Devorah Lieberman

Conversely, the article Poets & Quants: “Is A College Degree Worth The Money?” assumes that: “It’s true that you would be better off with a college degree. But that assumes you either have the money to pay for it or will make enough money to pay it off. It assumes you can earn your college degree, find a job and pay it off. And those are assumptions” (Allen). For some people, college is a waste of time and money, if the money is in their hands, they might attend college and complete the career they always wanted, so that in the end they receive a well-paid job, which also helps you to pay your university debt. Accordingly to students who are able to attend to college are motivated to earn their degree

Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money” explains her beliefs on why, for some people, going to college is an ineffective and inefficient use of their time. She states that many students do not belong in college because they are there for the wrong reasons and they are not happy learning. She also gives evidence to suggest that going to college and getting a degree does not actually allows a person to make more money in their life time. Her final claim is that college does not prepare most students for the real world and the jobs they will have once they graduate.

In her article “College Is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird attempts to pursued her readers that colleges are overflowing with students who don’t belong there. Her article first appeared in Psychology Today (May 1975). Since this material is outdated, I find it hard to believe that most of the responses by students and parents quoted in the article still hold true. The author has set out to pursue the readers that college is a bad and unnecessary choice for today’s youth. Yet the author holds a bachelors and a masters degree from two different universities. I would think that if she thought college was really a bad choice and a waste of time and money, she would not have gone back to get her masters degree.

In recent discussions of Is College Worth It? By John Green, a controversial issue has been whether, people should attend college or get a job after they finish high school. On the one hand, some argue that people can get a monthly income better than if they have a degree. From this perspective, some people they do not want to attend college. On the other hand, however, others insist that people should attend college after they finish high school. In the words of John Green, one of this view’s proponents, “after graduating from college, I actually made $1 per hour less when I started working as an assistant at Booklist Magazine, but the job was better in every way” (video). According to this view, he was working at Stake and Shake and he was getting better salary than what he got after graduate by 1$ less but money is not everything in life. Then he proved to the audiences through his experience that he was more comfortable with working as assistant at Booklist Magazine even he is making less money. Because he got a better job, got the knowledge, and work on something that he like. In sum, then, the issue is whether to attend college or work without a degree. My own view is that attending college is worth it even if it will cost some sacrifices of things that we can get it in the future. After, all, I have chosen to identify as a college student at Winona State University. Though I concede that choosing the university and working to enroll and pay the

Though there are many reasons why students end up in college, Bird demonstrates by using logos that a contributing factor of this is high school graduates feeling obligated to go simply because it is what society deems as the accepted next step in life. Bird states, “A great majority of our nine million college students are not in school because they want to be or because they want to learn. They are there because it has become the thing to do…” (par. 1). To back up her claim, she quotes a sociologist who says, “Nowadays, you don’t have to have a reason for going to college; it’s an

Many people are confused on why to invest time and money of attending college. A reason for obtaining a higher education is that a college degree can possibly earn a much higher salary than the majority of the people who have a high school diploma. College can be expensive and time consuming for the most of the people that do not have enough money and spare time to go to college. Stephen Rose, a research professor at the Georgetown University, wrote an article on “The Value of a College Degree” to explain if a college degree can be valuable to people to have. Eleni Karageorge, an author on the United States Department of Labor, wrote an article “Is A College Degree Still Worth It?” to give some details on job occupations that compares with employees having a bachelor’s degree or a high school diploma on how much they annually make on their job. Finally, Paul E. Barton, a consultant and a writer for topics related on education, wrote an article “How Many College Graduates Does the U.S. Labor Force Really Need?” on giving details on how valuable to have a college degree in the near future are needed when certain occupations are on high demand with a requirement on having a least a bachelor’s degree. We need to know why going to college is so important for anyone who wants to have professional occupations.

Located in the 14th Edition of The Norton Reader, an article written by Carolina Bird titled “College is a Waste of Time and Money” can be found. In the article Bird argues that though college may be beneficial for a small percentage of students, but for the majority it is a waste of time and money. The benefits of a college degree can rely on many contributing factors, but for some college is simply a waste of time and money. Though most of the sources used in Bird's article are over four decades old, the argument today is still very strong. One example includes the idea that most students believe that college is the best thing for them to do for their future, and therefore they enroll, only to realize they are not happy and drop out. For other students their dream may have always been set on a specific career, putting college into the plan, but following graduation the job market for their degree is scarce. Within these two examples one would find support for the argument that college is a waste of time and money.

In Pharinet's essay, "Is College for Everyone" the author address the fact that while education is important and everyone's right, not everyone may be suited to attend college. The author emphases that many times the "desire for learning is not what drives students to attend college"(635). Pharinet could not be more accurate when she says this. While in college, I have come across many students with absolutely no idea of what they want to be or where they want their lives to go. Many have enrolled in college for the wrong reasons and this shift is a great problem. Many students are pressured by their parents, others hope to get a higher paying job, and many more if not most, due to the simple fact that they love receiving their financial aid

Everyone talks about how expensive college is now. How professors don’t care about the quality of the students work anymore. How they find everything they learn boring; and they aren’t paying attention in class. I disagree, if people complain this much about college…. Why do they go? “Nonetheless, there is incessant talk about the ‘failure’ of education” (412) Gary Gutting states in his article “What is College For”. Education isn’t really failing, Gutting is only talking from his perspective in this article, and not the perspective of the actual students who go to college.

The decision to obtain a higher education beyond high school is no longer a question of if, but when. This is the question that author Caroline Bird discusses in her article, “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” written in 1975. This text strives to convince students, parents, and advisors that obtaining a degree might not be in the best interest for those involved. Circling around the idea that college is a requirement and no longer an act of free will. Bird starts the article off strongly by building her credibility through her own personal research and other credible sources as well as appealing to readers through logical reasoning using numerous statistics, but fails to convince readers and discredits her ultimate goal through a disconnect in her use of analogies.

In the article “Stop Scaring Students” by Devorah Lieberman, the author show how important it is for student to get a college degree. Nowadays, many people are thinking that you don’t need a college degree when trying to get hired for a job. According to a review of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, adults with a college degree are more likely to get employed than those with a high school diploma. Even though you can get a job with a high school diploma businesses prefer people with a college degree. This in fact shows, that having a college degree give adults more opportunities. Some famous people encourages students to follow their passions. However, Lieberman states that students should “follow their passions … but

Beginning at an early age, children who are encouraged academically by their parents, educators, and coaches will grow up with the realization that a thorough education will provide for them—financially and professionally—in the future. One of the first things that we are taught is that if we graduate with a degree from college, then we will have a better job and more opportunities in the future. There are many instances where this rings true. According to Brookings Institution publication “an individual with a college degree is nearly nine times more likely to make over $100,000 than someone with only a high school diploma and 13 times more likely to make more

As an illustration, according to the article “Opportunity Costs for Going to College,” “Opportunity costs are very important to consider when planning whether or not to go to college… [People] often don’t consider… the cost of giving up four years of income to attend college. Four years of income will often add up to more than the total cost of tuition and all the related expenses” (Blanchard). In other words, it is important to realize that going to college is highly expensive. Therefore, this is why many people argue that more than a benefit it seems as an investment not worth to students because they end up with more debts that what they are able to pay. On the other hand, many argue that in order to success in life a person should be well scholarly educated so they can contribute positive things to the world. Also, having an education wear them with the better arm to fight in life. For example, as stated in “Is a College Education Worth It?” “On average, a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree earned $30,000 more per year than a high school graduate.” In other words, the better you prepare yourself, the better you will

The college education has been a necessity rather than an option or privilege and people have made us believe that higher education is needed in order to succeed in life. Most high school seniors are pressured by their guidance counsellors and parents to go to college because it is "the right thing to do." Bird states that students go to college because " . . . Mother wanted them to go, or some other reason entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized." (481). She believes that college is the waste of money where the parents pour a lot of it to the institution with the belief that they are securing their children’s future.

Most expect that by attending college and graduating they will be able to find a good paying career with benefits in a field that will interest them. It seems that from high school it is drilled into our heads that we must attend college to be successful in life and contribute to our society. However, college graduates often find themselves working in a field that is unrelated to their degree. This could be due to how many people are also trying to apply for jobs in that specific field, or it could be that that job does not provide them with enough money to live off. The most important thing that students really need to ask themselves before they attend college is, “is a college degree really enough in today’s world to get a good career