College At Risk Summary

The Greek Philosopher Aristotle identified “The years between puberty and age twenty-one as the formative time for mind and character.” It was customary for young Greek men to attend a series of lectures that resembled our notion of a college “course”(Delbanco 36). Aristotle is a believer of education and the power it has on the development of the young mind. Likewise, he believes college is a place to establish one’s character. Caroline Bird’s essay, “Where College Fails Us,” definitely does not correlate with the opinion of Aristotle.

Liz Addison’s essay, “Two Years Better Than Four,” was first published in the New York Times Magazine back in September of 2007. Addison went to two community colleges and majored in biology; earning her degree in 2008. In her essay, she is responding to Rick Perlstein's article “What’s the Matter with College?” in which he claims, “College as America used to understand it is coming to an end” (211). Addison refutes Perlstein’s claims by saying, “My guess, reading between the lines, is that Mr. Perlstein has never set foot in an American community college” (212).

Today, you either get educated or you get stuck in a dead-end job without much prospect for the future. The gap between those with a higher education and those without one is becoming wider with advancements in technology and the growing competitiveness of the job market. There are many dangers of this gap. One such danger is the people who have a higher educations having the leisure to ignore those who are less educated. Joy Castro in her essays “Hungry” and “On Becoming Educated” discusses her life and educational journey.

In Charles Murray’s essay “Are Too Many People Going to College,” he believes that the concept of college has changed over the years. According to him, a four-year college is no longer as necessary as it was when it was first created because most jobs requires more on job training. He also adds to his reasoning by mentioning that because of the advancement of internet, physical libraries and the physical proximity of student and teachers is less important. Because of the changes he noticed he believes that people should go to college but not for liberal education. He makes the claim that the basic core knowledge of liberal education should be learned in elementary and middle school and that only people with high academic abilities should be encouraged to go to college.

Is College the Best Option College is a place that people go to study in and get their degrees. College helps students get educational and be more knowledgeable. Also, it teaches them who to take responsibilities and do their works. College helps students and gives them a degree which will help them get a better job. In my perspective college is the best place for people to go and get their degrees.

In David Foster Wallace’s “ Kenyon Commencement Speech,” he discusses the importance of liberal arts education in “teaching you how to think” (Wallace, 199). He mentions how education is beyond the knowledge we learn, but about simple awareness will impact the choices we make for better or worse. The real value of education cannot be found in a career (you may or may not be fired from), but it can be found in the way you view things through a different perspective and by considering how other factors can contribute to everyday life. This new approach in thinking will allow us to appreciate our lives and overcome our inner “default setting” towards the world (Wallace, 199). I agree with Wallace’s argument because the purpose of higher education should not be about having career-specific skills and obtaining a degree, but about intellectual and personal growth will help us survive in the real world.

“3 Reasons College Still Matters” by Andrew Delbanco 3) “Surely, every American college ought to defend this waning possibility, whatever we call it. And an American college is only true to itself when it opens its doors to all - the rich, the middle, and the poor - who have the capacity to embrace the precious chance to think and reflect before life engulfs them. If we are all serious about democracy, that means everyone.” 4) In this part of the writing Andrew Delbanco tries to persuade his audience by using the pattern of logic that agrees with the overall argument but also considers another striking point of view to strengthen the argument (While these arguments are convincing, they must also consider…).

It will encourage learners to concentrate on their studies, and encourage them to work harder in school. In result, a significant increase in student grades will rise. Therefore, the opportunity will create student, specifically low-income student to have more advantages. Firstly, college should be granted to students freely because it will encourage them to concentrate on their educations.

In “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray offers his opinion on the number of students that pursue a B.A. He believes that two year or four year colleges are not needed for a majority of students who could instead pursue other life paths. He discusses the ability for the general knowledge needed to be learned in primary and secondary school, and for a lessened need for a “brick-and-mortar” institution the problems with the current secondary and higher educational issues including the lessened need to acquire a B.A. All members of society need certain skills in order to be productive members of society. They need to know general facts about the country they live in, general history, and general geography.

Forgiveness of Student Loan Debt On a global scale, there is a large amount of people who are unfortunate in the sense that they are all regrettably faced with the issue of the struggle to pay for a proper education. Seeing as those who struggle are unable to pay on the spot, whether it be because they are financially independent adolescents or their families have low financial income, a majority of said strugglers resort to applying for student loans. This allows them to receive an education for the time being, but it still must be paid for eventually. As a result, every student who takes a loan for schooling will be in debt until everything that has been borrowed is paid off.

In today society, people are easily looked by their college degree level and they can be judged by their degree. But not everybody can afford to go to college in order to get a degree. People have different reasons of not going to college but most of the reasons are because of the tuition. Tuition are too high and they can not afford it. If the free college situation does not make a great effect on the economy, I believe that college should be free because free college can encourage more students to go to college, earn a degree and can decide on their future without the worry of paying debt and contributing to create a better society with their knowledges.

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Why College Tuition Should not be Free Introduction Education is a major driving force for a country’s economic, social and political development. Every youth desire to attain a college degree as it offers many opportunities to the graduates. Higher education is however very expensive and hence reserved for the privileged families. Making college education free would however not be the ultimate solution.

Free education should

Education is vital to one’s life and well-being, however since education isn’t free so many kids around the world can’t take advantage of it simply because of their economic status. When people become educated, it allows them to develop different perspectives and would not only see an improvement in their life, but in society as a whole. There’s no doubt that education is the most important thing to enhance the lives of individuals. Without it, kids aren’t able to reach their full potential, causing citizens to experience major issues in life such as a low standard of living, ignorance, and among other things. Education should be free for everyone, regardless of their economic background, because every individual is important and should have the equal opportunity to better themselves.

The reason I think this way is that in this case everyone gets a chance to go to the university and that free education can interest more students in the long run and finally lead to more people getting a higher education. Universities in a number of developing countries are very expensive and this scares a lot of potential students since for most of them, getting university education means that they will have to get student loans and be in debt for a long period of time. If universities would provide free education, then, not only those young people who come from rich families but everyone who wants to study in the university will have an equal opportunity to receive a graduate