From the time students enter high school they are conditioned to believe the only good educational option for successful people is a college or university. Regrettably, many families are unprepared or unable to send their child to a four-year college or university. Compounded by societal use of media, testing, and advising, students are led to believe a college education resulting in a degree is necessary for employment and success.
Additionally, families believe community college, technical college, or trade certifications are less desirable, less valuable, and lead to unsuccessful occupations. These negative connotations motivate families into debt to achieve the implied “status” that comes with a student graduating with a degree. Unfortunately, this premise does not consider a student's learning style, the type of learning environment, or a student’s interest or success.
With the continual rise in the cost of a university or college education, the drop-out rate of college freshman, and society’s increased need for service or technical occupations; how realistic is the University or College path for the average American student? Accordingly, all of societal occupations do not require a university education. Various occupations mandate specialized training and/or certification that come from community or technical colleges.
Unfortunately, every person isn't four-year college material. As a matter of fact, two-thirds of the freshman population each year drops out before ever making it to the sophomore year in college. What happens to students who drop out of a four-year college? According to David Beltrán many students that drop out wind up at fast-food counters and construction jobs. Mr. Beltrán says he probably wouldn’t have gone to college full time if he hadn’t received a Pell grant and financial aid to defray the costs. He also talks about many rumors of how people struggling under an unbearable burden of student loans. Those left out of higher education would have fewer employment options than they do today. “A common way to track the value of going to college is to estimate a college earnings premium, which are the amount college graduates earning relative to high school graduates”. Mary C.
High school graduation marks the start of young adults’ lives, a time where they are expected to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Many young adults are pressured into attending college, whether they have determined their goal or not, but is it necessary? “The Case Against College,” an article written by Linda Lee, a mother who has questioned the former belief that college equals success, claims that “not everyone needs a higher education.” College, though beneficial to many, is not for everyone and should not determine an individual’s life.
Higher education in America is facing many challenges, i.e., low retention, low graduation rates and less funding. Postsecondary institutions are scrambling to remain a competitive entity within society. In order to do so, students must remain in school (Talbert, 2012). The Office of the White House states (2014), educational attainment is critical to our county’s economic success. In essence, the work force is creating more jobs requiring more education and a higher level of skill than was previously achieved. Individuals with only a high school diploma will not make into the middle class sector because of
Perhaps some student aren’t ready to jump into four year college right after high school. Perhaps some students don’t have enough money or funding to afford four year colleges. For those who trying start taking classes, a community college, two years colleges or vocational school might a good place to get adjusted for college or for training to enter the workforce early. Liz Addison, supporter for two-year community colleges, considers community colleges the ideal place to begin and that it is not important to make the jump into a four-year university. In her essay, “Two Years Are Better than Four,” Addison portrays the theory of the community college. She assumes “The philosophy of the community college, and I have been to two of them, is one that conditionally allows its students to begin” (256). Her assumption are based on her idea “the community college system is America’s hidden public service gem” (257). A similar idea that Charles Murray believes in. He also believes community colleges the ideal place to begin for those who are training to enter the workforce early. He states “Try to force her (for example, by setting up a demanding core curriculum), and she will transfer to another school, because she is in college for 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 interests.”().These to supporters of two years colleges and vocational training are encouraging students looking for place to start or those who are trying to get certain skills to join the
Community colleges in the United States develop rapidly and have become a vital component of the postsecondary education delivery system. As of 2011-2012 school year, 45% of all undergraduate students were enrolled in public two-year colleges, approximately 8.3 million students (Knapp et al., 2012. Cited by AACC Fast Facts). And it seems that with globalization and Obama’s education agenda, the trend of growing enrollment in community colleges won’t change. A high school graduate who decides to pursue postsecondary education may face with a dilemma--whether enroll in a community college or a traditional four-year college. Even within a community college, a student may be faced with a choice—enroll in a vocational program and enter workforce after graduation with a vocational certification, or choose an academic program with an intention of transferring to four-year institutions.
In the past several years, there has been a growing trend in the number of college-bound individuals getting two-year degrees from community colleges or earning certification for their desired career field at vocational schools. Such schools certainly seem to have some valuable qualities: all boast of having lower costs than other colleges, of their absence of student loans, of allowing people to make more money quicker, of being narrowly focused so students don’t have to take classes they don’t need. They attempt to point out apparent weaknesses in liberal arts colleges as well, claiming that such an education is unnecessary in today’s world. However, for every reason to go to a community or two-year college, a vocational track, or an
College is not just a choice, it's the beginning of a lifelong journey, one that will shape and determine future choices, decisions and purposes. A high school graduate tends to have no background of job experience or any essential skills to work at a decent company. Throughout the years, America has always debated whether higher education helps people succeed or if needed, but with that come along many risk and benefits for state funding.
Rather than associating it with financial woes and four more years of backpacks and tests, further education should be credited with helping the development of one's social skills, personal growth, and becoming a well rounded and prepared member of society. One of the most prevalent issues with sending one to college is cost. Although the majority of Americans say higher education “fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend”, 86%, the majority of GRADUATES say that personally, college was the best choice (Source F). On a student to student basis, stepping out of the present and looking at the bigger picture may be the
In recent conversations of the increment of the student loan debt, a controversial issue has been whether a college degree is worth getting. On the one hand, some argue that earning a college degree is a major life achievement that some consider to be part of the American dream. From this perspective, we can see that a college degree opens up more opportunities and possibilities of employment with a higher pay and position. On the other hand, however, others argue that many people succeed without college degrees. 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. In sum, the issue is whether a college or career path is worth the debt or not.
Many high school students sometimes wonder if continuing their education after high school is truly worth it. Obtaining a four-year degree is a very expensive and time-consuming task. After graduating from college and getting a Bachelor’s degree, the goal is to find a job that fits their chosen profession and earn more money than if they would have not gone to secondary school. The worry of many students is that they will not be able to achieve this goal in finding a job with their degree or that the pay will not be worth it as they are paying off loans after graduation. People have different opinions on the matter and some do not even consider that college is not worth the money. The real question of concern is whether colleges are assisting students towards their goal and if the time and money spent on the degree is worth it to the student and family.
“Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation” (1). Many people believe that school isn’t for everyone, and whoever goes is privileged for doing so. Countless people in the world today do not attend college, and this is mainly due to an influence of those in their family. Perhaps they are unsupportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling and higher learning. Most of the first-generation students decide to apply to colleges, because they aspire to jobs which require degrees. However, unlike some students whose parents have earned a degree, they often seek out college to bring honor to their families, and to ensure they make a decent amount of money for their future.
Students from all over the United States are told all through their life that they need to attend college if they ever want to be successful, however, this is far from the truth. Often schools are culprits for driving students to attend money driven colleges, in other cases it is family. While schools all too often make the push on students to continue their schooling, parents can cause the same situation, as they may not have a degree and be working a low-paying factory job. Now kids already don’t want to be like their parents when they get older, so seeing them suffer in poverty or barely above the poverty line can cause some dissatisfaction, further seeking a degree to live a life that they never got. What many
As unskilled jobs become more unreliable to support families, it has become increasingly clear that the path to success in America lies with education. A majority of Americans now believe that a college education is necessary for their children, which can be contrasted with most
Every parent urges their child to attend college to obtain a higher education and have an easier work life, however, currently college is being overlooked by a majority of the U.S. citizens because of tuition, paying student loans, or they remain jobless after receiving a degree. In fact, they fail to see the beneficial outcome of getting a degree. College graduates have higher wages than those with only a high school diploma, when applying for jobs it’ll be easier to be employed, and living in a different community aid with developing social and intellectual skills.
Although, according to the Washington Post, 60% of society believes that college is worth the cost, in NPR’s article, “When College Isn’t Worth It”, Anya Kamenetz discusses the circumstances when attending college is not worth the cost. The three reasons Kamenetz gives for college not being worth the cost are, “If you don’t graduate”, “if you pick the wrong college”, and “if you pick the wrong degree”. In order to thoroughly support her unpopular claim and gain the support of readers, Kamenetz uses a plethora of logical statements to sway the views of readers. Kamenetz writes statistics such as, “Only 59 percent of people who begin a four- year degree, with all good intentions, actually finish.” and “Some 34 million American adults attended college but have no degree to show for it.”. These two facts alone are proof of
Life is believed to be easier for people with higher degrees than for those without higher degrees. Hence, it is the joy of parents to see their children admitted into a higher institution. With the high cost attached to attending a four year university, most students prefer to attend community colleges. Community colleges provide the same quality of education offered by universities for the first two years at a lower cost which help students reduce debts toward getting their higher degree. However, compared to the number of students who started their first year in community colleges, a large percentage dropped out. This is common to both freshly graduated high school students and adults who came back to college to obtain a degree. Students drop out of colleges because of financial issues and the need to take remedial courses. As a result, they have self esteem issues and may remain poor.