In the article “College is Not a Commodity. Stop treating it like one,” Hunter Rawlings explains how people today believe that college is a commodity, but he argues that it’s the student’s efforts; which gives value to their education. Rawlings states that in recent years college has been looked at in economic terms, lowering its worth to something people must have instead of earn. As a professor Rawlings has learned that the quality of education has nothing to do with the school or the curriculum, but rather the student’s efforts and work ethic. Rawlings explains the idea that the student is in charge of the success of his or her own education, and the professor or school isn’t the main reason why a student performs poorly in a class. Rawlings …show more content…
In today’s society there is a lot of pressure on students to make this huge payment to go to college, and due to an ungodly amount of money being thrown into universities students feel as though they will be handed a degree in return but that’s not the case at all. In the article “Let’s clarify the ‘College Worth It’ Conversation” by Andrew Kelly he gives the statistics that 45% percent of college students do not finish their degree. High schools need to better inform students interested in furthering their education with these statistics. This can be extremely eye opening to students who think college will be an easy journey with low expectations. I have learned that the more effort and participation I put into my education the more enjoyable and worth the money it seems to …show more content…
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
Everything revolves around money and the economy. Hunter Rawling stated, “Most everyone now evaluates college in purely economic terms, thus reducing it to a commodity like a car or a house.” (Rawling, 2015, paragraph 3) I agree with the author with this quote because I personally think that college is reducing the commodity and also bringing it back up. College is not a commodity, economic value is not all there is to college. “If we were to treat college as a commodity, and an expensive one at that, we should at least grasp the essence of its economic nature.” (Rawling, 2015, paragraph 4) I like this quote because, everyone thinks of commodity as something good. But, really in reality it is not. It makes you think twice and not want to discuss things that are important. The most important thing for
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
In his essay, "Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” Staples claims that student grades are increasing for the wrong reasons, causing college degrees to become meaningless. Staples provides evidence that average grades have increased significantly over the last several decades, but claims that it is not because students are working harder. The real explanation for grade inflation, he argues, is the effect of grades on both students and their professors. Teachers give more A’s to receive better evaluations and increase job security. Students give more importance to their grades as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of a college education. Staples argues that modern
In Frank Bruni’s New York Time’s article, “The Imperiled Promise of College,” he argues that college is no longer a guarantee of success because students are not being properly motivated and guided into the programs that will provide them with jobs.
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 today 's society, there are multitudes of pressure high school students face. One of the biggest pressures put on high school students is the decision of going to college. From the moment students enter into a secondary education, they are constantly asked questions about their future plans. Teachers and parents expect students to perform their best, while giving them no chance but to look towards college. In some cases, however, college might not be the answer. Other options exist as alternate avenues after high school, however, these are not as often expressed as the idea of a four year university. Although a college education and degree is most often more impactful than a high school diploma, there is too much pressure
Having a college degree in today’s world is very important because more companies and businesses are requiring that anyone they hire has at least a two-year college degree, which is also known as an Associate 's degree. High school graduates and other people who have had thoughts about going to college should do so because it is getting harder for just a high school graduate to get a job, this is a result of hiring companies and businesses don’t want anyone without a college degree. Having a college degree will open more opportunities for the future. By doing so they further their lives and create a future that they want.
Imagine telling a student who just graduated from college that you have wasted four years of hard, stressful and even worse, expensive work. Unfortunately, in this cynical society today, the world isn’t just full of competitors, but it’s full of greedy money-grabbing businesses. The worst businesses aren’t manufacturing or electric companies, but colleges and universities. In Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” she examines how college has been viewed for so long as the best place to send high school grads no matter whether they actually want to go or not. She adds that students don’t realize how much college costs and are wasting their parents time and money, which is especially a horrible thing to waste. Now that the economy is better since September 11th and states have been stabilizing their budget debts, it doesn’t make sense that tuition prices higher than ever for college students.
The conflict on how students should be taught and how well is addressed in the book, College: What It Was, Is, And Should Be by Andrew Delbanco. The book addresses what college is for, describes the origins of colleges, and explains who goes and who does not. Colleges started with a religious aspect and have formed the foundation of contemporary, liberal education. Colleges are also meant to help an individual understand what inspires them and understand the social implications of ideas. Delbanco says that learning should bring to bear in a situation where students have to respect, consult and aid each other. This point is highlighted when Delbanco declares, “A college should not be a haven from worldly contention, but a place where young people fight out among and within themselves contending ideas of the meaningful life, and where they discover that self-interest need not be at ...
With the cost of education rising and no stop in sight, many students are beginning to question the worthiness of a college education. It is commonly known that individuals who go to school will make more money over their life time compared to someone who does not. This is a great motivator for many wanting to go. An article written by The Economist
“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
It seems as though the majority of college students these days aren’t looking to further their education because it’s what they really want, they do it to please their parents, to be accepted by society, or because there’s nothing else for them to do (Bird, 372). These expectations have led to students being unhappy and stressed, and have pushed them into a school or a job that they don’t particularly care for.
In “Should Everyone Go to College?” Isabel Sawhill and Stephanie Owen make a strong valid point on whether or not college is for everyone. For many students ready to leave high school, wondering whether they should attend college is an issue that may lay heavy on one teenagers mind. There are a few factors that could be a difficult decision depending on a person’s goal they are working towards. Some students jump right into the workforce after high school. Others may sign up for the military after graduation. While these are different options, research says higher education is very important. Higher education provides opportunity for students that attend college are giving a good shot of a better career later in life. Approaching graduation, a student might find themselves asking, “Why is it important to go to college?” The answer is that education is the most important growing factor in the growth of our country. Obtaining a college degree is a
Within recent decades, college has become a more easily available path than it has been for the past generations. In a current news release, The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that, “Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2014, about 68.4 percent were enrolled in college in October” (BLS Economic News Release from April 2015). When a student graduates high school, most of them intend to continue on to college. They have the idea that, while there, they can break away from all the general classes and just focus on what they want to learn. However, for almost all students, they find that this is not the reality. Just like high school, they find that they have to take approximately two years in general studies in order to attend and graduate with the major of their choice. General education classes should not be required because a majority of the information learned has already been covered in past years. Most of the courses do not benefit a student 's major, and the total amount of required hours for these classes can become a big waste of time and money.