Learning by Degrees Essay

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 Catherine Rampell's New York Times essay "College Graduates Fare Well, Even through Recession," she writes an argument on whether college is worth the investment or not. In her essay, Rampell explains her position from the standpoint of agreement that college is well worth the investment. She provides a number of statistics based on the positive outcome of employment rates, post-graduation, for 4-year college graduates. Rampell gives a convincing outlook on the upside of investing in furthering one's education, resulting in a worthwhile outcome. Reading Response #4: College Graduates Fare Well, Even through Recession Written by Catherine Rampell

One must consider their choice of major, cost of school, where they are attending school, and a variety of other factors. Depending on the situation college may not be a smart investment (Owen and Sawhill 209). I agree with this notion that some people are not meant for college, but we as a society still push the idea of college which creates conflicting thoughts in the mind of a student. When discussing the benefits of attending college the biggest supporting reason revolves around further expanding one’s knowledge in order to earn a higher income. They use ethos in their appeals but they fail to provide evidence of this. They may show numbers that are skewed showing the difference in salary of a high school graduate and a college graduate but they don’t show the majors that earning that high income. They don’t show the number of college graduates without a job and how much debt they are in. Owen and Sawhill do a tremendous job in their report of giving us those numbers and statistics to back up their

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.

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

Have you ever just stopped to think about what it must be like to be “qualified” for a job yet be unemployed and homeless? Starving on the streets because you paid everything you had to an institution that was supposed to guarantee a better life, a more stable and successful career. Obviously this is an extreme case, not everyone who pays for college ends up living on the streets and broke, but almost every college graduate is in debt. For as long as college has been around it has always meant a better life, it’s always been that people who went to college were more successful, smarter, and would make way more money than someone who didn’t go to college ever would. Lately, however, college has become so expensive that going to college will more than likely leave you in debt working for years upon years just to pay back what you owe and then start making money for yourself.

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 it is heavily believed and statistically proved by Document A, Earnings and Unemployment Rates Based on Educational Attainments (2015), the higher the degree earned, the more money attained, similarly the higher the degree earned, the lower the unemployment rate. This proves the worth of college by giving numerical comparisons of those who invested in it verses those who didn’t. The median weekly earnings of $1,730 from someone with a professional degree put up against the $678 from someone who only graduated from high school shows a very obvious difference. This information greatly supports the decision of going to college by displaying the “in the long run” advantage of college through the amount of money you can make in the future with the degree you earn

The articles “Blue-Collar Brilliance” written by Mike Rose and “Are Too Many People Going to College?” by Charles Murray discuss the importance of education and its outcomes. Both authors talk about people’s careers on the aspect of whether a college degree made them succeed in life or it is just an expensive waste of time. Also, each article has its own opinion over the fact that some people with college education aren’t able to find jobs while others with no college background are able to succeed. Rose and Murray, both agreed on the idea that college isn’t for all just simply because of its cost, and how each person’s intelligence does not depend on their acceptance to a college; further, both authors also acknowledge the importance of blue-collar workers and their prosperity.

Robin Wilson had quite a compelling article, showing the potential contrast with the debt vs. the quality of life and stability a degree can provide. Wilson overall points show that the American dream we are all striving for has changed. She is able to demonstrate this through the use of several anecdotes. Wilson interviews with various professionals to see how they use these degrees to better themselves. In doing so she highlights various pros and cons of having a college education vs. the amount of debt they are now responsible for.

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

Many recent college graduates have faced record levels of unemployment. This situation has lead people to question what they value about higher education. Some high school students and their parents are wondering if a college education is worth the cost. Others, however, believe that a college prepares students for more than just a job or career. Many people then present the counter argument that people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg did not have a college degree, but unlike them most people are not geniuses and do not have the same entrepreneurial opportunities available to them, let alone the innovative ideas and proper timing. A college education is worth the cost because it is a requirement for many jobs, college graduates make substantially more than high school graduates, and college provides more opportunities for personal growth and networking.

In Linda Lees "The case against college", she argues that going to college may not always be the right move for every high school gradatuate. She explains that, "only 27 percent of Americans have a bachelors degree or higher". This does leave a staggering amount of room for people that have had success without degrees, such as bill gates or the average hard worker entrepreneur. She uses a personal anecdote from her own experience of why college isn’t for everyone. Lee explains that her son got into a pretty good school, and enrolled because all his friends were going and it should be fun, but he wasn’t ready, he elected to miss classes and was there for all play and no work, while Lee was paying one thousand dollars a week for her son’s education.

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. Some of the following successful people either haven’t completed or enrolled in college were Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft; Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and other successful entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Although this may be true, there are many others who do succeed in life by attending college and receiving their degrees such as Chad Hurley, the co-founder of Youtube who attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Lastly, my final reason of why college is worth attending is that the children of college graduates are healthier and better prepared for school. According to a Lancet medical journal study, “From 1970 to 2009 showed college graduates had lower infant mortality rates than high school graduates. This particular piece of evidence supports my claim because within the span of 39 years, this demonstrated that the children of college graduates are likely better prepared later, which could be

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in