Analysis of Charles Murray’s “What’s Wrong with Vocational School?”

In Charles Murray's article “Are Too Many People Going to College?” he argues that the route that has been set-up, whether knowingly or unknowingly, for individuals to achieve success in their life by obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) is obsolete in a modern world. He espouses six reasons for his position. In this essay, I’ll summarize Murray's position and then elucidate on his points while explaining my position on wach of his views. Lastly, I'll state my belief that getting a college degree is valuable even if it is not the source of my financial income.

For decades, students have been told that college is the next step after high school graduation. Society reiterates this by glorifying individuals that have completed a degree and looking down upon those who do not have one. The problem is that many students have not acquired the necessary tools nor have the motivation to be successful while pursuing post-high school education. Some argue that college provides the foundation of liberal studies that will improve career opportunities. Charles Murray disagrees in his essay, "Are Too Many People Going to College." He states, "Most people should be getting the basics of a liberal education. But for most students, the place to provide those basics are elementary and middle school." (Graff, 238) This raises the question, is a four-year education the best option for all students. College provides many benefits that would be difficult to find elsewhere, such as, writing skills or cultural growth, but college is not meant for everyone. A college education does not guarantee a prosperous career, instead, gaining work experience or completing a trade school is a more intelligent option for the majority of potential students.

He concludes the article with restating his thesis that it is definitely worth going to college today for almost everyone. He then goes on to end the article with the concept of the growing complexity of jobs in the economy and the necessity of a college education to meet the demands of the newly emerging economy (35). Leonhardt makes strong points to base his argument in this article and uses convincing language and credible sources to prove his agenda. He clearly makes an impact on his readers and clearly displays his position on an issue of great importance in today’s

He uses strong diction as he addresses how colleges are increasingly becoming “conventional bureaucracies” because behind every college program is a need for growth (Blank 263). This need he argues is how connections between colleges and outside companies begin to formulate as colleges develop “employment favoring tactics” (263). Thus colleges build up their clientele to help advertise such well known business corporations and offices to advertise “better jobs.” Blank continues by providing the most optimistic statistical evidence which “envision a 14.8 percent slice of 1975 job market, while they bring 31 percent of 18 to 24-year old age into college” (263). This estimates to about 10,664,000 students in college, “therefore, even if every one of the so-called professional and technical jobs were indeed reserved for them (which is itself patently impossible), the number of job openings would still be inadequate” (263). These facts introduce and support the idea that receiving a college degree is not to be associated with the key to “reserving a better job”. The details and numbers build an appeal to logos and impress upon the reader that this is a problem worth discussing, the statistics prove that although there are many students in college, not everyone will receive a job as the number of job openings are

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

To discuss the value of liberal education, there should be a mutual understanding that investing in college means to invest in oneself. Furthermore, while some consider this investment to be a critical stepping stone to success, others dismiss it, explaining that school simply cannot prepare someone for the “real world.” Sanford J. Ungar and Robert Reich explore both of these subjective values in their essays “The New Liberal Arts” and “College is a Ludicrous Waste of Money.” Ungar, the president of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, discusses why a liberal education should be sought after; he does so by introducing common misconceptions about liberal arts and, using argumentative persuasion, proves their insignificance. On the other hand, Reich, the former secretary of labor, argues against the conventional belief of college being the only road to financial wellbeing; rather, he explains why a two-year education may better accommodate many college students, especially those in need of immediate work or those that simply cannot afford a four-year education. In all, although both Reich and Ungar generally discuss liberal education, their perspectives differ when it comes to its practicality in the current economy. Also, to express their different views about liberal arts, the authors use contrasting tones to present their ideas to different intended audiences.

By starting his essay with a common situation college students find themselves in, Smith is able to pull his readers attention, and interest them on what he has to say. He starts his first argument by pointing out the fact that the higher the diploma or degree, the higher the income. For instance, “14.9% of those without a high school diploma” (29) will much likely earn four hundred and forty-four dollars weekly, while the “1.9% of those with a doctoral degree” (29) will earn about a thousand, five hundred and fifty dollars weekly. Smith is able to appeal to the readers’ sense of logic because they can see the statistics and change in income that appears in the essay. Although there is still the problem of how people “view an education as an investment and

Rose’s background and credentials give him the credibility he needs in order to effectively express and backup his claims about blue-collar workers. As a professor who specializes in literacy and learning, Rose applies his studies and presents it to the audience in order to establish a high level of authority. Rose explains how his mother quit school in seventh grade and how his father never earned a higher education as well. As for Rose, he proved his education by saying, “I went back to graduate school to study education and cognitive psychology and eventually became a faculty member in a school of education” (246-247). By this alone, the reader can see Rose went farther in formal education than either of his parents did. Rose acquired extensive knowledge throughout his academic years. His studies revolved around human behavior and psyche, which created the basis for analysis of his own family who endured a life of blue-collar community. By including this in his article, Rose is letting the reader know that he can back up his own life stories with studies. Rose willingly exposes his childhood life as a way to express the complexity of such jobs, and to clarify that those jobs contain much more than just the physical aspects of it. While, yes Rose believed his mother’s job was more than just physical having seen her work first hand, that

What’s wrong with vocational school? Charles Murphy states, “vocational training is second class. “College is first class, college is only for those of higher intelligence” (para. 6). True enough everyone that attends college is not Albert Einstein, but that does not mean that they are not capable of going. Attending college is hard work you have to be motivated and focused. I know many people who have graduated with bachelor’s and master degrees and did not have an IQ of 100 or higher, this alone proves that college is for everyone and not just those with higher intelligence. I

Grant Penrod, a young college student at Arizona State University, shows how rough the “smart kids” have it, in his essay “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids.” In Penrod’s essay, he shows the reader the cruel and unusual punishment that “smart kids” go through. Penrod uses a very calm tone of writing but ramps it up with occasional quotes of hate towards these certain students.

One of the most well known civil rights issues of our time is the inequality of education; the problem with education is the way America has chosen to enforce education upon the people. In Leon Botstein’s proposal “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood” he chooses to fix the problems with high schools in America by abolishing them. However, the major issues in our schools are the lack of will in some students and the lack of proper education for the willing; therefore, I believe America should not force traditional education after the eighth grade and encourage equal educational opportunities for all. American school children do not desire traditional education, but they want to fast track their way into the work force. by enrolling in vocational programs.

"While Americans remain negative about the economy and the occupation promote, in spite of all that they see the estimation of a school guideline, both to the extent its ability to help them obtain more money and to help them get a not too bad job"(Most Americans See College as Essential to Getting a Good Job; College educated most definitely loath to be unemployed or underemployed.) Americans are all careful that school graduates will never be unemployed or underemployed due to the extent anybody is concerned and their capacity, they will pull in the associations to pick them for solid jobs which help them to acquire more

He is a controversial writer that have stirred up a lot of talk all around the world. He is considered by some one of the greatest public intellectual. He believes it is time for civil disobedience. Which means refusing to comply with certain laws that tells us to pay taxes and fines. Murray believes that it is class not race that is a determinant of social polarization. He is known for his controversial book, The Bell Curve written with Richard J. Hernstein, who passed away before the book was published. This book brought on much controversy about how a person’s IQ is what shapes America’s class structure. He feels that intelligence is more profitable in one’s life than social status. In his book, Coming Apart, Charles Murray says, “America has divided strongly into two classes.” He further names and explains the two classes. He call the cognitive elite group the “Belmont.” They are the college graduates that hold jobs using their minds. And the other group is called, “Fishtown.” This group of people has high school diploma and they working and getting paid less than the

Upon doing research on Charles Murray it was discovered that he went to Harvard, which may make one doubt the validity of his argument. Another faulty is that a man who went to such a prestigious school will have a different expectation than someone who went to the University of New Hampshire for example. Of course he doesn’t think college is for everyone because not everyone may be able to make it through a college as vigorous as Harvard. Anyone that attends Harvard has some amount of talent but “anything below an IQ of 110 is problematic…if you want to do well [in college], you should have an IQ of 115 or higher” (Kirszner, Mandell 677). By making this statement, one can doubt his arguments validity; he may be making too high of an expectation for the “qualifying” student academically college abled and underestimating the “unqualified” college student that should try two years of vocational school before attempting a four year college. Millar, who did not attend an Ivy League school like Murray, and did an exceptionally well job of convincing her readers by stating facts with opinions. If a woman who went to UCLA can do that, than Murray may be overestimating college and adding more insult than encouragement. If a parent has a child with an IQ less than that of a “qualifying” one, then Murray may appear discriminatory towards an audience that is associated

Perry begins the article by introducing the author, Charles Murray, and giving the reader Murray’s view on higher education. “Murray contends that only 10 to 20 percent of those enrolled in four-year degree programs should actually be there” (Perry 670). Perry then states his own opinion on the subject as if to combat what Murray has written. “His pessimistic view of people’s ability to learn ignores not just good evidence to the contrary but the real pressures the American economy is facing” (Perry 670).Perry believes that removing the remaining 80-90 percent of those students enrolled in four-year degree programs in his state, or any state, “would interrupt the pipeline of skilled workers, making it nearly impossible to meet the needs of a society that has defined postsecondary credentials as an entry point for most professions” (Perry 670). The viewer is given three key points to consider. These points push the need for