Higher Education Dbq

People attend college or university for several reasons, including exploring hundreds of career opportunities, pursuing their passions, learning critical thinking skills, and achieving their maximum potential. According to Dr. Richard Vedder’s, “For Many, College Isn’t Worth It”, attending college or university is not worth the time, effort, or money – Dr. Richard Vedder wants to solely focus resources on private universities and institutions. Vedder describes how many graduates with Bachelor’s degrees do not even obtain jobs in their specific field and how they will never start a career in their area of academic study. In his article, Richard Vedder describes how there should be more stringent standards placed on college undergraduates; he believes that public universities are not necessary and only private, more elite universities should remain operational. I personally believe that obtaining a college degree from an accredited university is worth the risk and the money, not only for one’s self but for society as a whole. Instead of shutting down undergraduate universities, we should consider raising collegiate admission standards throughout the nation.

Many middle to lower class families cannot afford to send their kids to school and with Ivy League schools like Harvard and Princeton giving out generous financial packages to their student, who mostly come from wealthy background. The poorer students are on the losing end because they are not given the opportunity for aid. As Terry Hartle, the senior vice president of the American Council of Education, says, "Smart poor kids go to college at the same rate as stupid rich kids." What this is saying is that the wealthy families have vastly more opportunity to succeed in the college system even though they have equal or lesser smarts. Well respected schools such as NYU are now admitting students based on the financial fit not by merit.

His writing proves effective since many including myself felt moved by his article. The writers produced many important steps to abolishing Ivy League schools and creating equality. Glenn provides fresh information to an over talked about topic. When reading the article, many become shocked with the percentages Mr. Reynolds provides. At first, many become hesitant that elite universities cause problems of inequality, but the credible author proves his point with clear evidence. Staying on topic, providing surveys, and stating clear realistic ideas on how to solve the problem, provides the key to success on how to win an

He uses strong diction as he addresses how colleges are increasingly becoming “conventional bureaucracies” because behind every college program is a need for growth (Blank 263). This need he argues is how connections between colleges and outside companies begin to formulate as colleges develop “employment favoring tactics” (263). Thus colleges build up their clientele to help advertise such well known business corporations and offices to advertise “better jobs.” Blank continues by providing the most optimistic statistical evidence which “envision a 14.8 percent slice of 1975 job market, while they bring 31 percent of 18 to 24-year old age into college” (263). This estimates to about 10,664,000 students in college, “therefore, even if every one of the so-called professional and technical jobs were indeed reserved for them (which is itself patently impossible), the number of job openings would still be inadequate” (263). These facts introduce and support the idea that receiving a college degree is not to be associated with the key to “reserving a better job”. The details and numbers build an appeal to logos and impress upon the reader that this is a problem worth discussing, the statistics prove that although there are many students in college, not everyone will receive a job as the number of job openings are

The smartest and the most skilled are not always the wealthiest, which bring colleges to bring kids who crave their academics, have a skill in sports, and could contribute to the cause of their school.(Kim Clark, Octobet 29, 2011. College Costs Climb, Yet Again; http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/pf/college/college_tuition_cost/index.htm)

Charles Murray’s essay proposes that American colleges are being flooded with individuals who are either unprepared for higher education or who are simply forced into attending college and can’t succeed because of the lack of certain innate abilities. Murray’s essay goes on to take issue with the idea that the pursuit of a traditional college education is somehow strategically creating a separation of the American class system. While Murray makes many salient points with regards to America’s obsession with college education as a standard into a class of the intellectual elite, the essay fails to take into consideration the various motivators that can lead to student success, despite

Our society revolves around the intelligent and prestigious; not because they make more money or demand respect due to their title, but because the amount of knowledge and experience they portray to the community does not only benefit their own livelihood, but ours as well. To reach these levels of prominence, being a college graduate will increase your chances of doing so. Although college expenses might seem overwhelming, it is a smart investment that will lead to more opportunities, such as higher paying jobs, rewarding intellectual aspects, and above all provides a consistent and steady income.

Does college really give graduates the tools and knowledge required to succeed? In the article “Where College Fails Us”, author Caroline Bird attempts to argue that college may not be worth as much as people are led to believe. Bird believes that with the rise in college graduates being well above the Department of Labor Statistics anticipated job needs, college is quickly becoming a waste of time. Moreover, several reasons listed depict colleges many shortcomings, including the stress it puts on students and the unrealistic expectations it gives them combined with huge financial burdens. The author believes that the successful college graduates would have been successful regardless of their education, and that the majority of students felt forced to attend. Finally, she states that before wasting your money on a college education the reader should reflect on her article and determine if there is still value in a college experience. Although Caroline Bird presents many persuading arguments against the college experience in her article, I believe her logic to be outdated and generalized, and her content lacking of discrediting information. I disagree that all college graduates are taking dead-end jobs, and universities have withdrawn from the social side of their educational experience.

People in the Renaissance had many opinions on what mankind was like and it was all varying between good expectations and reality. Petrus Paulus Vergerius who wrote “The New Education” talks about the expectation that all men should practice virtue and wisdom and that it should be passed down to be able to keep the knowledge alive (Document H). Many other people such as Juan Luis Vivies and Christine de Pizan had more of a negative look at mankind saying that man is fable and play and that not all opinions of men are based on reason (Document I and F). There were also people in the Renaissance who had singular opinions on how people should act. People should have beauty, grace, and talent according to Giorgio Vasari and with these qualities,

The topic of this paper is the states’ decreasing financial support of higher education, the reaction and response from institutions who have lost funding, and the creative ways public institutions are locating additional streams of revenue. States have been the primary backer of public institutions, but since the recession states have shown less commitment financially while still heavily regulating higher education. As a result some institutions have had to change their practices while others have challenged their state’s regulations all together. Many have speculated that state funding may never return to its former highs. Rather than make an enemy of the state, some schools have discovered new and unconvential ways of raising funds for their institution.

Although it seems as if the founding of Harvard and other colleges during the Colonial Era were beneficial to the larger society, it seems as if these colleges contributed to higher education in the United States manifesting as a private good. Despite the number of opportunities Harvard and other colonial colleges had on American society, these institutions further divided the elite from the rest of society, since all students came from wealthy families. In fact, soon after the founding of Harvard and other colonial colleges, being educated was tantamount to being elite (Marine, 2017). Furthermore, acceptance into these institutions was limited to White men, who were required to have prior knowledge of both Latin and Greek (Bastedo et al, 2016).

Although there is trust between Wall Street and their “atomic family” Harvard and Princeton, Wall Street’s “extended family” such as Yale and the University of Pennsylvania do not receive the same level of trust and fairness. Since Wall Streeters tend to favor Harvard and Princeton when recruiting, they really only give Harvard and Princeton graduates the opportunity to succeed in investment banking. By doing so Wall Streeters treat their “extended families” from other schools unfairly. This is evident when Ho writes, “investment banking recruiters at Princeton and Harvard explicitly express how the do not care if undergraduates are trained in finance because a skilled background… [it’s] not really what they are looking for” (186); what they are looking for is the Harvard or Princeton degree they will graduate with. Whereas, there could be plenty of skillful undergraduates at other Ivy League schools such as Yale; but those

Many recent college graduates have faced record levels of unemployment. This situation has lead people to question what they value about higher education. Some high school students and their parents are wondering if a college education is worth the cost. Others, however, believe that a college prepares students for more than just a job or career. Many people then present the counter argument that people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg did not have a college degree, but unlike them most people are not geniuses and do not have the same entrepreneurial opportunities available to them, let alone the innovative ideas and proper timing. A college education is worth the cost because it is a requirement for many jobs, college graduates make substantially more than high school graduates, and college provides more opportunities for personal growth and networking.

The current cost of college is a deterrent for many potential world changers. The hundreds of thousands of dollars are “why so many bright young people don’t go to college, don’t finish or graduate deeply in debt” (sanders). The potential for this world to advance in greater areas are tainted by the extreme costs for higher education, forty percent of low income students do not even attend college even after they are accepted (Hechinger Report). Many who could have possibly fulfilled high ranking positions currently have their talents squandered in a lower establishments because their abilities were never built upon as it would, if that individual went to

Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.