Mark Bruni's Essay: The Price Of Your Education

In Frank Bruni’s article “The Imperiled Promise of College,” Frank states that college was a success and easily accessible to the population. He wonders why recent college graduates are having blocked roads to the job market. Frank believes college student’s are having problems getting jobs, because of choosing the wrong majors. He says that choosing the right college is important to succeed. Lastly, frank believes that we need to keep college tuition economical in order to help college students succeed.

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

Hunter Rawlings, the author of College is not a Commodity, protests society’s view of the importance of college and argues the necessity of an education instead of the college title. Rawlings boldly exhibits stereotypical views of college as being unaffordable, creating too much debt, and simply not being worth the hassle. He then goes on to explain his contributing factor the the article, “The value of a degree depends more on the student’s input than on the college’s curriculum.” (paragraph 4) Rawlings displays that a college degree is not just handed to the student, however the expertise of that degree is dependent on the level of education that the student sought to receive. The author inevitably argues that college is not a commodity like

Higher education has been known by many Americans as a luxury for only those who can afford it if not being forever in debt with student loans. The price of higher education has been in debate for many years but it still has not ceased to come into an agreement. Should higher education lower its price or is it worth paying for it? As Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus argue in their article “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?” there are colleges worth mentioning about how successful their financial management has been correlated with their students success. The issue has also come into attention for Sanford J. Ungar, as he explains in his article “The New Liberal Arts,” although liberal arts education may be have its misconceptions, it does pay for its price. Hence, higher education (whether from a regular university or a liberal arts college) is worth the price, as it prepares individuals for the real world more than any other kind of education, it is an unique time were students are allowed to explore and put their abilities into test and it is the opportunity for many to overcome the many obstacles life has to offer.

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.

America’s education system has been in a state of distress for the past decade, but garnished headlines recently as the student loan debt crisis reached over a trillion dollars. In conjunction with that, tuition is no longer the only obstacle a student faces when considering their future. As generations come and go, universities have slowly, but surely, been angling their education in a way to favor profit over knowledge. Because of the new direction higher education models are taking, Magdalena Kay questions her readers, “is there a problem with students, with teachers, with administrators, or maybe

Throughout the years, America has always debated whether education is needed- if it helps people succeed or not. The argument in the past was always over high school education, which is now mandatory. That decision has helped the US rise economically and industrially. Today, the US is in the middle of the same debate- this time, over college. Some, like David Leonhardt, a columnist for the business section of The New York Times, think a college education creates success in any job. Others, such as Christopher Beha, an author and assistant editor of Harper’s Magazine, believe that some college “education” (like that of for-profit schools) is a waste of time, and can even be harmful to students. Each stance on this argument has truth to it,

In her essay, Chen states a few problems that can hardly be argued with: college is far too expensive and professors are paid much too little. She focuses mostly on adjuncts, or part-time professors, as it is in this area that many of the problems reside. She writes, “With student debt and tuitions both ballooning across the country, a college degree is in many ways more expensive - or overvalued - today than ever.” Unfortunately, she fails to provide in-depth analysis on why college is so costly to begin with. It is because of this shortcoming that Chen’s work is much weaker as a whole. Firstly, her title becomes misleading, and makes her a possibly untrustworthy source. Secondly, her failure to acknowledge the reasons why college is so expensive cuts off an entire possibility of solutions. Addressing where all this money is being spent could provide an easier and stronger solution than the one Chen provides.

Many people throughout history have said more or less the same words in many different ways, from Presidents to philosophers, from dictators to martyrs, men all through history have come to the same conclusion; knowledge is power. The question of knowledge being equal to power is not the question that has so many people preoccupied in the current economic climate. That statement as fact has been branded into the minds of young people in America and all across the world for so many generations that the point seems hardly worth debate. Now the question has become, “Is knowledge money?” The cost of a college education has skyrocketed to the point that many would be students are asking themselves, is college worth the cost?

The articles also argue on how the most expensive education is the one that does not lead to a degree. While graduating with high levels of debt, it does more damage to a student that takes on a debt but never graduates. Time after time, students always look for ways to pay for college and try to manage to have good grades in order to stay and graduate. Information and facts support throughout the article on how there needs to be more access and more affordability to students who want higher education opportunities. Reasons that include affordability are either lowering tuition or making college free, having more students in 4 year universities and focusing on the outcome of student entering college for the first

What is funny to me is that higher education is no longer about the student. There are components of higher education such as student affairs and academic affairs that are still about the students, but what is left of the university consumes the institution and turns it into this money hungry business. Institutions of higher education are being turned into businesses, but it’s not for the fact they are simply trying to keep the doors open anymore.

Today, in 2015, I would argue that the typical average college student’s reason for being in college is to get a decent job that will yield to an adequate income. Money has an extremely high standing for many people in today’s society. The desire for a well-paying job paired with our well-advanced technologies have contributed to the industry’s need for specialized workers. The competition in the job market is often times overwhelming, which forces students to focus on their field of study as best as possible in order to become the well-trained specialist a company is looking for. In addition to specialization in the professional environment, I have experienced that many people put a great effort in conforming to society’s social norms and

The raising of tuition per year has decreased the quality of higher education but what’s gained in college is more valuable than a few student loans. Even though, the cost of higher education has increased it also diminish public support. Incoming college students typical base their college choice off its tuition rather than choosing a college more suitable for their career. Today, most jobs only hire people with higher educational background. Many people can agree that having a college educational background is beneficial in the long run but the yearly increasing tuition takes away its quality. In “The Rising Cost of Higher Education” Brinkman says, “Many elite private institutions...could certainly charge higher tuitions than they do and

There is much truth to the quote stated above by Norman Douglas, especially during the 900-1300 when industrialization, agricultural innovation, international trade, and religious conquest rocked the European, Asian, and Islamic societies. The quest for unification and cultural/religious spread during this turbulent times were answered by universities that created men of an educated class. Higher education became the state and religion controlled medium to reinforce the agenda of established religious leaders and political authorities. The court Elites and local religious leaders prized education and spend considerable wealth towards establishing and growing it, for

The concept of higher education has been around for a long time and today may even be considered the norm for most people in the US or at least pertaining to attending a college and getting a degree after high school. However, for some people, higher education still proves to not be very beneficial or even a detriment to their lives. This is due to the overwhelming amount of debt some people accumulate depending on the path they chose when pursuing higher education. Higher education has impacted me personally as this past summer I graduated high school and was faced with the decision of pursuing higher education. I had to give a lot of thought on whether I wanted to go to college as today there seems to be the expectation of higher education at least for most people coming out of high school. For instance, from a young age, I was told by many people close to me that “Education is your ticket” and how I would most likely have to continue with higher education after high school if I desired a “decent job”. However, I also had to consider the debt higher education would no doubt put me in and figure out if it was “worth it” for me. That ends up being a rather important question “Is it worth it?” at least for most people who are considering higher education. Before people jump into the process of higher education, they should take the time to weigh the pros and cons of higher education along with developing an understanding of what your degree along with the social skills one