surrounding the ever-growing cost of attendance and the rewards that a degree realistically gives onto its holder. The debate is not a new one, but with the recent economic downturn, and the vast sums of new college graduates entering the world without the chance of finding a job, more fuel was added to the fire, and the debate began anew. In order to present new arguments on both sides, articles have been written and published in major newspapers like The Economist and The New York Times, with some varying data and conclusions. David Leonhardt, author of the article published in the NYT by the name of, “Is College Worth?
As the numbers of college graduates employment have increased for each years, many people have being debating that whether everyone should have college education and whether college education still worth it for everyone. Some people found that they did not gain the benefits that they wish from college education, and some people found that they still could not find the job they desire after they spent all the money they have on college education and being in heavy debts. Therefore, people started to believe that colleges are not designed for everyone, and force oneself to attend colleges could lead to negative outcomes. Consequently, people who cannot afford to attend colleges, who do not have adequate academic skills to be successful in colleges,
19.9 million students were enrolled in college in 2013(procon.org). More and more people are going to college every year. It may be expensive to go to college, but it all pays off. The reason why more people keep enrolling in college is because it really is worth it. It is worth spending the time and money on a college education because people who have a college education can have more Job opportunities, more benefits, and bigger salaries.
Stable occupations are much less likely to be unemployed. Despite all of the economic advantages, college graduates are much more satisfied with their line of work. People with degrees are generally psychologically and physically healthier. Economist Sandy Baum, an author of “Education Pays,” believes that attending college helps people to do better in life. She says, “There has been a lot of testing done, lots of sophisticated statistical analyses, and they all show that going to college changes you in ways that change the way you behave, the choices you make. And you become… a more productive member of the labor force.” According to economist Tony Carnevale, people who attend college “come out with a certain amount of polish and understanding about how the world works.” With more knowledge, you have more power. Higher education is extremely valuable in life (Hanford “The Value of a College
Many Americans, especially recent high school graduates feel it’s necessary to attend college; during their high school career they’ve been constantly bombarded with the many questions of, what college are you going to? What will your major be? No one has ever asked for an opinion on how we feel about college or going for that matter. We get told stories about how much success college will bring to our future, but nobody ever lets us know how hard it will be, or even if we are good enough. Many American believe college is the road map to getting a good education and becoming successful, but although college is essential in getting a good education it’s not the only way we can educate ourselves and succeed. The truth of the matter is college isn’t for everyone; many go to college with the fight of not wanting to become another statistic, or to follow their dreams. Others attend college because it’s forced upon them by their parents, and then those who waste time and money going to school just to say they’ve been. Many may dream about or see college in their future, but some cannot reach a college learning level and have many obstacles to overcome before attending; whether it’s a financial or culture difference reason the good thing about success is it doesn’t come in one shape or form, that’s why they are alternatives to educating oneself and achieving success.
Figuring out if they should find jobs right out of high school or go to college first. Nevertheless, most people are sure that they want to have a better job. Not only one that will pay more, but one they are pleased with, and one that makes him/her happy. Today, practically 60 percent of all jobs in the United States require their employers to have a higher education. Jobs for individuals who only have a high school diploma are decreasing. A large majority of high school graduates work in some type of service industry. These individuals also work in low paying jobs with no position to advance. On the other hand, college graduates tend to have more skills that qualify them for a much larger range of employment opportunities. This makes it easier for them to move up in positions. According to Catherine Rampell, “there are more employed college graduates today than employed high school graduates and high school dropouts put together” (678). Thus, as the economy progresses over the years to come, college graduates will be better placed to find jobs that will offer a larger amount of pay. Therefore, earning a college degree will greatly enhance your marketability as a professional.
Right now in our society a college education is no longer an option or privilege, but rather a necessity. We are practically raised and conditioned to believe that one needs higher education in order to succeed in life. There is a saying that says "if you think education is expensive, try ignorance." But as technology is constantly advancing and computers are running almost anything, is a college education really necessary? There are people whom have never set foot in a college and are doing better than people who have their master's degree. There are views from both sides that contain a valid argument.
With tuition rising every year, students face the challenge paying the debt achieving a college degree comes with. “Student debt surpassed credit-card debt in June 2010 for the first time in history, rising to about $830 billion — or nearly 6 percent of the nation 's annual economic output”(Clemmitt, Marcia). Not everyone has a ton of money just laying around. Being that financial trouble is the biggest problem for students, they begin to question whether college is worth it or not. In recent years, students have taken out loans to help with expenses. Most students choose to attend a community and junior college to help minimize the debt. Even after graduating with a degree, students still face the struggle of finding a job in this economic time. For higher class families this may not be a problem to them. But for the middle class and low income families, they face tougher times being that they don 't have the financial help like higher class families do. For the middle class and low income families, it makes more sense attending a community and junior college rather than a four year university.