Summary Of Why College Isn T For Everyone

In the articles, “Is College Worth It” written by David Leonhardt and “Why College Isn’t for Everyone” written by Chris Matthews, both writers build an argument to persuade readers that attending college is for everyone and is a time to emphasize one’s thoughts for the future.
In the article, “Is College Worth It”, Leonhardt begins his argument by using statistics. Leonhardt states that, “Americans with four-year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree” (Leonhardt, par. 3). This implies that individuals who have earned a bachelor's degree or higher are more likely to earn more money per hour compared to those who do not have a degree. This can relate to an ongoing situation in the Bay

Leonhardt continues his argument by incorporating David Autor’s opinion, an M.I.T. economist. Leonhardt uses an article written by David Autor which states, “Over the long run, college is cheaper than free. Not going to college will cost you about half a million dollars” (Leonhardt, par. 8). Attending college is a logical decision to make. Based on the statement, going to college will be cheaper than not attending at all. Therefore, this implies that if one attends college they will have a higher chance to not only earn more than an individual who did not attend college, but also a chance to earn back their money spent in college on tuition, housing, and so on. Meanwhile, not attending college could possibly set an individual back and not earn as much as an individual who did attend college. Not only does attending college affect one’s earnings, but also the economy’s health. Leonhardt states that, “unemployment rate in april for

However, in the article, “Why College Isn’t for Everyone”, Matthews describes a diagram taken from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Based on the diagram, the lower quartile demonstrates that students with a four year degree seemingly do not make more money than a high school graduate. While this may sound as if people should not attend college, the root cause of this problem is that individuals are not putting enough thought into their future. In other words, individuals who do not have a future plan for their career or degree is negatively affecting society. They may be moving from one job to another and sacrificing a lower pay for a job, ultimately not knowing what they want to do with their earned degree. Therefore, leading to the lower quartile to not earn as much as a high school graduate and skewing the data. Everyone should attend college, but very individual should be careful and conscious when making choices for their