Analysis: Everyone Should Not Go To College

Conner Stripling Lowe Paper 5 Why Benjamin Barber's Argument in "America Skips School" Trumps William Henry's Argument in "In Defense of Elitism" In today’s society, it has become the norm for adolescents to choose where they would like to go after they graduate, seeking further education.

In the article, The World Might be Better Off Without College for Education, written by Bryan Caplan, explains how people do not apply what they learned in college into their actual jobs. He mainly focuses his argument on people who are deciding if they want to go to college or not because he is expressing if going to college is actually worth the money being spent. Through the use of rhetorical strategies like testimony, statistics, exemplification, and authority they help the audience have a clearer understanding of his argument. Throughout the article Caplan uses testimony to prove to high schoolers that a lot of people do not apply what they learn in college to their jobs.

The authors’ emphasis on “on average” is very effective at showing how their point makes sense and why it should be taken into consideration. I found the way that the authors focused on the minority more than the majority was skillfully effective at showing how some career paths do not require a college education and that the return in investment would not be worth the cost. Throughout their argument I found the writers to mostly use Logos and Ethos in their writing. The Logos is evident by the way they use statistics and the Ethos by how they state telling someone the only way to be successful is to go to college is a disservice. This is effective at making the reader think about how this should affect the decision of going to college and whether they should push someone to go to

The general argument made by author Charles Murray in his article, “Are too many people go to college,” is that the college is not necessary for everyone. More specifically, the Murray argues that students who went to school should have learned the core knowledge they will learn in the college. He writes, “ K-8 are the right years to teach the core knowledge, and the effort should get off to a running start in elementary school” (236). In this passage, Murray is suggesting that start teaching the core knowledge in elementary school until high school is better than to spend money and more time to the college. It is not important to go to college.

“On average, college graduates make significantly more money over their lifetime than those without a degree… What gets less attention is the fact that not all college degrees or college graduates are equal. ”(pg.208 para. 1) Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill are senior researchers at Brookings’ Center on Children and Families, Sawhill is also a senior fellow in economics study at Brookings’. Owen and Sawhill authored the essay, “Should everyone go to College?” The authors use a wide variety of rhetorical devices in the essay, including ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audience to take another look at whether college is the right choice for them.

In his Essay “Are too many people going to college,” first published in a 2008 issue of AEI, Charles Murray explores many insights onto the topic of furthering education as well as exploring various other options to pursue after high school. Who exactly would think that too many people are going to college? Well with more and more students flooding campuses at the end of every school year and less and less going into trade schools, a shift in the job market is just beginning to be seen on the horizon. Charles Murray’s essay “Are too many people going to college” shows that not only are there other avenues to pursue a potential life long career, but that much of the time pursuing these avenues may offer better results for some wanting to go to college.

College Isn’t for Everyone "By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice" (Owen). This quote from “Brookings Paper: Is College a Good Investment” goes into detail about how college isn’t for everyone. By educators, parents, and authority figures telling graduating high school seniors that college is necessary, they are limiting the potential of that student’s true skills. College isn’t right for everyone and not everyone wants to go to college.

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.

For many people, college is an important key for their future. Some people go to college for the job opportunities and the new windows it can open. Others go just for the education and experience. A good education is beneficial from many different viewpoints; in truth, it is a possibility that one's adult life could be much harder than people care to think. One can have better wealth, is less likely to be unemployed, and a much higher chance of being closer to your family.

His education from college will benefit him to get a better job so he does not have to slave away at a factory. “All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to

“Is College the best option why or why not discusses the controversial issue of whether college is important or not. On one hand, while some argue that college is very important. Stephanie Owens and Isabel Sawhill writers of article “Should Everyone Go to College” asserts that we may be doing a disservice by telling all young people that college is the best option. Owens feels that college may be of service to some people, but not the best option for everyone.

There is an ample amount of information that leads people to believe that college is a great choice. In Source F, it is shown that, “Adults who graduated from a four-year college believe that, on average, they are earning $20,000 more a year as a result of having gotten that degree. Adults who did not attend college believe that, on average they are earning $20,000 a year less as a result.” Also, provided in Source F, “...55% say it [college] was very useful in helping them prepare for a job or career.” While these statistics are true, the negatives still outweigh the positives.

If a person’s parent or guardian drilled the idea of college into your head, or if they told you ‘do what you want’ or ‘I don 't care’, or ‘You’re not going’. While college is great, there are other means of education. The value of college is a low because there are people who do not qualify for a college education, and also because there are other ways of post-secondary education other than college. College is not valuable because many people will not make it into a 2 or 4-year college, much less graduate from one. To support this, in the article Why College Isn 't For Everyone, it says, “As a general rule, I would use graduates in the top quarter of their class at a high-quality high school should go on to a four-year degree program, while those in the bottom quarter of their classes at a high school with a mediocre educational reputation should not.”

Why People Should Not Go to College People should not go to college because is difficult to find out what career choice as a result of the inexperience and little information, the potential loans are overwhelming, and the huge necessity to start working immediately after school. In fact, many high school students go to college because it is expected of them, but that is not a good reason to go. If the students are facing pressure from their parents, friends, or teachers to attend college, but they do not feel ready. A person who wants to attend college should not take on such a large financial and time commitment just to please other people. College is expensive, and it does not make sense to spend money on a college degree if they are unsure of their path.

Although college is stressful and time consuming , having your dream career, is a huge life achievement. Having a job isn’t the same as having a career “I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life”(Maya Angelou). If you sell yourself short by not going to college you’ll end up working just to make ends means not because it's what you enjoy doing, it's due to your family counting on it. Those who go to college will end up having a better future than those who don’t. I agree that going to college is more beneficial because my view on the topic states that in order to have a secure and clear future you must go to college.