'What College Can Mean To The Other America'

In past years, when people was talking about higher education, they had no hesitation to mention university immediately. When others were mentioning that college also belonged to higher education, sometimes they reacted with a wry smile, and shook their heads. Yes, even if it is for today, university gets the higher appraisal than college, and even many people think ‘‘college as America used to understand it is coming to an end.’’ As parents, they prefer their children to study in university instead of college, no matter how high of tuition the university it is. They ignore the value of college. Although sometimes college is viewed as critical by other people, we still can find its value, and how it is really beneficial for our lives, even if we don’t pursue a degree.

The author is repetitive on her main argument, “going to a community college is much more beneficial than going to a four year university”. She emphasizes that going to a community college is first is the best option to pursue, “I believe the community college system to be one of America’s uniquely great Institutions” (Addison, p 258). Addison makes it very known throughout her essay that attending college matters and getting your degree is the most prominent part, it's the reason of being in college. The common ideal college

Community college is an underrated option for many students. As Americans grow society has drilled into us that we need to continue our education after high school to become stars in this world. Addison writes about how going to a university was seen as a rite of passage and was a way to find ourselves. In today society not going to a university is seen as not being good enough to make it in to anywhere better. This is why many students will attend university when it would have been more feasible to attend a community college first.

Two Years Are Better than Four is an essay by Liz Addison, published in the New York Times Magazine’s College Essay Contest. It follows the fictional, yet symbolic, character, Rick Perlstein. Through the character, Addison expresses her thoughts on the American Higher Education system. Consequently, she highlights the importance of community colleges in the provision of higher education. Addison discounts the 4-year courses provided by mainstream universities. Throughout her essay, Liz Addison claims that Community Colleges are better institutions of higher learning as compared to Universities. This paper tries to outline them as it provides reasoning, evidence and assumptions presumed, in coming up with the aforementioned arguments.

In the essay, Two Years Are Better Than Four, the author, Liz Addison, gives her opinion on the importance of community college. The main point that she is trying to convey to her audience is that going to a community college is not harming the essential college experience. For some individuals, such as herself, the two-year college experience is exactly what they need to further their education. Community college is an affordable place that can “foster dreams (Addison)”. Throughout the reading, Addison makes compelling statements to prove the point which she is trying to make.

In the New York Times article “I Owe It All to Community College: Tom Hanks on His Two Years at Chabot College” published January 2015, the author Tom Hanks talks about his experience in Community College. The article being published in the New York Times was directed at an older group of people. Hanks begins the article effectively persuading the reader that Community College changes the lives of the students who attend. Hanks addressed his experience at a two-year junior college in Hayward, California with positive critique. Hanks’ succeeds with his claims of community college being a alternative to students in search of a afforable higher education, through his use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Similarly, in “Two Years Are Better than Four”, Liz Addison argues that Community College is a good option for those who are not prepared for college or are unable to pay for a traditional 4-year degree. “Community college welcome people who comes from different background” (Addison). Because how much affordable Community college is in comparison to a traditional 4-year college. Community College gives hope to those who parents are blue-collar workers trying to give a better future to their children or those like my stepmother, who cannot obtain a four-year degree from medical school because of how much it costs. However, she can look for

“What Is College For” by Andrew Delbanco, shows the need for both a universal college system; one which caters for all of society, and one which provides a liberal education. Delbanco gives many reasoned thoughts on how, and why the college system has become restricted, to purely those of a higher socio-economic background, rather than being exclusive to people of all backgrounds. The idea of college being a platform for people to learn, advance their skills, and become whatever they want to be has seemingly diminished over time. The ideas in favor of such an educational system are put forward, but they are foreshadowed in my opinion, by the notion that people should have the same educational opportunities in life; regardless of their economic or social background. A universal education system is needed for our society to prosper, especially if it provides a liberal education; this is not just for the individuals that make up a community, but for the community, as a whole.

Charles Murray’s essay proposes that American colleges are being flooded with individuals who are either unprepared for higher education or who are simply forced into attending college and can’t succeed because of the lack of certain innate abilities. Murray’s essay goes on to take issue with the idea that the pursuit of a traditional college education is somehow strategically creating a separation of the American class system. While Murray makes many salient points with regards to America’s obsession with college education as a standard into a class of the intellectual elite, the essay fails to take into consideration the various motivators that can lead to student success, despite

Andrew Delbanco’s essay “A college Education: What is its purpose?” gives three reasons why college still matters. Delbanco teaches at Columbia University, where he’s the director of American studies and has written several books on the meaning and benefits of college. Delbanco, begins his essay by discussing what college means to each individual student. He states, “For many more students, college means the anxious pursuit of marketable skills in overcrowded, under resourced institutions. For still others, it means traveling by night to a fluorescent office building or to a “virtual classroom” that only exists in cyberspace.” (1) Delbano successfully uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotions, his personal experience and anecdotal combine to persuade his readers to consider or realize the importance of receiving a college education, however his essay contains minor flaws that can counteract his claims.

Community college is a great institution for students to start their educational journey. Especially when they do not have the funds or lack some of the prerequisite that a university would require. Community college was created to serve the community, traditional and non-traditional students with the best higher education and lifetime learning opportunities. The faculty and staff members at a community college is there to provide leadership in education while going above and beyond to recognize the needs of the students and the community by providing excellent educational programs and support services that are available to all who have the opportunity to take advantage of them. “Student services now include recruitment and retention, counseling, student activities, student health, financial aid, academic support, career centers, transfer centers, and supplemental services such as transportation, child care, and services tailored for specific populations of students” (Cohen, Brawer, & Krisker, 2014, pg. 209). My philosophy in fulfilling the role and mission of the community college, is to establish the mission, vision, goals and values to guide all students on their journey to strive to become successful both in school and in today’s economy.

Kris, a wife and a mother, worries about the increasing cost of higher education. She and her husband have a two year old daughter whom they are determined to send to college. They want their daughter to succeed in life, but they have to weigh the complications of going to college as well. “I have always thought about college as a “catch 22”...You’re taught from a young age that in order to achieve the “American Dream” you must graduate high school and go to college,” Kris contemplates (Kris 5).Throughout Kris’s ten years of experience with college, she has seen the tuition increase to shocking heights. In fact, she claims that community colleges cost as much as state colleges did when she first started her college hunt. Back then, she

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,

Achieving the American Dream has been the ideal for people living in the United States for decades. People believed that the way to get there was through hard work, also known as the “Protestant work ethic”. The American Dream can vary depending on the person. Some people think that owning a house with a white picket-fence is the American Dream while others think that it is becoming a celebrity with a lot of money.

There isn't anything more important to community colleges than the certainty that they can and should provide all qualified people who are looking to be accepted with admittance (Vaughan). The people of the community college represent forty-four percent of all undergraduates and forty-nine percent of students attending college for the first time (David). These students include a lot of minority students, students with a low social standing and the non-standard (age twenty-five and older) student who commonly enters college less academically equipped (David). Most community colleges have made immense advancement in reducing a lot of geographical and economic blockades that have in the past limited college admittance (David). Community