Ripping Off Young America Analysis

A college education is valuable and its quality is of the highest importance to most Americans. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” Mark Edmundson utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively deliver his argument that the current educational system, especially in college, revolves around consumerism which in turn has negatively impacted students, teachers, and universities in general. However, although Edmundson presents an overall logically sound argument, there are few instances throughout the article that may hinder the reliability of his claims to the audience.

An education is one of the most important tools a person can acquire. It gives them the skills and abilities to obtain a job, earn a wage, and then use that wage to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, due to the seemingly exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being driven away entirely from earning a degree or taking out student loans which cripple their financial prospects well after graduation. Without question, the increasing national student loan debt is one of the most pressing economic issues the United States is dealing with, as students who are debt ridden are not able to consume and invest in the economy. Therefore, many politicians and students are calling

Nowadays education debt has become a national issue that generates heated debate. Through the Internet and online database I find the most recent report and statistics on education debt. Most of the online sources I have searched, including CQ Researcher, Opposing Viewpionts, government and nonprofit organizations, acknowledge that students are increasingly shouldering high levels of debt to finance college education. The difference in the sources is the use of different rhetorical appeals. Most of the authors use a combination of logos and ethos, and some use a combination of logos and pathos. It seems that they all share the same goal that they want to improve the student loan program and make college education affordable.

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.

“College Prices Soar Again!” “Budget Cuts Cause Even Higher Tuition!” “Higher Education Now Even Less Affordable” These are all statements that have been seen all over the media: newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. (3 SV: SV) Rising college tuition in America has been a problem for years. Many students drop out after a single year due to the pricey costs of tuition. The rapid rise can be attributed to many aspects of the economy, not just a single source. There have also been some propositions of how costs could be lowered, but these have yet to be seen. The United States has gone into a tuition crisis.

Every year across the United States millions of high school students are ecstatic to finally graduate and begin their lives in the “Real World.” A student is excited to finish years of consecutive papers, 8am classes, and endless homework. Although beginning college is something a newly graduated high school student might be happy about they will soon become unhappy with the affects of it. The Columbus Dispatch created an ad that grabs readers attentions with detail and shows a simplistic image that will make readers remember what they just saw. Showing a large snake with the label “Debt,” swallowing up a freshly graduated high school student, grabs reader's attention and makes them realize how student debt in college can take over a student’s life.

The education correspondent for Time magazine, undergraduate at the University of Washington, concentrating on journalism and political science, and graduate work at Northwestern University, specializing in new media, Kayla Webley, in her essay “Is Forgiving Student Loan Debt a Good Idea?” states Robert Applebaum’s solution for student loan debt is a “radical and wildly unfeasible solution” in both economically and politically. Applebaum’s proposal is to “provide a one-time bailout of student debt…as a way to stimulate the still-limping economy.” However, Webley counters the solution has to have “the purported benefited and fairness of a one-time student loan bailout.”

A major problem for today’s high school graduates is the rising price in college education. Attending college can add up really fast; it can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars per year (Barkan 1). No wonder, in Steven Barkan’s book of social problems, issues and problems in higher education take up a full chapter. In this chapter, Barkan states that only 44% of all students who attend a four-year institution is lucky enough to have annual tuitions and fees amount to less than $9,000 per year. The aggravating question is, “why does college cost so much?” Not only is tuition part of the cost of college but also fees housing and meals, books, school supplies, and accessories (“What’s the Price Tag” 1). All tuition covers is the money for academic instruction. Fees are charges for specific services such as, internet access, and then the cost of books and school supplies add up. Additionally, one is not paying just for textbooks but also

A very popular topic these days is College tuition. For what seems to be ages, people didn’t give much attention to the cost of tuition. However, in current times theres been a dramatic change. It seems that everyday, several people are coming to the harsh realization of how high tuition has gotten over the years and they wish to see a change. In this essay, I shall attempt to cover a very serious and hard topic. I say that because in the process of finding information for this topic, there are several articles showing examples of people attacking administrations in serious anger. Little to no information was found giving an example of college staff and administration trying to defend or speak up. Before beginning research for this paper, I believed there would have been several arguments made between enraged parents, students, graduates and administration. Though, upon examination I found my thoughts to be confirmed as false for the most part.

Colleges are noticing a drop in students’ interest in a higher education, because it forces them to fall into poverty. Obtaining a higher education is a dream of many working class citizens, but the price to go to a choice college is not available economically. The majority of students use some type of student loan, they have become the norm for attending college (Johnston, Roten 24). College is becoming unaffordable to many lower class students. With tuition prices this high, students are backing out of school and looking for jobs that only require a high school diploma. Student loans should help people, but it is only hurting them because they feel like they can never repay it. Especially since student debt continues to rise. “Student loan debt rose by 328 percent from $241 million in 2003 to $1.08 trillion in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York” (Johnston, Roten 25).

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

Barbara Ehrenreich in her essay “College Students, Welcome to a Lifetime of Debt!” characterizes the transition of teenager to adult as they acquire mature responsibilities. Ehrenreich’s purpose is to convey the idea that although colleges and universities are supposed to empower young minds and expand their horizons, students are often left with an outrageous amount of debt and student loans at the end of their degree. The author adopts a humorous tone to appeal to the realities that young adults of this generation are facing. Ehrenreich’s essay adopts a satirical tone which speaks to how colleges are meant to encourage students to learn and mature but burden them with a plethora of unnecessary fees and skyrocketing tuition.

In the United States today, the number of students graduating college with student loan debt is quite astonishing. In the article titled, “How the $1.2 Trillion College Debt Crisis Is Crippling Students, Parents And The Economy”, we will examine and break down the student loan debt crisis by the numbers. Today, almost two-third’s of students graduating college are graduating with an average of $26,000 in debt. For most students, $26,000 is a lot of money when the average annual income for a first year graduate is only in the mid $40,000 a year range. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, student loan debt has reached a new milestone, crossing the $1.2 trillion mark (Denhart, 2013, Introduction, par. 2). With student loan debt levels

In 1958, the National Defense Education Act provided college students up to one thousand dollars a year in loans, but the average annual loan was actually only five hundred dollars or less because students could afford the rest of tuition on their own. Interest began at three percent a year after graduation and could usually be paid off in ten years. (Good 590-591) These statistics are a far cry from today’s, with student loan debt surpassing one trillion dollars and many graduates paying off loans well into middle age. As a result of the government shelling out billions of dollars in loans and inflation, colleges have had to increase their tuitions thus creating a college “bubble”. In the past year or so many political leaders have proposed plans to pay for two years of community college, such as President Obama, or for a full four years, such as Bernie Sanders, a frontrunner for the democratic candidacy. Even states like Tennessee,

The words “free college tuition” spark interest in any college student with accumulating debt. In fact, this topic is so incredibly supported that Bernie Sanders implemented it as a core interest in his 2016 campaign. Once Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee, she decided to take it on herself with an extensive plan that guaranteed students free tuition. Unsurprisingly, free tuition resonates extremely well within the student demographic. To forty million Americans, free tuition eliminates the largest problem for students: debt (Hess, 2017). However, free college tuition generates the inverse of what these low-income and middle-income students believe. In fact, free college cripples them from multiple perspectives; students will end up spending more financially, will be less likely to graduate with a degree, and will be subjected to more inequality and less exposure.