America's Success In High School

Growing up, parents, teachers, and elders always emphasize the importance of an education to the younger generations. High school students are pushed and encouraged towards college for the next big step in their life. By the time kids step into high school it’s drilled into their heads that to make something of oneself they need to pursue a college education. In reality, are high school graduates even prepared for the challenges that they will soon face? High schools are not preparing their kids for the “college experience” that in turns leaves them lacking the know-how they will need for the workforce.

Higher education in America is facing many challenges, i.e., low retention, low graduation rates and less funding. Postsecondary institutions are scrambling to remain a competitive entity within society. In order to do so, students must remain in school (Talbert, 2012). The Office of the White House states (2014), educational attainment is critical to our county’s economic success. In essence, the work force is creating more jobs requiring more education and a higher level of skill than was previously achieved. Individuals with only a high school diploma will not make into the middle class sector because of

In 2015 about thirty percent of American’s who started college graduated. The main reason behind this low percentage rate is that most students are attempting to juggle the stress that comes with their college career as well as the stress that derives from their places of employment while enrolled. With this burden that is placed on students this often leads to them extending their graduation date up to two years because they cannot dedicate the required amount of time to completing their coursework. In contrast if college education was made free, the stress from work would be completely alleviated because they will no longer have to worry about working to pay for their education. This idea is not a new one as our current public

The U.S. is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world. But with an overwhelming 1.3 million students graduating with an average student loan debt of $29,000 each and with youth unemployment elevated, the question of whether or not college tuition is worth the money arises (The Institute for College Access & Success, 2013). Higher education faces intimidating challenges: continually rising costs, access and completion problems, constant changing of technology, and responsibility pressures from state and federal officials. But no challenge is more intimidating than the fundamental question that many Americans face to ask themselves, "Is college worth the cost?" As a result of the economic turn down, many students who graduate are not finding well-paying jobs, either within their field of study or not.

As the writing advances, the argument shifts to people capable of hands on jobs out of high school considering whether going to college should really be advocated as much as it is today. Along with this, he says that eventually attending vocational schools will become scarce due technology and the fact that many things accomplished at these schools can be done online. He also claims that income statistics of high end jobs today are skewed considering the fact that when you look at average incomes of a profession, many of us will end up in the lower percentiles. For many people, he says, the best option is to pursue a service or hands on job that doesn’t require a four year education. He ends the essay by claiming that “College isn’t all it’s cracked up to be” as well as depreciating the value of the normal B.A. that little college pursuers end up achieving. Murray writes: “the misalignment is in the optimistic direction, as adolescents aspire to be attorneys or physicians without understanding the educational hurdles they must surmount to achieve their goals”.

Over the past twenty-five years, college costs have accumulatively risen four-hundred percent. The percent of parents who contribute to their child’s student debt has dropped from thirty-seven percent to twenty-seven percent, compared to three years ago. Due to the lack of aid, most students have to try to balance a job and school at the same time resulting in eighty-five percent of college students working at least twenty hours a week. It has also been noted that students who work twenty hours or more a week while attending classes at the same time are less likely to graduate due to the high stress environment. Sixty-two percent of college students who drop out were responsible for their own college education. Even when students drop out, thirty percent are still faced with college debt, creating a loophole impossible to recover

“In fall 2016, some 20.5 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 5.2 million since fall 2000” (National Center for Education Statistics). That number seems to be rising each and ever year, and it almost seems as students feel like they have to go to college directly after high school. Maybe it is because they feel that they have to fit in, even if college is not for them. Although some students attend college for academics, sports, and other reasons, some students attend college for no apparent reason; with that in mind, students should take into consideration the time and money that is put into going to college.

Grounds B1: A summary of President Barack Obama’s speech presented by Christopher Hass, “President Obama on Higher Education and Reforming Student Loans,” published in April 2009 by My.BarackObama.com, “There are few things as fundamental to the American Dream or as essential for America 's success as a good education.  This has never been more true than it is today.  At a time when our children are competing with kids in China and India, the best job qualification you can have is a college degree or advanced training.  If you do have that kind of education, then you 're well prepared for the future -- because half of the fastest growing jobs in America require a Bachelor 's degree or more.  And if you don 't have a college degree, you 're more than twice as likely to be unemployed as somebody who does.  So the stakes could not be higher for young people like Stephanie.”

William Bennett, former secretary of education, once argued that: “Too many people are going to college.” In the search for a career, Bennett believes, a college education provides less advantage than is commonly assumed, thus luring students to take loans. He would prefer to see the United States emulate countries like Germany, where most young people are tracked into vocational training, and he wants more Americans who do go to college to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics rather than what he calls “irrelevant material.” Before attempting college at all, students should “critically evaluate the data: student-loan debt, return on investment,

Rather than associating it with financial woes and four more years of backpacks and tests, further education should be credited with helping the development of one's social skills, personal growth, and becoming a well rounded and prepared member of society. One of the most prevalent issues with sending one to college is cost. Although the majority of Americans say higher education “fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend”, 86%, the majority of GRADUATES say that personally, college was the best choice (Source F). On a student to student basis, stepping out of the present and looking at the bigger picture may be the

Nowadays, we are always bombarded with the constant studies that show the economic benefits of going to college. For example, one study suggests that the average earnings gap for a high school graduate and someone with a bachelor’s degree working full time is about $15,000 (Owen and Isabel 210). But, all these sources only focus on the economic benefits and they make it seem that the only way to succeed. However, they don’t mention as much the possible negatives and that it might not be for everyone. The biggest obstacle, especially for the lower class students is the high cost of tuition. Which has caused student loan debt to become the second highest form of debt in the U.S, surpassed only by mortgage debt (Owen and Sawhill 212). Even if the student figures that out then there’s the problem of finishing school. Studies show fewer than 60% of students finish their 4-year degree within 6 years, if they finish at all (Owen and Sawhill 218). Then for those who do obtain their degree there’s the

Today in a modern day, each new year of hopeful high school graduates rapidly finds there are just not enough job offers for every one of them. The majority of them end up tending to tables at McDonalds or stocking the shelves at local Walmarts. Large portions of them drop out with a huge number of dollars in understudy advance obligations that no one ever cautioned them about. The annual average for college tuition and fees is about twenty-two thousand dollars, thirty thousand dollars

In recent conversations of the increment of the student loan debt, a controversial issue has been whether a college degree is worth getting. On the one hand, some argue that earning a college degree is a major life achievement that some consider to be part of the American dream. From this perspective, we can see that a college degree opens up more opportunities and possibilities of employment with a higher pay and position. On the other hand, however, others argue that many people succeed without college degrees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 30 projected fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, five do not require a high school diploma, nine require a high school diploma, four require an associate’s degree, six require a bachelor’s degree, and six require graduate degrees. In sum, the issue is whether a college or career path is worth the debt or not.

Along with the comeback of school we need to “Pity our poor teachers who spend every September reprogramming children to do their homework, spending hours on remedial lessons and waiting until overtired children readjust to regular bedtimes” says McFeatters. She made me realize that schooling lacks over the summer and forgets to stick for the arrival of school. As stated, teenage workers’ jobs have become taken by those whom are unsuccessful adults trying to make a living. Being a teenager, I plan on trying to get a job, but my education is also in my hands of retaining throughout a summer of jobs and even summer school to keep up with my schooling to get into more colleges with an overloaded class agenda. Year-round school would keep up with my education, and there would be more breaks to find jobs here and there to keep up with extra curricular, or even my car.

Starting in high school, students are not given equal opportunities to excel because of family background. Furthermore, the admissions process itself has its flaws—legacies, minorities, and athletes are being chosen over exceptionally gifted valedictorians. Even after college, the problems do not end; possible joblessness and student debt are unavoidable. On top of these major problems, educators and parents continue to convince kids everywhere that college is the only option to become successful, and choosing another path is heavily looked down upon. The newest generation’s life is centered around the climax of college while at the same time, more and more students are unable to attend universities because of cost or rejection, but this is a paradox. The more high schoolers work hard, the more high schoolers will get turned down to their dream schools, and the more the college admissions process effectively become a lottery, leading to “many highly talented, brilliant, creative people thinking they’re not” (Robinson). The widespread college problem has no easy fix, nor does it have a single solution. Rather than working to fix the unfixable, adults must stop putting such emphasis on the college pathway, and instead stress that there are other options. The future of the job world is unknown; there is no way to know if an expensive college education is the right choice. College, with all of its flaws, is just one option in preparing for the future; it is not necessarily the best. Therefore, the single word, “college,” should stop dividing the academic from the non-academic or the successful from the unsuccessful, and instead be considered a single path in an array of worthy