Pros And Cons Of Going To College By Owens And Sawhill

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that last October just 69.7% of people who had graduated from high school the previous year had enrolled in college. In the report “Should Everyone Go To College?” by Stephanie Owens and Isabel Sawhill, both authors explore whether everyone should go to college or not. Owens currently serves as a research associate at the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan center for research on the problems of urban communities. Sawhill is co-director of the Center on Children and Families and a senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings. This essay will discuss both sides of whether or not everyone should go to college. Starting with the benefits of college, and continuing with the monetary side, tuition, the return on …show more content…

Owens and Sawhill discuss the benefits of going to college, such as the money return and earnings, social benefits, and the improvement of overall wellbeing (210). I agree with all the points addressed by the authors, but overall the report is very biased and gives a lot less examples of the benefits than it shows the cons to going of college. The authors very briefly list some of the benefits of college, but they don’t go deeper into those key benefits (210). Money is a big part in not only picking a college, but also picking a degree. Owens and Sawhill discuss the monetary side of going to college throughout the report. The authors give many factual and statistical examples, but rarely state where the information is coming from (209-210). This makes the reader question their credibility and question whether the facts are correct or not. Tuition is an important factor in picking a college. The authors examine that in the process of choosing a college, many people look at the price before anything else (220). They explain that “high-achieving low-income students never even apply to the selective schools” because they tend to be more expensive (219). This statement is a hasty generalization fallacy (219). Owens and Sawhill do not show any evidence to support this statement and the choice word “never” should not be used in the comment