70 percent of Americans will attend a four year university, two thirds will graduate from those universities. Additionally, 30 percent of college students will drop out after their first year (¨Statistics of a College¨). Caroline Bird, the author of “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” was born in 1915 and later attended the University of Toledo as well as the University of Wisconsin. Bird then became a journalist during World War ll and wrote several books on women 's rights. She was soon being called one of the “founding mothers” for feminists ("CAROLINE BIRD 's Obituary”). In 1975 she published an article entitled “College is a Waste of Time and Money” which states critical opinions on the industry of college, the article but was published …show more content…
This demonstrates the expectation for high school graduates to advance on to college. However, once students enroll in a university, many find that college is not the place for them. Bird considers college a “sentence to be served,” comparing students to prisoners in jail (Par 14). Her article was created using her research which involved interviews of actual college students and professors. She focuses on the fact that many college students are unhappy studying at a university and claims that college is, overall, a waste of time and …show more content…
Caroline Bird gathered her own data by lecturing on college campuses and questioned professors and administrators (Par 2). Her article is intended for college students and the general public in the 1970s. In 1969, 80 percent of college students thought education was important and two years later the percent went down to 74 percent (Bird Par 17). “44 percent of Americans now believe that getting a college education is ‘very important’” (Valerie Strauss). This is a shocking number that students are thinking less and less of education. Bird claims that college increases the wealth gap and research proves it. According to Aimee Picchi, the wealth gap continues to increase because fewer lower class families can afford college. Bird agrees that college tuition is helping the growth of the wealth gap (Par 23). As student loans continues to increase, it becomes unrealistic to afford college and by not receiving a higher education that narrows the job field and the salary (Valerie Strauss). The 1970s was full of history: the Vietnam War was just ending, President Nixon Resigns and the country entered an economic slump. Jobs were not circulating as well as they are now. Having a college degree back in the 1970s, it was difficult to find a job after graduating it is still true today. The millennial generation makes up about 40 percent of the unemployed in the U.S. today (Leah M.Goodman). A lot has
Bruni begins by describing the golden promise of college as it appeared for baby boomers. In that time getting into college and completing a degree was enough to be successful. He acknowledges that this idealized vision of college may be inaccurate, however, he asserts that the issue is far more “complicated” than it once was. Bruni makes use of a recent (2012) debate over student loan interest rates in the U.S. to explore the issues surrounding college education today. While rising student debt is certainly part of the problem he suggests that the issue extends beyond that. College is now a “luxury item with newly uncertain returns” (Bruni). While rising costs make college a luxury item that not everyone will be able to afford, even those who can and do manage to go to college are not guaranteed success.
people agree with the state that Liz borrows from Thomas Jefferson, "Everybody should have an education proportional to their life,"(Addison 256). Unfortunately, the average income between rich and poor in America is not accurate, everyone supposed to become somebody in life; college gives opportunity to everyone who wants to do so, to become whatever they want, and at any age with a low cost. as much as the income level between rich and poor in America stays unbalanced; college will always be there to gives opportunity to people who want to learn, but cannot afford to attend university. Liz Addison points out an example in the article.
The argument about whether 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?”. Leonhardt and Matthews are two journalists who talk about whether college is really worth it or not, and they both have different perspectives. David Leonhardt thinks that college is absolutely worth all the money you pay and the work you do, stating that “Americans with fouryear college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.
While college may be initially uneconomical, evidence from a 1959 census shows a “three-fourths of earning difference” between those who graduated from college and those who merely received a high school diploma (Weisbrod et al 495). Weisbrod and Karpoff acknowledge the high cost of college in America, but assert the benefits of a college degree will more than reimburse a person in the long run, therefore the initial cost of attending a college is worthwhile. (Weisbrod et. al). Furthermore, this indicates only “one-fourth of the earnings differences are attributed...to non-schooling factors”, which proves the significant role college plays in determining the future earnings of an individual (Weisbrod et. al 497). College appears to be the most influential factor in regards to a person's earnings, therefore according to Weisbrod and Karpoff, college is necessary for a person who wishes to obtain a higher expected income. Even students who attend mediocre to below-average colleges will receive “a lifetime income that is [around] 10 percent lower ...than that which someone at one of the best schools can expect” (Weisbrod et. al 497). Weisbrod and Karpoff contend even low-tier colleges result in higher earnings, therefore a student should strive to attend any college regardless of the
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
Elementary school, middle school, high school, college―that’s how we’re told our education careers should go. After college you go on and get a job based on the degree you received. Seems simple right? According to Erik Lowe in his Seattle Times article “Keep Washington’s College Tuition Affordable,” he informs that people in his generation are the first to be less educated than their parents, in the United States. He explains that this is due to the high cost of tuition followed by a huge amount of student loan debt. Lowe believes that there needs to be a significant change in the country’s higher education systems (in reference to the tuition costs) or the decline of college attendance will continue. There needs to be a decrease of college tuition because as it currently is, many people are unable to go to college due to the cost and if they do, they are loaded with debt and faced with the daunting task of finding a job.
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
The second chapter of this book advocates students to attend college, even if they must take on a moderate amount of student loan debt. They give statistics showing the tremendous gap in wages between a college graduate and a non-college graduate. The third chapter of this book argues the opposite viewpoint of the second chapter. The author states that the cost of college today is too high and that there are too many college graduates flooding the job market causing many of them to go unemployed or seek low level jobs that do not pay enough to pay off their student loans. Both of these chapters will help me to show the two main ...
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?
Bird, Caroline. "College is a Waste of Time and Money." The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Expository Prose. 9th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson et. al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 481-490.
The author Charles Murray says there are too many people going to college without really saying it. The essay is written in a way that his audience will understand by the time they finish reading that he has many valid points. He Persuades his readers with facts and counters arguments to false stereotypes involving college and success. By questioning whether college is for everyone makes "you" the reader want to rethink if your time spent in college was really worth it in the end.
In their article, Owen and Sawhill appeal to ethos by comparing statistics on college graduates’ income to the income of those who did not attend college. One figure Owen and Sawhill present is “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”(641) They
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.
By attending college, students guarantees themselves a better job that the average Joe. Because the world is changing rapidly, and many jobs rely on new technology, more jobs require education beyond high school. With a college education, an individual will have more jobs from which to choose. In addition to obtaining a better job, people who go to college usually earn more money than those who do not. College furnishes you with proper credentials and documents to land high-level jobs. Figures from an A&E television program on ‘The Working Class’ show that in 2004 the average earnings were $23,895 for a high school graduate and $41,478 for individuals with a bachelor’s degree. Getting a college education is simply a stepping stone in ensuring yourself with a good start in life. Some may agree that college students are open minded and knows exactly how to expre...