Where College Fails Us By Caroline Bird Summary

The authors of the book Decision Making for Student Success express that, “A college degree has become strongly associated with having a successful life, due largely to higher earnings and the ability of a college degree to open doors to a variety of occupations and careers” (Baum 114). This means that people with a college degree are more likely to have a successful life because they are presented with more job opportunities that earn higher incomes. In “Where College Fails Us,” the author, Caroline Bird questions whether or not college is the best option after graduating from high school. Bird supports her writing with evidence by exploring multiple career fields, the expenses of college, and the quality of education depending on the student.

The issue with Bird’s statement is that job opportunities are very limited to those people in today’s world that do not pursue higher education. According to Geiger, he describes the knowledge acquired in college as “a prerequisite for the growing jobs of the new economy” and “the clearest pathway into the middle class” (Geiger 9). In other words, jobs in the economy today are requiring workers to have a college degree. If a college graduate and a high school graduate are both applying for the same job, the employee will most likely choose the candidate with greater education. As a matter of fact, people with successful careers such as: nurses, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and engineers are all required to have a college degree to qualify for the job. For example, my mom, Jeanne Medine, graduated from Louisiana State University in education because she always wanted to educate the younger generation. She was a teacher for 8 years and later went back to college to receive her masters, plus 30 more hours. As a result of her continuing education, she is currently the principal of Iberville Elementary Montessori Program. For example, if my mom had not gone to college her opportunities for working directly with children in a school system would have been limited to working as a paraprofessional. There would have been no opportunities for advancement and the pay would have been minimal making it difficult to live comfortably or support a family. Therefore, with her degree from LSU, she is successful in life; she achieved her goal and is making a good salary with an even better retirement plan for the future. While it may be possible to get a job that you enjoy without earning a college degree, opportunities for