The Case Against College by Linda Lee The Case Against College has a unique and interesting premise, exploring the idea that college is not necessary to be successful. In a country “obsessed with college”, American high schoolers often feel as if the next step in their lives has to be either college or failure. Lee, however, disagrees. In her essay, she explores the idea that college is expensive, unnecessary, and can lead to the same results as a path taken without college. Furthermore, she claims that the statistics showing that college graduates receive more money is biased, stating that many higher paying jobs such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers require a college degree. Though her arguments are interesting, there are some gaps in …show more content…
She even states that she would never have believed her own argument when her son was graduating high school. Until her son dropped out, she also believed that college was the right choice for high school graduates. She is clearly biased against colleges, and toward her son. She almost seems to believe that if her son did badly within it, then the institution as a whole must be changed. This bias can be seen in the way Lee twists popular ideas, statistics, and opinions to suit her own argument. Once could argue, in fact, that Lee wrote her essay largely for her own benefit, and to appease her own worries about her son not getting a college degree. Though she references men who have gotten rich after they dropped out of college, such as Bill Gates and Walter Cronkite, Lee declines to mention that they were exceptions to the rule. She implies that anyone who drops out of college has the ability to become famous and wealthy, yet can only herself give two current examples of this occurrence. She phrases her evidence in a compelling way, attempting to appeal to the reader, and sway them to her side, rather than actually convince them with solid
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
Thesis Driven Essay The article titled “Even for Cashiers, College Pays Off” by David Leonhardt is an article that tackles the different reasons why skeptics and critics think spending money and time in college wasting. Despite the advantages that have been experienced by America in comparison to Europe, it does not make sense having to explain why college education for the masses is a noble and profitable venture. The reasons among which are quoted by those opposing and critics is that it is an expensive venture. This might be true but it results in self improvement which is very valuable and not quantifiable in terms of price and can result in a good job which will, in turn, result into more money.
He goes out of the way to even point out that those even with a short term experience in college appear to make more as well. He appeals to the emotions of the reader by confirming what they believe to be true about college and how that will effect their future and whether or not they will be
The author makes very valid points the fact that working such long days with little pay really stresses home the importance of getting a college education. The thought of being stuck in a hot factory with the ever-looming fear of being unemployed is one point the author makes that really solidified why college is so important. One thing the author does, however, is exacerbated how easy college life can be. For those who go directly to college after high school sure but some of us are fighting to do both at the same time. despite this, though no one can argue the importance of a good
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.
Throughout the essay Bird makes several points to support her overall argument that a person does not need college to succeed. She says that college does not work for everyone and believes a degree is not essential. In “Where College Fails Us,” Caroline Bird invalidly argues that all college graduates find themselves working meaningless jobs and that no one needs a college degree to be successful. First, Bird states that “College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis.” However, this point is flawed because not only does she not give any evidence to support her claim, but it is inaccurate.
Millennials today are swimming in debt that is caused by attending college today in the United States. Debt continues to proceed in the equation of many college participants lives but, many Americans do not have to fear, for the career they acquire or the jobs they attend have a great chance of paying their debts off. This paper will be focusing on how college is worth the cost, and isn’t money down the drain using studies and statistical data that prove college is money well spent. College pertains to life and provides another step onto climbing the ladder of success. The beginning steps would be to of course be to go through and pass primary and secondary school.
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.
When we look at lifetime earnings-the sum of earnings over a career-the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree.” (pg.211 para. 1) This is an extremely effective use of logos to persuade as to why getting a college degree can yield “a tremendous return” (pg.211 para. 1), as the Hamilton Project stated. This is so effective because the authors lay all the numbers out right in front of the readers regarding lifetime earnings achieved through bachelor’s degrees, associates degrees, and high school diplomas.
But with my mother ,she has always explained even warned me that she doesn't want to see me struggling everyday because of money; She wants more for me and I should want more for myself. And I’m sure Rose's mother ‘Rosie” would pick being a teacher or nurse over being a waitress, I disagree with Roses overall theme of college not being as important as it seems. I agree with his assertion that we can't possibly judge blue collar workers intelligence just by the amount of education they possess. “Generalizations about intelligence, work, and social class deeply affect our assumptions about ourselves and each other, guiding the ways we use our
Students should think carefully about their choice of major if they want a good return on investment for their college degree. In their reading, For Some, College May Not be a Smart Investment, Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill maintains that, “According to Census’s calculations, the lifetime earnings of an education or arts major working the service sector are actually lower than the average lifetime earnings of a high school graduate," (p. 5, 2013). Basically, Owen and Sawhill are claiming that a person with an arts major is making, on average, less than a person with only a high school graduate degree. People need to be careful about what they are reading on the internet and how often they read on the internet. In his writing Is Google
Living where we live, you begin to comprehend that living off of $11.00 per hour including with your family will never suffice your needs. Getting a college degree can ensure the graduate a higher chance of being able to earn more financially. In the article “Why College Isn't And Shouldn't Have to be For Everyone” by Robert Reich, he states that “A degree from a prestigious university can open doors to elite business schools and law schools-and to jobs paying hundreds of thousands, if not millions. ”Even though Reich’s article is on the opposing side of the argument, he fails to overlook the fact that in the long run having a college degree will, and can open doors to many new opportunities. One of those opportunities is to be able get a well paying job that can earn more than the average non college graduate.
“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.”