Summary In Andrew Delbanco's essay, College At Risk, he talks about college education in America and at some different points, he compares them to other countries education systems. In the beginning of his essay, the basis of American college education is discussed, and how furthering your education past high school helps us become productive adults. It is also mentioned how college is a place to expand your knowledge and critical thinking skills. It is pointed out that other countries may have a better education system and possibly outperform the U.S. when it comes to certain jobs.
When it come to picking a college it's going off based on what the student environment, learning type, and etc. I believe another essay that ties into Liz Addison Essay is “ Colleges Prepares People for Life” by Freeman Hrabowski. Freeman Hrabowski, president of University of Maryland, in his essay he argues “echoed an increasingly common refrain that college is expensive, that students are taking on unmanageable debt and that they too often graduate unprepared for the world of work” (259). According to both Addison and Hrabowski, college is expensive, but Addison believes that there are ways around paying a high cost of going to college. In addition, Hrabowski feels that even though colleges has ways around paying high cost that either way it goes it would be a bad investment, due to, a student dropping out, or not passing a class.
Throughout his article, he speaks about education. “The Upside of Income Inequality” makes two basic points to support the conclusion noted in the title of the article. First, the correlations between educationa and income; that the value of a college education has risen as income inequality has risen. And second, that therefore the rate of Americans who attend college has increased. The article provides multiple graphs that correlate different principles with education and income.
According to “From the achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding Achievement in U.S. Schools” claims
Liz Addison’s essay, “Two Years Better Than Four,” was first published in the New York Times Magazine back in September of 2007. Addison went to two community colleges and majored in biology; earning her degree in 2008. In her essay, she is responding to Rick Perlstein's article “What’s the Matter with College?” in which he claims, “College as America used to understand it is coming to an end” (211). Addison refutes Perlstein’s claims by saying, “My guess, reading between the lines, is that Mr. Perlstein has never set foot in an American community college” (212).
Critiquing of “College is a Safe Bet” The essay “College is a Safe Bet” by Julie Margetta Morgan had a couple of problems in which the Author does not cite anything and her message is unclear. One must question how true something is if they do not cite any thing and it the information that they do give it incorrect according to the United States Department of Labor. Since the information it wrong then there is no reason to believe the rest of the essay.
“College in America” Caroline Bird thinks that a college education may not be the best choice for all high school students because college education does not bring about social equality, it does not benefit them financially, and it is not guaranteed that college will lead them to an elite profession. First of all, high school students are expected to bring about social equality through four rigorous years in college. However, college is an expensive way to categorize the highs and lows in society. It is pressuring to younger students to pursue a higher education that only a few could achieve, and is also difficult for them to established an identity in society. Second, a college education does not benefit the youth financially because it is
The authors’ emphasis on “on average” is very effective at showing how their point makes sense and why it should be taken into consideration. I found the way that the authors focused on the minority more than the majority was skillfully effective at showing how some career paths do not require a college education and that the return in investment would not be worth the cost. Throughout their argument I found the writers to mostly use Logos and Ethos in their writing. The Logos is evident by the way they use statistics and the Ethos by how they state telling someone the only way to be successful is to go to college is a disservice. This is effective at making the reader think about how this should affect the decision of going to college and whether they should push someone to go to
Brent Staple’s essay "Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A's" had various elements that helped provided evidence and persuade the readers. The first thing I noticed when reading this essay was the comparison between the marketplace and college. This comparison helps to develop Staple’s argument because it explains something that is unfamiliar by comparing it to something that is more familiar. I can assume that the target readers were business men and women. Since I am unfamiliar with some business terms, I found that this essay explained something that was unfamiliar with something else that was unfamiliar.
In the article, The World Might be Better Off Without College for Education, written by Bryan Caplan, explains how people do not apply what they learned in college into their actual jobs. He mainly focuses his argument on people who are deciding if they want to go to college or not because he is expressing if going to college is actually worth the money being spent. Through the use of rhetorical strategies like testimony, statistics, exemplification, and authority they help the audience have a clearer understanding of his argument. Throughout the article Caplan uses testimony to prove to high schoolers that a lot of people do not apply what they learn in college to their jobs.
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.
“3 Reasons College Still Matters” by Andrew Delbanco 3) “Surely, every American college ought to defend this waning possibility, whatever we call it. And an American college is only true to itself when it opens its doors to all - the rich, the middle, and the poor - who have the capacity to embrace the precious chance to think and reflect before life engulfs them. If we are all serious about democracy, that means everyone.” 4) In this part of the writing Andrew Delbanco tries to persuade his audience by using the pattern of logic that agrees with the overall argument but also considers another striking point of view to strengthen the argument (While these arguments are convincing, they must also consider…).
In “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray offers his opinion on the number of students that pursue a B.A. He believes that two year or four year colleges are not needed for a majority of students who could instead pursue other life paths. He discusses the ability for the general knowledge needed to be learned in primary and secondary school, and for a lessened need for a “brick-and-mortar” institution the problems with the current secondary and higher educational issues including the lessened need to acquire a B.A. All members of society need certain skills in order to be productive members of society. They need to know general facts about the country they live in, general history, and general geography.
In my opinion, the author is stating that all the statistics should be laid out for the student and left up to them to decide if they are interested in pursuing college. In sum, then, the issue is whether college is worth the time or money. Though I concede that college is pricey and can consume a lot of your time, my view is that college is the best option after high school. Writers of article “Should Everyone go to college” suggest three main reasons as to why high school students should think twice before attending college.
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.”
