In Defense Of A Liberal Education By Fareed Zakaria

In Fareed Zakaria’s book in Defense of a Liberal Education, he debates that liberal education is more underestimated than it should be in today’s society. Zakaria presents an argument explaining the liberal strategies used to benefit an individual not only in a classroom but developing skills to help deliver intelligence for the real world. Zakaria counters the argument that liberal education is a frivolous decision made by today’s youth with little concern, for futuristic opportunities. Zakaria defends liberal education through explanations to excel by gaining knowledge, learning to think, and building leadership.

Supporters of getting a college degree often point to the statistics that college graduates earn more than their high school educated peers over a lifetime. Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau reports that since 1977, “Adults with bachelor's degrees in the late 1970s earned 55 percent more than adults who had not advanced beyond high school. That gap grew to 75 percent by 1990 -- and is now at 85 percent.” A gap of an 85% pay difference is a huge figure and a clear reason why college is a great option for some people. But there are problems with that figure because when the number of college graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed is taken into account it changes the value of the statistic. In an article by Businessweek’s Richard Vedder we get statistics to counter that argument. He tells of how the number of new college graduates far exceeds job growth in technical, managerial, and professional jobs where graduates traditionally have searched for employment. As a consequence, we have underemployed college graduates doing jobs historically performed by those with just a highschool education. He says we have “more than 100,000 janitors with

In the article The Liberal Arts Are Not Elitist written by Martha Nussbaum it was said that “Education is not just for citizenship. It prepares people for employment and for lives of rich significance.” That to me is what the goal of a liberal education is, to provide a basic knowledge in multiple areas of content such as: math, reading, writing, history, and science, with addition to preparing a person for global citizenship and to live a fulfilling life. To be a global citizen, means that the person needs to be aware of what is going on in the world around them, to contribute to society, understands how the world works, takes responsibility for their own actions and to be self-sufficient. I strongly believe to receive a true liberal

In William Cronon’s Only Connect, Cronon discusses what it means to be liberally educated and why it is a good thing. Cronon explains that he believes that liberal education helps human talent grow, therefore it states that he believes the main goals of getting a liberal education is freedom and growth.

In his essay, The New Liberal Arts, Sanford Ungar addresses common misperceptions related to a liberal arts education. He speaks to their usefulness, the employment opportunities after graduation, their value despite the cost of tuition, and other misconceptions. His overall message is, despite the recent emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math degrees, as well as technical or vocational training, liberal arts degrees are still important and are a valid option to consider when deciding on your educational future. While his essay could easily apply to anyone with these misperceptions, it appears to be targeted directly towards students in high school or early college who are trying to decided on the direction of their education

In the article, “Only Connect: The Goals of a Liberal Education,” by William Cronon, William lists and explains the qualities of an educated person that he admires the most. While reading this article, I related to a lot of the points that he listed. William lists qualities that I value in myself and in others around me. As I read through the article, I also noticed that I am starting to see these qualities in me and that they are growing as I get older and as I complete a higher education.

Many college students choose to also get more than one degree while attending college to earn more income and further their education. College graduates have the choice of get higher level degrees and training resulting in earn even more income based on the different higher level degrees earned and training received (this means the more degrees and training you have the more income you may receive). People with higher level degrees and training earn more money that those without degrees. In 1996, for example, workers with bachelor's degrees had median annual earnings of about $36,000, while college graduates with more advanced degrees earned around $40,000 (Mittelhauser 3). This is a four-thousand dollar difference in income; this is only one of several examples of how people who graduate college make more money than the average high school graduate and that of people with lower-level degrees. The median annual wage for a bachelor’s degree in 2010 was $63,430. While the median annual wage for a person with a doctoral or professional degree in 2010 was $87,500 ("Employment by Education and Training Assignment, 2010 and Projected 2020"). This is almost a twenty-four thousand difference income just based off of median annual wage of different degrees. The income difference from college graduates than to those of high school graduates is great. College graduates are getting better wages and job openings than those of high school graduates (“President’s Perspective:

“The New Liberal Arts” by Sanford J. Ungar is an essay that talks about the benefits and misconeptions of receiving a liberal arts with Ungar on the benefits of students receiving a liberal arts education, but way the current education system is a liberal arts education isn’t the best financial choice to receive is a degree. education. Ungar was the president of a liberal arts education and the essay uses Ungars knowledge of liberal arts education to counteract arguments against students receiving a liberal arts education. I agree

While the term liberal education is heard from the most prestigious university to an inner city community college, the phrase itself has a hazy definition at best. While educators across America struggle with the definition of the phrase, William Cronon uses purpose, structure, and appeals in his essay "Only Connect: The Goals of Liberal education," to define a liberally educated being and the characteristics that such an education should impart. Cronon capitalizes on inductive structuring to lead the reader along, gently building each new statement upon a foundation of previous ideas. This effectively leads the reader to a strange

Education in America is important; due to rising costs, he claims many think liberal-arts degrees are too expensive for the average family to afford. Ungar suggests that a liberal-arts degree prepares people for adapting in their respective career field. Career specific majors are not offering students the broad range of qualities one needs for job opportunities. While he acknowledges the stronger start of students with prior experience in college, it is those students with little experience that end up with the most original ideas, making them valuable to an employer.

Although, it is common for an undergraduate student to change their career path, adults often alter their job direction as well. The reasons for an individual to begin a new job are endless. In an article by Betty Southwick it is estimated that in the year 2009 twenty percent of workers will start a new job. Especially in our current economic downfall with an estimated 2.4 million Americans unemployed, according to the Associate Press, it is extremely important for one to be proficient in multiple skills and have a broad knowledge base. The background information learned in a liberal arts education gives one the knowledge to succeed if they are forced to find work outside the field in which they have a degree. A liberal arts education creates a well-rounded individual. If liberal arts education were replaced with specialized education, in universities, students would be at a disadvantage. Focusing solely on one area handicaps an individual and limits their knowledge base. Therefore, making opportunities harder to come by during rough economic times like our society is currently experiencing.

In her article, “How Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Programs Prepare Students for the Workforce and for Life,” Maureen Murphy Nutting argues that a liberal arts education is necessary to prepare adults for the work force. Evidence is provided to support the need of a liberal arts education and she even points to specific schools who are implementing this well. One particular example is Montgomery College in Washington, which has an honors program where “virtually all” of the graduates have “moved directly to 4-year colleges,” which is incredible, however, she does not mention what the focus of the degrees are or what

In the article “We ignore the liberal arts at our peril” which was written by Alan Wildeman and appeared in The Globe and Mail on September 07, 2015, Wildeman claims that liberal arts degrees are valuable investments for people of the twenty-first century. Wildeman backs up his argument by providing facts from a study that lasted thirteen years in which the annual earnings of graduates from 1998 were tracked. Over the thirteen years, the earnings of the liberals arts graduates rose to $80,000 - the same earnings as a math or science graduate. This proves that liberal arts degrees pay as well as a math or science degree. Wildeman also uses information from the Ontario university systems which tracks graduate performances. Two years after graduating from an Ontario university, ninety-two percent of liberal arts graduates were employed.

“Misconception No.1: A liberal arts education is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. ‘Career-education’ is what we must now focus on.” (Ungar, 2010, pp.191) As Ungar has claimed, there is a recent misconception that a liberal arts education is no longer a necessity but luxury because it doesn’t provide an instant career launching education. With so many people having to a need to spend as little money as possible, they are determined to only spend money on preparation for their future career. For this reason they go to college only to take courses that are necessary for their future. “She is in college to take vocational training. She wants to write computer code. Start a business. Get a job in television. She uses college to take vocational courses that pertain to her career interest.” (Murray, 2008, pp.228) Murray explained the story of a girl who is in college solely for preparation for her career. Because of this, she isn’t interested in a liberal arts education. If the course doesn’t directly pertain to her desired career, she prefers not to take it.

Martin Luther King Junior said, “Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” Higher education does not exist for the sole purpose of preparing students for future jobs; it’s there in order to prepare individuals for life where they are expected to participate in their community, their government, and the lives of those around them. Liberal arts, in particular, exist for the broadening of students’ minds in order for them to be successful not only in their chosen career but also in their lives outside of it. Liberal arts lost their past popularity during the last few decades, but they shouldn’t be disregarded in favor of technical and professional degrees because they still provide students with skills that are perhaps less tangible, but no less necessary for life in modern world.