Currently in America, the popularity of attending college is increasing, but so are tuition costs. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, in their essay, Should Everyone Go to College?, refute the idea that college is a necessity to live a prosperous life. Their purpose is to inspire a change in legislation to make information on the drawbacks of college more accessible to high school students. Owen and Sawhill effectively appeal to their audience of legislators by systematically proving that college is not a necessity At the start of the essay, directly after the thesis, Owen and Sawhill immediately address a popular counter argument. They point out that a common problem with statistics about college versus high school graduates is that “the smartest most motivated people are both more likely to go to college and more likely to be financially successful” (Owen and Sawhill 209). They then proceed to refute the claim through giving particular examples, like “comparing …show more content…
Rather than providing trivial anecdotes, they use definite facts to improve their claim. The pair constantly support their claims with data ranging from “Earning Trajectories by Educational Attainment” to “Average Six-Year Graduation Rates by School Selectivity” proving that while college is an important step in the lives of millions of Americans, it is not the correct path for everyone (211, 219). Owen and Sawhill effectively appeal to their audience of legislators through statistics because their use of graphs stands out and demonstrates their argument much clearer. They understand these lawmakers are much more concerned about overall averages than individual emotional stories; therefore, their claim appeal directly to their intended audience. Numbers are hard to dispute while appeals to emotion are easy to overlook; Owen and Sawhill use this to emphasize their
Recently, many have begun to attack and degrade higher education in the United States. In the book How College Works, authors Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs claim, “As state support has eroded, and as more students attend college in an increasingly desperate attempt to find viable jobs, the price to students of attending an institution of higher education has gone up, especially at more selective institutions” (172). So is college even worth it? Caroline Bird’s excerpt from her book Case Against College “Where College Fails Us” is an adequately written article that agrees with those who question whether college is a good investment. Bird argues that although some students would benefit from college and succeed, many fall short, wasting
Should Everyone Go to College by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill is about whether having a high school diploma or graduating from college with a degree will produce more money. This essay will provided you with information about which college to choose whether it be private or public. They essay also states that graduation rate influences the parent and child's decision in what college he or she would like to go to.
According to Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, in their essay Should Everyone Go to College?, claim that the return of investment from going to college depends on the degree, institution, and how long a student stays in college. There is a different return of investment for each different degree. For example, according to the graph on page 215, Engineering is paid more than education. Therefore a student attending college for an engineering degree would have a greater return of investment then a student attending college for a degree in education. The return of investment is also dependent on the kind of institution a student attends.
The article Are too many people going to college sheds light on why only a handful of most intelligently able students should go to school in many respects. The main points Charles Murray makes in the article are that college is too intelligent demanding, and it’s not necessary to attend physical college simply for making a living. He splits the passage into five parts and backs up each part with relatively convincing facts and statistics and applies various rhetoric appeals and reasoning to the passage. However, he establishes an ethos as a prejudiced libertarian from his other works and somehow diminishes his credibility. In this essay, we will discuss how Murray’s ethos plays on the persuasiveness of his article and how he develops his ideas
Kaitlyn Johnson English, 008 September 29, 2015 Inequality Inequality has been a major problem all over the world. Not just with race or gender, but now ones' income puts them aside from others. and they are catorgarized. Gary S. Becker, a Noble laurete in economics, and Kevin M. Murphy, a professor at the University of Chicago and a recipient of a 2005 MacCrthur "genius" fellowship, believe that a higher education equals higher income. Paul Krugmam, a teacher of economics at Princeton and the city University of New York, uses people who have had an impact on America.
“Why Everyone Shouldn 't go to College” by Valerie Strauss in 2012 in The Washington Post is a reprint of Larry Cuban’s blogpost which states his opinion on college. Cuban expresses heresy to the popular idea that college is an important, practically necessary step in life. The author supports his claim by pointing out several facts that counter the accepted idea of what college is. Cuban’s purpose is to persuade his audience to see the flaws in the current education system in order for there to be a reform in the education system. Cuban writes in a very factual tone, making claims of fact and policy, as he writes for potential college students and their parents.
I recently read an essay called “Should Everyone Go to College?” by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill who write a great argument stating that going to college should depend on the situation instead of stating that everyone should go to college. Stephanie and Isabel go over the rate of return on education through graphs and statistics that show that those that go to college are often time more successful than those that go straight into a career. However, going to college should be dependent on the chosen career path more than anything else because some career paths do not require a college education. Also, the rate of return is a big thing to think about before committing to going to college because paying for college to go into a career that
There is many people that go to college, but because of the cost they don't get through college. The elevated costs of college cause not only students to struggle paying for college, but also to struggle financially paying for college when they are done. In many cases, after graduating, young adults who don’t find a job will become poorer, increasing the gap between the rich and the
“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 Charles Murray’s article, “Are Too Many People Going to College?”. he seeks to enlighten younger generations and administrators on a socially unacceptable future- not attending higher schooling after high school. He establishes insight through use of examples and statistics throughout his writing. However, he tends to repeatedly violates literary maxims that lead to his writing getting distracted from the main point or leading the reader to become confused by his use of terms. Through his many successes and obstacles, he still manages to create a new perspective on not going to college, making it just as wise of a decision as going to college depending on the career path and scholarly education a student accumulated in prior schooling.
Over the last decades we have seen growing acceptance of the belief that every American student should go on to college. Arguments are common based on economics. The question that all students do is if college is the best route for them? And how are their getting prepared for other options? Of course, there are also arguments based on the belief that learning in and of itself is a worthwhile endeavor.
In the world we live in today. Going to college is no longer a choice, or privilege, but rather a need for a brighter future . So the big question that happens to be going around is, “Is College really worth it?”According to Andrew J. Rotherham’s article “Actually, college is very much worth it.”, “5 Ways Ed Pays”produced by (The College board), and “Why College Isn't (And Shouldn’t have to be) For Everyone” written by Robert Reich. The answer to that question is yes.
“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.
A rising issue in today’s society is deciding whether or not college is worth the cost. There is an extreme amount of pressure that is forced upon high school students by parents, teachers, and peers to further their education and attend college. However, there is research that challenges the thought that college is the best possible path for a person to take. College may be a great investment for some people, but it is not meant for everyone. This is supported by the arguments that colleges are expensive, jobs do not always require a college degree, and students are forced to choose a lifestyle before being exposed to the real world.
American society places a huge emphasis on education. Many individuals are encouraged to go to college and earn graduate so that they are able to be competitive in the job market. Because great jobs can be difficult for one to acquire, many stress the importance of higher education. There is a strong belief that those who do not graduate high school will be unable to positively contribute to society because they are not marketable. In 2012, about 750,000 students did not graduate from high school (Camera, 2015).