The Purpose Of A College Education : What Is Its Purpose

A college education is valuable and its quality is of the highest importance to most Americans. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” Mark Edmundson utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively deliver his argument that the current educational system, especially in college, revolves around consumerism which in turn has negatively impacted students, teachers, and universities in general. However, although Edmundson presents an overall logically sound argument, there are few instances throughout the article that may hinder the reliability of his claims to the audience.

A college education has been viewed as the key to the American dream. There are many opinions on the purpose of a college education from obtaining new information, becoming a more well-rounded individual or preparing for the workforce. Originally, the college education was primarily used to become more educated to provide services to society; however, the college education is perceived as an expectation and mandatory in becoming a useful person in society and workforce. The purpose of obtaining a college education to obtain the skills necessary to become a well-rounded individual in society.

In a May 2003 persuasive article published by USA Today titled “College isn’t for Everyone”, the author W.J. Reeves states “about 15 million people in America are enrolled in college.” This is a staggering amount considering the fact that many people are in college for all the wrong reasons. About half of the Americans enrolled in college are there because they feel they owe it to their families. Only a small number of Americans in college actually feel it is necessary for successful lives. In this article, Reeves recollects on his experiences as a college English professor at an institution in New York. He speaks of how he believes that many students truly do not want to be in college. You can tell this by his stories of tardiness,

In “Too Many People Are Going to College”, the author, Charles Murray’s main purpose is to encourage people to rethink college. He clearly gives very valid and educated reasons on why college isn't for everyone and how society has made everyone think that college is a norm and, in a way, a rite of passage into adulthood and citizenship. Murray is given the difficult task of proving to the people that society has marred and distorted the views of college. He does an exemplary job of executing this task. Murray presents his argument that college is not all society says it is by presenting counter arguments and either giving rebuttals or conceding.

More people than ever before are attending college due to the endless opportunities that it provides. Louis Menand, a college professor and the author of “Live and Learn: Why We Have College,” explains the meaning of college through three theories that have been developed. Theory 1 supports the idea of the sorting-out process that separates the highly intelligent from the less intelligent. Menand’s second theory explains that college provides opportunities for developmental growth, personal growth, and teaches individuals about the world around us. These are valuable lessons that will not be learned anywhere else. Theory three supports the idea of people attending college to specialize in a specific vocation. I

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.

One of the most important decisions in any teenager’s life is what they decide to do after high school, the choice is usually between college and deciding to get a job and start making money. Although the cost of education in America continues to rise, the benefits of a higher education are substantial and can be seen in the success of anyone who has a college degree.

Does college really give graduates the tools and knowledge required to succeed? In the article “Where College Fails Us”, author Caroline Bird attempts to argue that college may not be worth as much as people are led to believe. Bird believes that with the rise in college graduates being well above the Department of Labor Statistics anticipated job needs, college is quickly becoming a waste of time. Moreover, several reasons listed depict colleges many shortcomings, including the stress it puts on students and the unrealistic expectations it gives them combined with huge financial burdens. The author believes that the successful college graduates would have been successful regardless of their education, and that the majority of students felt forced to attend. Finally, she states that before wasting your money on a college education the reader should reflect on her article and determine if there is still value in a college experience. Although Caroline Bird presents many persuading arguments against the college experience in her article, I believe her logic to be outdated and generalized, and her content lacking of discrediting information. I disagree that all college graduates are taking dead-end jobs, and universities have withdrawn from the social side of their educational experience.

Mark Edmundson, the author of “On the Uses of a Liberal Education”, is an English teacher at the University of Virginia who expresses his concerns about the trajectory of the universities and colleges in America. Edmundson depicts how college students today have “little fire, little passion to be found,” towards their classes (4). In an effort to find the source of this lack of passion, Edmundson describes contacting other professors about this issue while refining his own ideas. Ultimately, Edmundson comes to a conclusion. He believes that the consumer mindset of college students has hindered American universities as a whole. My target audience is my professor, Professor Chezik. Looking closely at his wording, formation of sentences, and idea structure, one can see a recurring theme throughout Edmundson’s essay. Edmundson uses fragments, specifically at the beginning of his paragraphs, to start his point, pose counter arguments, and to have a poetic refrain.

In her article “Is College for Everyone?” blogger and college professor Pharinet discusses the value of a college education and debates whether or not it is worth it to pursue a continued education. The author’s purpose for writing this article is to attempt to change a popular societal opinion that it is necessary to attend college in order to succeed. She argues that there are students who are often unprepared for the challenges and responsibilities of attending college, but attend simply for the reason that they are expected to. She challenges the idea that “college is for everyone” and encourages college students to question how beneficial a college education is for them personally.

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.

Many students today look towards the future scared and frightened debating their future, all of them asking the same question. Is a college education truly worth the cost and the amount of debt that a student acquires over a four-year period? Many ask what are they doing this for, a piece of paper called a degree. That’s what the articles “Five Reasons Why College is Worth the Cost,” written by Reyna Gobel and “Is College worth the cost? Many recent graduates don’t think so,” written by Jeffrey J. Selingo both address. The articles take different standpoints and views on the topic. Gobel’s article siding with the view that college is worth the cost. While Selingo’s article argues that college is not worth the cost.

A Short Rhetorical Analysis of Andrew Delbanco’s, “A College Education: What Is Its Purpose?” Andrew Delbanco was born in 1952. He became a teacher at Columbia University and still teaches there as the director of American Studies. Delbanco has published multiple books with the essay of “A College Education: What Is Its Purpose?” included in them. The tone of the article is serious and informative.

            In today’s society, everyone has heard of the saying, “Education is important and college is the key to a well-off life.” Some may think on the contrary that there are other routes that one may can take and still become successful in life as well. College is not the only answer to every individual. Not everybody is academically driven so the topic still appears to be very much controversial. In the essay, “Is College for Everyone, Pharinet articulates her perspective on the reason why she thinks that college is not really meant for everybody. Pharinet presented her side of the argument to her audience by laying out dome persuasive techniques. She uses a mixture or logos, ethos, and pathos to defend her case. Since, Pharinet’s has a background of being a professor, she has some authority over this argument because she has witnessed first-hand on how college students act and interacted with college students before. However, Pharinet demonstrations slight bias perspectives though-out her argument she is very narrow-minded. Even though her arguments are stated clearly she is lacking on her claims she backs up her argument with biased logic, uncited statistics, and a lot of pathos.

The purpose of university education is not only to gain more knowledge for future careers, but to educate people from becoming illiterate. University education was first established in 1636 by John Harvard. His first purpose was to train students to becoming Christian ministers, which resulted into a prestigious school for students to attend. Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts was primarily a puritan college because of the era of strict religious beliefs in society. Students that attended Harvard were very wealthy because of the high costs that was in demand to receive a higher education at a private university. As years past, students were not able to continue their education after high school because they did not have the money to attend a private university, so the idea of a public university would be established in 1795. The University of North Carolina was the first public university that gave people who were not rich an opportunity to receive a higher education, and democratize education for everyone. This university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina was established by William Richardson Davie. As more universities were being developed, a new system of higher education would be introduced in 1901. The first public community college was Joliet Junior College. Founded under Superintendent J. Stanley Brown and William Rainey Harper, President of the University of Chicago. This new system of higher education gave more people the opportunity to go