' America´s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor's Degree By Marty Nemko

A Rhetorical Analysis “America’s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor’s Degree”

A bachelor’s degree just to drive a taxi cab? It might be the future of many college graduates according to Marty Nemko. In a June, 2008 edition of the Chronical of Higher Education in an article titled “America’s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor’s Degree” Nemko argues that a four year college degree may not be worth the cost, and not the right choice for most high school graduates. For past generations, it has been expected that to be successful one must attend a four year university. Two year degrees, technical, and trade schools were looked down upon. Nemko wishes his reader to learn a different truth. He wants to educate the educators who have misguided today’s youth into thinking that four years is the only successful path to take. He writes his article to alert parents and students that a four year college education is not for the majority of high school graduates. His argument is well formatted, as he establishes both his credibility to the reader and uses statistics and citations from other credible sources

Nemko is able to use his canvas to paint a picture for his target audience and show them that a four year degree is not the only path available, not the right choice for most high school graduates, and a weak choice for today’s job market. He uses pathos but continues to cite facts throughout the article to use logos to validate his claims. He ends by giving options such as associates degrees and trade schools to show that he is not anti-education just simply a reformist. This really adds to his ethos. He also leaves readers with a positive note about many famous, respected people who did not graduate from four year institutions. This adds to his pathos one last time. Nemko certainly makes one think on their educational life choices by mixing ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his