“We used to judge a man by the shake of his hand.” a quote by Gretchen Wilson. Dating back a few years to the 1990’s, shop-class programs and trade schools weren’t sought out as a first choice, and was often looked down upon. People in these programs were viewed as having “no other options.” People may feel that going to a trade school means there was no other option for the student; however, it can be argued that a trade school member can make close to the same amount as a university graduate, not come out of school with much debt, and be equally as happy. Society categorizes people into job classes, such as, “getting your hands dirty”. Trade school members are viewed at the bottom, the jobs nobody wants, but in reality these trade school graduates are making close to the amount of money as those who accept an overpriced education. Source D claims, “Tuition numbers can be eye-popping, and student debt has increased significantly.” Those who come from ungifted families, trade school seem to appear as a golden ticket. Not saying they can’t go to a university to become a doctor, but they would come out with an immense amount of …show more content…
People still view trade school workers as the “bottom”. Someone has to do the dirty jobs, for example, fixing your car, unclogging your toilet, build our houses, etc. People who do these jobs make more money than thought of. The average yearly payment is $47,000, but this can vary depending on the job title. Some people see trade school graduates as those who had no other option. Source A exclaims, “When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options.” There shouldn’t be that burden of going to trade school and being viewed as having no other option. Going to a university to come out in debt doesn’t seem as valuable as going to a trade school to be equally as happy, and still be able to support the
A hard choice many people face in today’s society is whether to attend a university or to go to a trade school. With the economy America has right now it is clear that the best way to get an actual paying job is to go to a trade school and receive a certificate, rather than a college degree. It is proven that you can be just as successful in life with a job that requires technical skill over a college degree. Sadly, the culture we live in today brainwashes people into thinking technical degrees are undesirable and that a college degree is the best and only way to go. Often when students proceed on this course of life that society told them to take they may be stuck with large student loans to pay off without the promise of finishing their degree or getting a job.
Whenever someone thinks about plans after college, the first thought that almost always comes to mind, is college. Because of this, the option of a trade school is basically thrown out the window and rarely considered. Even though college is the first option for a reason and is very flexible, most of the time trade schools are better because they do not make students take unneeded classes, do not cost as much, offer hands-on experience as opposed to theory, generally take less time to graduate and focus only on the chosen field. Trade schools have been overlooked as a substitute for college since college became as big as it is now. The benefits of trade schools outweigh the benefits of college in almost every scenario, making trade schools a better option than college.
In the essay, “We Send Too Many Students To College” by Marty Nemko, he argues that, contrary to popular belief, college is not for everybody. Nemko states that colleges accept numerous high school graduates every year, when they know that if the student did not do well in high school, they have a very low chance of actually acquiring a degree. However, If someone is fortunate enough to graduate from college and obtained a degree that costed them an exceptional amount of money, it is likely that they will have to settle for a job they could have “landed as a high school dropout”. Colleges are just out for money, and the only way they can get money is by accepting countless students into their “business”, whether the student will prosper from it or not is a different story. The article reports that there is no proof that students actually learn and remember everything they get taught during their college education. In fact, some college seniors failed tests that should be easily and accurately completed, and instead of these institutions getting penalized perhaps, they are “rewarded
If more people went to college, and less went the vocational route, jobs will take a momentous hit. Today, companies will not even touch an application that does not include a Bachelor’s Degree; even if the Bachelor’s Degree has nothing to do with the job being applied for. Attention is not given to whether the hopeful applicant qualifies for the job; all that matters is that the applicant has a Bachelor’s degree. Murray best sums up the American job market when he says, “Employers do not value what the student learned, just that the student has a degree” (Murray). However, if less people obtain a Bachelor’s Degree, employers will be forced to base applicants on their skills, and abilities. Furthermore, important vocational jobs that lie vacant will be filled. Good electricians, carpenters, and construction workers will always be in
One statistic that Owen and Sawhill presented was “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500 (Figure 1). When we look at lifetime earnings—the sum of earnings over a career—the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree. (Owen, Sawhill pg 641). Owen and Sawhill also mention that “with tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student and perhaps for the system as a whole, should widespread defaults occur in the future. Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheets” (Owen, Sawhill pg 642). Basically, what the authors are saying is college is expensive, but for some career paths, the training and education received in college is necessary to have that job and the benefits outweigh the costs. With a high paying career where a college education is necessary, paying off student loans is no problem. On the other hand, people who go after low paying careers that don’t necessarily need a college degrees,
In his article, “A College Education: How is it?” Robert Reich. He expresses why going to cost is worth the cost. He expands on saying that people who go to college and come out with degrees earn more income, 98 percent more, than those with a high diploma. In addition to this, the author points out that employers are more likely to hire someone with a college degree than someone without one. However, Reich also states that even when one has a college degree it does not guarantee them a good job. On top of this, jobs are being outsourced to other countries and some advanced technology, such as AI, has taken jobs away from people. For that reason, the pay of college graduates has dropped since 2000. Moreover, many college graduates are stuck in dead-end jobs. Despite all of this, more and more people every year are still going to college. One may argue that this is because having a college degree, even though it
Part of the problem is that society tells students that they need to go to college to be successful. That is definitely not true. Students don’t always need to go to college for a few reasons. First of all, for some student, college hinders, rather than helps them develop their skills. For some other people, going to college is a waste because they have a skill that doesn’t need a college education such as a trade. Things like plumbing or auto repair. And while a lot of people do follow that trade, our current system discourages more students from following that trade. That is a reason for the admission in the collegiate level is the highest it 's ever been but it 's also a reason for the oversaturation in the market.
Television has affected every aspect of life in society, radically changing the way individuals live and interact with the world. However, change is not always for the better, especially the influence of television on political campaigns towards presidency. Since the 1960s, presidential elections in the United States were greatly impacted by television, yet the impact has not been positive. Television allowed the public to have more access to information and gained reassurance to which candidate they chose to vote for. However, the media failed to recognize the importance of elections. Candidates became image based rather than issue based using a “celebrity system” to concern the public with subjects regarding debates (Hart and Trice). Due to “hyperfamiliarity” television turned numerous people away from being interested in debates between candidates (Hart and Trice). Although television had the ability to reach a greater number of people than it did before the Nixon/Kennedy debate, it shortened the attention span of the public, which made the overall process of elections unfair, due to the emphasis on image rather than issue.
Assuming that the best way to develop reasoning and judgement is by interaction with those whose views differ from yours – traditional schooling defeats that purpose of education altogether. Let us see how. We have already addressed the idea that children are not all the same. We cannot have a classroom with 20 children and all of whom can cope with the teacher. With the definition of classroom in the previous chapter kept in mind, let us try to remember what it is like to be in the classroom. Since the environment is so teacher-centric, the child remains unable to speak through the lesson till the teacher allows them to. Usually by the end of the lesson, the child would have forgotten the doubt it had in mind.
Some people may ask are they going back to school when you already have a job. Little do people know a high school diploma is not enough to be able live in middle class society anymore. Jobs like McDonalds’ and Wal-mart you only need a high school diploma but to work in other fields you will need a higher form of a degree and that’s where college comes in. Majority of people go to college to get their degree so they can have a career. According the Bureau of labor statistics, show that 27 percent of jobs in the United States requires a college degree which is almost half of worker that has an associate degree or higher (U.S Census Bureau). The journalist Anthony Carnevale, Nicole Smith and Jeff Strohl reports on “PBS New Hour, Too many College grads? Or too few” In their study of “The Undereducated American” they stated if you increase the overall number of college graduates then the workforce with bachelor’s and graduate degrees will also increase. With both of those findings being increase less people will have to struggle to find a job in the field that they want to be in. On the other side of the spectrum, just having a high school diploma can get you job but to enlarge your salary you would have to move up in the company in a different way if you don’t have a college degree. For example at McDonalds it takes about 2 to 3 years before you move up a level in the fast food chain. It also takes a year before you can
Heading off to a four-year college after graduating from high school has become the norm. However, like Murray, I believe that a college education is not for everyone. Vocational school provides students with an education and an experience necessary for only their job of interest. Instead of taking off your cap and gown and running off to college, people should consider vocational school because it saves so much money, is worth the time, and prepares students with an education specific to their needs. It is common knowledge that college prices have skyrocketed and put students into major debt. Thousands of dollars in loans are taken out each ye...
When coming into terms with what a college degree means is simply a certification. In basic terms, a degree is simply a piece of paper certifying you met a certain level of scholastic achievement, but what happens in the class room doesn’t always translate into the real world. College degrees don’t always guarantee a good salary or guarantee a job. There are many high paying degrees, but for every high paying degree, there are two low paying degrees. There are also degrees that have a limited market. Simply having a college degree doesn’t guarantee one will get the job, nor should it. Employees need to bring skills to the table, as well as the ability to continue learning, growing, and providing value for their employer(s). I am not saying people who choose low paying degrees aren’t successful, not even. Many people choose degrees based on what makes them content,...
In 2011 Mike Rowe, from the television show “Dirty Jobs”, testified before congress on the lack of support for trades education and the effects of that lack of support. He gave startling figures about the number of available trade jobs and explained that there are large funded construction jobs unable to start because of a lack of trained workers. Although Mr. Rowe was speaking specifically about trade workers, such as plumbers, electricians, and metal workers the same ideas about training today’s workers can be applied to many areas of the work force. As a society, it is commonly felt that a college degree is necessary to acquire gainful employment. That may be true in some fields, but it shouldn’t be true for all fields. With a change of thinking, the idea that “college is good” could be turned into “education is good”. Learning, whether in a 4 year college, a vocational school or as a trade apprentice, is worthy. Trade and vocational school are not a second class education. Government, industries and parents must learn how to accept and encourage our youth to seek out educational opportunities in areas in which they show interest and, most importantly, ability.
The most commonly discuss cater gory of higher education is the private economic it brings. Private economic benefits are those benefits that have economic, fiscal, or labor market effects on the individuals who have attended postsecondary education. For many workers who enter the work force everyday, the objectives are to obtain a high paying, opportunity for advancements and job satisfaction. However, many of these skilled workers do not have secondary education backgrounds. In today technological advance workplace, a secondary education is required in many fields of work. The statistics favor those with higher education background in seeking employment. The overall employment is projected to grow about 20 percents by the year 2005, to 147 million workers and an astounding 39 percents of these new jobs will require a secondary education degree (Farr, 184.) Research shows that individuals who have gone to a postsecondary education are employed at higher rates and with greatere consistency. Another reason for pursuing secondary education is that it pays off in labor market; in both lifetime and average annual income terms, individuals earn more as a results of their higher levels of education. A worker with a degree earns about $16,000 a year more than, on average, than a high school graduate (Farr, 185), Furthermore, there are more college graduates enter the work force every year. The projection that that there are 1.32 million college graduates will enter the work force in the next decade (Kulman, 86.) This will result in others, without a postsecondary education, being bumped out of jobs. And they, in turn, bump out those even less education.
College is the first major step towards the outside world for many people. As a result, many have the same idea, get a 4-year degree in an area they want and then get a job based on that. However, many don't realize the alternatives after leaving high school. These alternatives provide great benefits and are choices an increasing amount of people are beginning to take. Deciding to not go to college is blasphemy to today's society and this thought process is embedded in everyone's mind. Yet, the choices people are making by avoiding college can be beneficial, as people don't have to endure college if they hate it, and vocational training proving an effective alternative, people can find themselves in a better financial situation.