Some Individuals Should Not Go To College In their article “Should everyone go to college?” Stephanie Owen, Senior research assistant, and Isabel Sawhill, former Vice President of the Brookings Institute, argue that many factors lead to individuals not being able to attend college. They go on to claim these factors to be school choice, career field, graduation, and area of study. The article states that while on average the rate of return is usually positive, there are cases in which it is negative. One of their focal points is what it cost to attend college and its affordability. Claiming that with the rise in the cost of college, which progresses at a faster rate than that of the job wage increase, that college is becoming less affordable. In their conclusion a three step policy plan is included for individuals who plan to attend college. While realistically I agree that yes, some individuals should not go to college, my optimistic side would like to believe that everyone should and can go to college without it becoming a sour investment. Monetary investment for college is a huge contributing factor into the argument of why many individuals should not go to college. They simply cannot afford it. Their parents cannot help them pay for college, they didn’t receive financial aid, or they cannot support the financial burden themselves. Financial aid is very helpful when I comes to diminishing the cost of college. However, this doesn’t help all the time. I have a friend who
In the essay, “Should Everyone Go to College?,” Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill cover all aspects of this topic. They include the rate and variations of return and policy implications, and they also give many statistics to support all of their arguments. It is a very well-assembled essay that gives both sides of the topic. It is a very well put together essay that allows the reader to further understand the topic.
In his essay, “Yes a College Education is Worth the Cost,” writer Rodney Smith discusses how students of this generation don’t care about receiving a great education for the future. Throughout his essay he explains how a college education is worth the cost. He stated that people between the ages of 18-34 say they would much rather get a job and make money than spend money to go back to school to obtain a higher degree. Smith’s family grew up in Oklahoma and they viewed education as an investment. Smith was influenced by his father’s upbringing and attended college and law school just like his father. By establishing and building his case about how education is worth the cost, uses a great deal of evidence, his argument is well organized, and he gains the audience’s attention. Background of the author
The topic of “Are Too Many People Going to College?” was presented by Charles Murray, the W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise. In today’s world college is a must due to many employers seeking educated individuals. Murray develops an interesting conversation by demonstrating that many high school graduates who are seeking to go to college do not need a degree depending on their career paths. Murray provides the analogy of a high school graduate who is looking to become an electrician but is not sure if college is the most logical decision. Murray acknowledges the fact that a B.A. does not necessarily led to a higher income than one with a degree. The logical argument of money is brought to attention and is stated “the income for the top people in a wide variety of occupations that do not require a college degree is higher than the average income for many occupations that require a B.A.” (Murray 247). Although this is his main point, he understand that it varies due to the occupation one is leaning towards. There has been individuals without a college degree that are making millions of dollars, but it varies. Murray claims that getting a B.A. is going to be the wrong economic decision for many high school graduates (Murray 246); however not everyone wants to be an electrician or any other hand held jobs that doesn’t necessarily need a degree, but if one wants to be a lawyer, doctor, or anything require a degree, college is the answer. Having a degree in a
Everyone should go to college: many people grew up hearing and believing that this was true. President Obama even calls high education “an economic imperative.” Two women authors, Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, wrote “If they [Americans] choose wisely and attend a school with generous financial aid and high expected earnings, and if they don’t just enroll, but graduate, they can greatly improve their lifetime prospects,” published in 2013 in the article, Should Everyone Go to College? Owen and Sawhill begin building their credibility with numerous amounts of statistics, educating their readers with variations in the return to education, and by utilizing visual aids to allow their audience to better understand such information. By doing
The essay ‘Should Everyone Go to College” by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill reasons whether everyone needs to go to college. Based off of monetary return, graduation percentage, tuition, and selectivity, they decipher the pros and cons of higher education.
The article, “Should Everyone Go to College?” by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill disputes the widespread idea that attending college before joining the workforce is financially advantageous to everybody. The authors acknowledge that for some the investment of college results in a profit, but stipulate that several factors could result in a college degree costing more to obtain than the future benefits would reciprocate. They demonstrate that differences in factors such as major choice, school selectivity, and future job availability result in an enormous variation in the potential value of higher education. Owen and Sawhill state that the stereotype of an unconditionally lucrative outcome from college is inaccurate, misleading, and likely
Marty Nemko, in the article, “We Send Too Many Students To College,” acknowledges that colleges have become obscenely expensive and that it is possible to be successful without going to college. Arguing that too many students are sent to college without realizing that it is not imperative, Nemko targets parents in his claims that colleges focus on educating in the cheapest way possible and most importantly, that the advantage of past college graduates in the job market is declining. One of his main reasons is that even though the average college graduate makes more money, hundreds of thousands of students in the bottom half of their high school class do not succeed in higher education. Nemko’s article is the most persuasive article on whether college education still has value as he argues that college is not beneficial to everyone through demonstrations of hyperbole, and figurative language.
Journalist David Leonhardt, in his article “Is College Worth It? Clearly New Data Say,” argues, through the use of statistical data, that from both a financial and economical perspective, that pursuing a higher education is beneficial. Leonhardt provides data from the Economic Policy Institute that states that, “Americans with four-year college degrees [made] 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” Furthermore, on average, college graduates make “about $32.60” an hour while the average wage for those who did not pursue higher education is “about $16.50.” The disparity in wages should be a sufficient reason for pursuing a higher education. Yet, Leonhardt concedes that there is and will always be a percentage of graduates that will be unsuccessful in finding employment. According to Leonhardt, this unfortunate
In Should Everyone Go to College Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill argues the importance of comparing different variables with the return on investment “ROI”. Other variables such as the selection of universities and grad majors that can help assess whether or not obtaining a four-year degree will outstandingly increase ones future earnings. Owen and Sawhill also verify that it is not financially reasonable for everyone to attend college based on their desired major. In acknowledgement, I believe that it is unreasonable for everyone to attend college, especially with the evidence provided by Owen and Sawhill that shoes how not only it is an unwise decision for everybody to go to college, but not all degrees are equal.
Imagine being someone who struggled throughout high school, but is constantly being told they need to go to college. If a student is constantly having problems with their learning, thinking, money, and support, why should they be obligated to continue their education when they are struggling today? The problem today is that people feel like they have no other choice but go to college to be successful. Many people today do not go to college, but get a job and slowly start to become successful. A person can work and gain experience and knowledge, which allows a person to move up. Since there are many jobs today that do not require a college degree, going to college should not be obligated by students after high school. College is not for everyone, and no one should be forced to go.
Are too many people going to college? This is the question that has pondered many over the past few years. With increasing tuition and increasing attendance, college is becoming “not everything that it is cracked up to be.” Charles Murray, an author from the American Enterprise Institute, wrote an article in 2008 entitled “Are Too many People Going to College?” In the article he makes the arguments that the concept of college is slowly changing. Social norms are decimating the system, people get way too ahead of themselves with their life plans, and the system is suffering as a direct result. Murray indirectly states that too many people are going to college, sending the current system into shambles. Murray effectively states his opinion through persuasive writing, a simple structure, and notable examples that draw the audience into the essay.
Parents are starting to question of the importance of a college degree and its importance to a successful life. Society says “without college you have very little opportunity to make something of yourself” or find a well paying job… but many people have fought against those odds to pursue their dream, drop out of college and become successful doing it. Why? Because they knew what they wanted to do and college wasn't the only key to their success. Although some do receive college education, some are left with large sums of debt with a career/job that can’t pay it off like they planned. College is not the only key to success.
Attending college is a goal many people strive to accomplish. The high cost of college leads most of us to refrain from school due to the lack of affordability. Poverty and the economic impact are two main reasons. A lot of people that have to pay for tuition do not make it. At one point in their life, they will find themselves in a hardship situation and fail, or ultimately drop their classes. The inability to pay their own bills, makes it difficult for them to stay focused on their academics.
The United States government heighten each college tuition every year, it increase 3.7 percent at private colleges, and 2.9 percent at public universities. Which many makes many students are unable to afford college. A college degree doesn’t never define a person's intelligence, some intelligent students can’t afford the cost of going to college. College doesn’t define a person, it just places them in a different standard. Sometimes not going to college is not a decision, the amount of money needed to pay for the tuition increases.
Attending college seems to bring more problems than rewards. Sara Goldrick-Rab notes how society has changed over the years. She claims that a high school education isn’t enough to prepare people for the current job market (Goldrick-Rab and Andrew). If Tuition was removed or reduced to an amount that everyone could afford, then the number of people attending colleges would increase.