Should The Obama Generation Drop Out Analysis

In “Are Too Many People Going To College?” Charles Murray puts forth the question that seems to be a hot topic of controversy. Should all students automatically plan to go to college? Murray established that the common mind set of getting a liberal education is an awesome thing but this education should be based more in the lower K-8 grades or even in high school. Murray purposes that not all students are geared to be successful in college and demonstrates that obtaining a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) is not always a direct ticket to success as many believe it to be. I agree that our society is inaccurately treating the acquisition of a B.A. as a requirement to be successful and anyone who chooses to seek an other than college path is treated as substandard.

One of the biggest complaints about a college education is the large price tag that comes with it. A national survey found that 75% of adults in the U.S. think that college is too expensive to afford, showing that a majority of the people in the U.S. agree that colleges should lower prices (Source F). As Source A says, college is about learning but the goal in life is to earn a living (Crawford). This means that while you need to earn a living, college isn’t the only route you can do so. There are careers that don’t require education beyond high school and you can still make a respectable income. It’s easy to see that not enough people realize you don’t need a college degree to get a good job.

Supporters of getting a college degree often point to the statistics that college graduates earn more than their high school educated peers over a lifetime. Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau reports that since 1977, “Adults with bachelor's degrees in the late 1970s earned 55 percent more than adults who had not advanced beyond high school. That gap grew to 75 percent by 1990 -- and is now at 85 percent.” A gap of an 85% pay difference is a huge figure and a clear reason why college is a great option for some people. But there are problems with that figure because when the number of college graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed is taken into account it changes the value of the statistic. In an article by Businessweek’s Richard Vedder we get statistics to counter that argument. He tells of how the number of new college graduates far exceeds job growth in technical, managerial, and professional jobs where graduates traditionally have searched for employment. As a consequence, we have underemployed college graduates doing jobs historically performed by those with just a highschool education. He says we have “more than 100,000 janitors with

In Catherine Rampell's New York Times essay "College Graduates Fare Well, Even through Recession," she writes an argument on whether college is worth the investment or not. In her essay, Rampell explains her position from the standpoint of agreement that college is well worth the investment. She provides a number of statistics based on the positive outcome of employment rates, post-graduation, for 4-year college graduates. Rampell gives a convincing outlook on the upside of investing in furthering one's education, resulting in a worthwhile outcome. Reading Response #4: College Graduates Fare Well, Even through Recession Written by Catherine Rampell

One must consider their choice of major, cost of school, where they are attending school, and a variety of other factors. Depending on the situation college may not be a smart investment (Owen and Sawhill 209). I agree with this notion that some people are not meant for college, but we as a society still push the idea of college which creates conflicting thoughts in the mind of a student. When discussing the benefits of attending college the biggest supporting reason revolves around further expanding one’s knowledge in order to earn a higher income. They use ethos in their appeals but they fail to provide evidence of this. They may show numbers that are skewed showing the difference in salary of a high school graduate and a college graduate but they don’t show the majors that earning that high income. They don’t show the number of college graduates without a job and how much debt they are in. Owen and Sawhill do a tremendous job in their report of giving us those numbers and statistics to back up their

In the essay “Are Too Many People Going to College,” writer Charles Murray explains that not everyone is in need of going to college for three main reasons: a liberal education should be gained in elementary and middle school, many people already have knowledge and skills necessary for a technical career, and many students are in college to “buy an admission ticket-the B.A.” (246) and ensure employers consider their resume. Murray does not argue anything against college itself but more against society and especially the education system. Murray also accuses guidance counselors and parents of “automatically encouraging young people to go to college straight out of high school being thoughtless about the best interests of young people” (249).

Many young people think that obtaining a college degree is the best way—perhaps the only way—to get a good job anymore. So is it still possible to get a good job without one? According to Professor Blanche D. Blank, attaining a college degree doesn’t always guarantee success. In his published article “Degrees: Who Needs Them?”, he argues that American college is not teaching young adults the actual skills they need for the workforce, instead the education system is becoming a jumble of generalized credits that amount to a degree. College is becoming a mold for one to fit in the technological culture, rather than to release one to actively engage in the pursuit of knowledge. Blank begins building his credibility with personal experiences and

In the essay “College Value Goes Deeper Than the Degree” author Eric Hoover claims a college education is important to one 's well-being so they can get a job and be productive in other parts of life. Promoters of higher education have long emphasized how beneficial college’s value and its purpose. Many believe the notion that colleges teach students are life skills to apply anywhere, they also work hard to earn a degree and learn specific marketable skills which they can use to get a good job. Though obtaining a college education and a degree is helpful in countless of ways, it is not necessary to pursue a college degree in world where a college degree is seen different now, people without turn out fine, the growing average of debt that students who attend college have to pay off and people without a degree can obtain many jobs that do not require college degrees.

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

In this article, Murray argues that many people go to college when it is not actually necessary for them to do so. He begins by explaining that obtaining a liberal education, while it is important to cultural participation, is not a good reason for everyone to go to college. Instead, he says that this education should occur much earlier, beginning in elementary school. Murray also believes that the in depth analysis of information that occurs college is too difficult for most people to enjoy, and many simply aren't academically capable. Even for those who are able, he claims that four years of college is much more than most professions actually need. He states that many people believe that getting a degree is the key to getting a

First, Mike Rose starts making references on how some people can’t afford a college education and through this, they believe that they don’t need to get a degree in order to work or learn something different; those who can’t go to college, look for any possible way of getting an education that could help them discover a different path for their life. Different levels of intelligence and particular talents set people apart and make them unique in their own way which help them to carry on with their life. On the other hand, Charles Murray addresses that now, high school students have a new approach about getting a college education. They now believe that getting a B.A. would guarantee them a job and

In "A Degree is a Risky Investment But You're Still Better Off Going to College, Tim Levin (2016), he argues that all the students should go to a college rather than start a business because it’s the best way to reap the rate of return. However, Levin does not understand that for many low income students, going to a good college is high pressure. At the same time, this can limit their chances at financial success. In Levin's (2016) article, he thinks that students should go to college in order to change their environment especially low-income students, but the decision of whether to attend college is different for those who come from rich families and those who come from low income families. This is because the rich families or the upper

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in

I’m sure you have heard this as well in your time in school. I bet you guys have all heard of Adele. She is a very popular musician that was made famous by her gorgeous, crisp sounding voice. But no college education. How about Mark Zuckerberg? Billionaire co-founder of Facebook. But no college education. The list keeps on going. Billionaire perfectionist that didn’t go to a four year university. I’m saying that they didn’t need straight A’s to perfect their art. The very founding document of America was written and signed by rebellious people who didn’t abide by the law. We all have the ability and smartness to be great and grades don’t really reflect that skill very well. The celebrities and millionaire entrepreneurs are the people that we all wish we could be the most. They are the ones we build ours lives after. The people who perfected their own art. Yet getting an education is still thought to be going to college and getting a good job instead of working for

I have read an article "Is a College Degree Necessary" published by Los Angeles Times, and was written by Mike Rustigan in my English class. The author wrote about the number of dropouts from the university because they feel that school is not the appropriate place for them to learn the knowledge and life. They just want to work with your hands, and learn a skill by itself after high school. By contrast, President Obama wants every student has the opportunity to attend college to obtain higher education. President Obama told Congress, "We expect all our children not only to graduate from high school but to graduate from college and get a good-paying job." (Los Angeles Times). After reading the article, there is the big question in my mind is: Is there a college degree necessary for success? Some people may think that not going to college will not have much influence on their life, because going to college or a vocational school, finally, people still go to work and earn money to support themselves and their families, should a college degree is not important and necessary; as long as we have the ability and effort, we will succeed. Is really very difficult to believe that a person needs a college education to succeed in life because success in life has different meanings for different people, and there are many who have succeeded , become a billionaire, but not through a whole school or class in life. Some others said that the university is not only a success, but the path