How to Escape the Community College Trap In the article “How to Escape the Community College Trap” written by Ann Hulbert. She explains her thoughts and opinions on community college. Her primary topic of discussion is about a program through a community college in New York called asap. Asap is a program that gives opportunities to lower income students. She explores how it compares to regular community colleges and ivy schools such as Harvard.
Liz Addison, who graduated from Piedmont Virginia Community College and Southern Maine Community College agreed that community college was better than a university. Addison believed that a four-year college was for the “privileged class”. Addison viewed universities as the “privileged class” due to students applying at their curriculum vitae. In addition, Liz Addison tells the importance of community college. Addison then goes on to tell how high school graduates have a hard time getting into universities; the odds of entering would be low.
The purpose of her essay is to prove to her audience, mainly soon-to-be college students or parents of future students, that college is still a vital part of planning your future. She effectively advertises community college as a cheaper alternative to four-year universities and their skyrocketing tuition prices; and tries to persuade her readers that attending Community College can be just as important as going to a traditional four-year university because they allow you to begin your college education at
In the article “Two Years are Better than Four,” Liz Addison argues that community college is better than four year universities, such as the one Rick Perlstein attended. Where Perlstein reminisces about his days in college and claims that the greatness of American colleges is gone. Addison makes it apparent to the reader that she not only disagrees with Perlstein, but makes remarks suggesting that she believes that Perlstein’s college days were less for studying and more for partying and enjoying the fact that he went to a fancy private college. Addison continues by detailing some of the opportunities for people that attend community college such as being affordable, a place for the student to begin, and possibly a better match for students’ lives. She claims that this is the way college is intended to be and by no means is college as we knew it coming to an end.
Recently, many have begun to attack and degrade higher education in the United States. In the book How College Works, authors Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs claim, “As state support has eroded, and as more students attend college in an increasingly desperate attempt to find viable jobs, the price to students of attending an institution of higher education has gone up, especially at more selective institutions” (172). So is college even worth it? Caroline Bird’s excerpt from her book Case Against College “Where College Fails Us” is an adequately written article that agrees with those who question whether college is a good investment. Bird argues that although some students would benefit from college and succeed, many fall short, wasting
Caroline Bird in her essay titled “College is a Waste of Time and Money” argues that college education is a useless endeavor that is often forced on students. According to Caroline Bird, students lack motivation and enthusiasm for college education. If money is the goal of education, she opines that there are better ways of investment. She also claims that college education does not make a student more ready for jobs and neither are there jobs that are relevant to the field of study. When there are some students who become very successful she says that the contributing factors are mainly intelligence and family background rather than their college education.
As a college student who is currently spending thousands of dollars to further my education and achieve a career goal, it was, at first, disheartening to read Caroline Bird ’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money”. However, after thoroughly examining her points, I now see that her essay is illogical. In her piece “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird argues against the idea that “college is the best place for all high-school graduates” (1); in other words, college isn’t for everyone. Throughout her writing, Bird supplies her readers with evidence that explains how, for some individuals, college is a waste of not only time and money, but of intellectual effort, as well.
Is college still important and relevant? The question is answered and confirmed when Liz Addison, author of “Two Years Are Better than Four”, wrote a counter argument in order to disprove the opposing views of Rick Perlstein, the author of, “What’s the Matter with College”. The topic that is being brought to light is the subject of whether or not college still matters. Perlstein that college is no longer what it used to be. It was after reading Perlstein’s article that Addison masterfully wrote her counter argument which successfully contradicted the opinionated, inaccurate views of Rick Perlstein.
If a person’s parent or guardian drilled the idea of college into your head, or if they told you ‘do what you want’ or ‘I don 't care’, or ‘You’re not going’. While college is great, there are other means of education. The value of college is a low because there are people who do not qualify for a college education, and also because there are other ways of post-secondary education other than college. College is not valuable because many people will not make it into a 2 or 4-year college, much less graduate from one. To support this, in the article Why College Isn 't For Everyone, it says, “As a general rule, I would use graduates in the top quarter of their class at a high-quality high school should go on to a four-year degree program, while those in the bottom quarter of their classes at a high school with a mediocre educational reputation should not.”
As the month of November comes along annually, every single high school senior is forced to decide which path they are going to take after graduating. For some, it is easy to choose which college to attend and how to pay for it. But, for many, it is extremely difficult to figure out a way to get the funds for college. So, they choose the community college route. Community college is drastically cheaper than tuition at a four year university.
“Delaying College to Fill in the Gaps” The article “Delaying College to Fill in the Gaps” by Sue Shellenbarger discusses the choice seniors have to make between going straight to college or taking a year off first. More and more students are choosing to take a gap year, which is causing a lot of people to question rather taking a gap year is a good thing. Shellenbarger uses real life situations to describe the benefits and the negative side to taking a gap year. The article has many good reasons to take a gap year, it flows nicely, and it considers the negative side to taking a gap year.
In the United States a community college is defined as a nonresidential junior college offering courses to people living in a particular area. They are post secondary schools and are also referred to as junior colleges, vocational or technical schools because generally the course of study is for two years. The student can earn an associates degree or certification and/or continue their education by transfering to a four year college to complete their educational pursuits and earn a Bachelor 's degree. Community colleges started in the late 1800’s and have grown and evolved over the years. Today many four year colleges and universities have become so expensive to attend that many prospective students are opting for the more affordable alternative of a community college for their first two years of study where they can save money by living at home and taking classes that will transfer to a four year institution, however, there are students that cannot afford the lower cost of community colleges.
In Ann Hulbert’s article “ How to escape the community college trap” the author uses Daquan McGee as a representation as to why going to a community college may not be as beneficial as many people facing hardships may think. Daquan McGee was a community college student attending the Borough of Manhattan Community College due to financial and personal hardships. Many students who enroll into a community college often share this similarity in being a person of either lower social standing or a person of hardship. These hardships may include having a child at an early age, being imprisoned, death of a family member, financial hardship, weak support system or poor prior schooling. My mother being a person of hardship who had to quit attending community college faced having a child, financial hardship due to medical expenses as well as poor grades while attending high school.
Every student, after he or she graduates from high school will have the choice of attending to a University or a two year Community College. I remember Lee, my friend Joe’s brother, asking me after I finished high school and whether or not I wanted to join to a University or a two year Community College. At the time, it took me a week to answer his question. Similarly, if I was to ask any student where he or she wants to go after they finish high school, one might find that they’ll receive different answers, and for different reasons. For some students it is best to go to community college and focus on getting an Associate’s Degree or taking transferable courses.
There are numerous community colleges across the nation, and several undergraduates attend community colleges every year. With an enormous number of the nation’s undergraduates attending community colleges, society as a whole should want community colleges to be in the best condition to educate its future members. However, most community colleges are failing to do just that. Community colleges are failing to properly educate their students, and because education is a valuable aspect of the American society, community colleges should be refined to produce knowledgeable citizens of the United States of America.
