College Is Not For A Successful Life

High school graduation marks the start of young adults’ lives, a time where they are expected to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Many young adults are pressured into attending college, whether they have determined their goal or not, but is it necessary? “The Case Against College,” an article written by Linda Lee, a mother who has questioned the former belief that college equals success, claims that “not everyone needs a higher education.” College, though beneficial to many, is not for everyone and should not determine an individual’s life.

Many people believe that a college education is a worthy investment. The ability to become a college graduate will result in making more money. There are more jobs in today’s society that require college degrees. College graduates develop more and better employment opportunities within earning a degree. Self-discipline is a major element in becoming a successful graduate. Also, college graduates are healthier and live longer. Adults-young and old, male and female-who have a bachelor’s degree or higher have twice the annual median income than someone with only a high school degree ("Do college graduates," 2014).

In Caroline Bird, “College is a waste of time and money,” Bird discusses why college is not necessary for everyone. She states that many college students are in college not because they want to but because they have to. Bird came to realize that college students don’t feel needed. They are led to believe that getting a college degree is important because it’s a way of getting higher chance of financial success which from Bird’s point of view is not always true. She gives examples of college students who have graduated and came to realize that college was a waste of time and money.

From a young age, most kids have been brainwashed to believe that college is the only path to success in life. Is it? Is college the right choice for everyone? Or are there better alternatives? These are questions that have been asked many different times but it seems like there has been a lack of a clear-cut answer. There are many different things to consider when looking at colleges as the only path to success.

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.

“What’s the key to success in the United States?”(Steinberg,2010), author Jacques Steinberg starts off his article “Plan B: Skip College” with a powerful question that has been asked by many Americans. Majority of Americans first thoughts would be higher education. The ideology that obtaining a degree is the best and sometimes only way to be successful in the American economy. This has been instilled in numerous children growing up. Steinberg states “perhaps no more than half of who began a four-year bachelor's degree program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years according to the department of education”(Steinberg,2010). Students who tend to not excel in high school often take longer, or at times finish a higher education at all. These

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.

As technology evolves and the price of higher education increases, alternatives to College are considered. Some people don’t believe a college education is necessary to be successful. Instead, they decide to go into business for themselves, using the skills and crafts that they 've developed on their own time to become entrepreneurs. In this day and age, it is easier than ever to learn from the comfort of ones home and actually get a degree in something with a high pay out, such as a real estate license or accounting degrees. But what social skills will be gained from sitting in pajamas on the couch? In college, you not only finish with a degree, you get real world experience. College is necessary for success and survival.

Arnold H. Glasow once stated, “Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.” Success comes in multiple forms depending on who you are and what your values consist of. In this article, Why Everyone Shouldn’t Go to College, written by Larry Cuban and reposted in the Washington Post by Valerie Strauss, pontificates on the importance of informing students college doesn’t always equate to success. More than half of college graduates flee into low-paying jobs even with high educational degrees. Cuban sheds some light on the alternatives to make money without spending a ridiculous amount on college. With that said, educating young scholars on the options they possess instead of hiding them, will further increase

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

Isn’t twelve plus years of school enough? Who needs college anyway? Working a nine to five job with no chance of a promotion would not be that bad, would it? Do not deny, this is not the desired lifestyle of most young adults. Clearly, the way to achieve a superior job and future is college. College is the most necessary tool in order to be successful in life.

After high school, a choice that many students have to make is whether to go to college or not. There are many factors that go into one’s decision. There are pros and cons to going to college and also there are pros and cons for not going to college. But the decision that will give someone the better opportunity to have a more successful life is to go to college. The money that one will earn after getting a college degree will be more than the money a person will make without getting a college degree. As our society has continued to evolve, education has become the optimal route to professional success: pursuing a degree is the best way to receive training, to gain expertise in a given field, and even to guide you and help you make choices

getting accepted to college is an achievement in itself, but a degree doesn’t automatically equal success in the long run.

A new definition of success-“Almost from birth, our kids absorb society’s image of success. And it’s a narrow one: score the highest, run the fastest, get into the most prestigious college, and get on your way to a high-income career and a high-status life. Too many young people mortgage their childhoods to get there, fearing anything less will be failure.”

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