Is college education after high school worth? In the article “Where college fails us” from her book The Case Against College, Caroline Bird argues that college must not be considered as the next step after completing high school for most of America’s youngsters. To support her arguments, she lays emphasis on some points like monetary losses and lack of interpersonal communication in the present day college atmosphere. Although her points may sound valid, there are some facts about the benefits of having college education which one should understand and know. Some of her arguments are not strong enough to consider avoiding college education among American youths. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the issues pointed out by Bird in her book on the failure of college education and to underpin it as incorrect by prove that college education is worth the cost and time spend for it.
The most important factor that Bird points out is that college education is not required for obtaining a job. But this is a fallacy. As she argues, more graduates are produced than the number of job openings. But having a college degree makes an individual more employable than a simple high school diploma holder. Therefore, college education is a novel method to protect one from being unemployed. Also with the changing economic perspectives, it is better to be more prepared and a college degree can obviously place an individual above normal high school graduates. Joblessness is less prevalent among college graduates than high school graduates. “College attendance has been shown to “decrease prejudice, enhance knowledge of world affairs and enhance social status” while increasing economic and job security for those who earn bachelor’s degrees.” (Kathleen para.1).
A college degree helps make an individual more marketable. Many areas of jobs like medicine, pharmacy, health care, management, education, biotechnology, banking, marketing etc require specialization or at least a bachelor’s degree as the minimum qualification. And the number of vacancies in these areas is always increasing. Thus, college education really helps in getting a job and makes a person more suitable for specialized jobs than the ones who don’t have formal college education. “College graduates have more jobs to choose from than those who don’t pursue education beyond high school.” (Plan for College, para.3).
Another major argument by Caroline Bird is that college education is expensive and is not worth the investment. But, this is the weakest of all her arguments. Unlike three decades back when Bird published her book, today high school graduates end up having mainly blue collar jobs. These jobs have less security and lower payment; whereas college educated individuals are placed in much higher positions. Their white collar jobs are more rewarding and secure. This makes the investment in college education profitable. In the present world, having a secure job is what it counts than having some job that pays daily wages. College graduates earn more money than people with a high school diploma. “Annual earnings, based on degree, are: high school diploma, $32,500; associate’s degree, $42,000; bachelor’s degree, $53,000; master’s degree, $63,000; and professional degrees, $100,000+.” (Plan for College, para.4). In order to support her argument about the monetary loss in having college education, Bird states that if an individual invests the money spent in college in a savings bank account and goes for work right after high school, then his net income will be much more than the money earned by a college graduate. “The greatest fallacy in that line of reasoning is the fact that high school seniors do not have the $25,000 or $30,000 representing their college costs in a lump sum to invest.” (Education: Case against College, para.1).
An argument made by Bird that may sound plausible is that the youngsters who finish high school are not quite sure of what they really want to do and they are forced to go to college due to parental or societal pressures. It is true that most people might not have had enough experience about the wide variety of subjects and job options available right after high school. But, college education can surely give them more knowledge about the subject and prepare them better for a job. Educated parents send their children to college not to get rid of them, but to shape their career and life, because they know and have experienced that college education can provide their children with higher living conditions and better jobs than just being a high school graduate. College can become a place which provides the youths a chance to explore and learn about how they want to spend the rest of their lives. College is a place where a high school graduate grows to become a responsible adult with more maturity and intelligence. College education provides specialized teaching in the subjects and also concentrates on social values which make college graduates well rounded and intelligent. “Public benefits of attending college include increased tax revenues, greater workplace productivity, increased consumption, increased workforce flexibility, and decreased reliance on government financial support.” (Kathleen para.9).
It can be concluded that though Caroline Bird tries to argue that college education is not necessary for everyone to succeed, the success rate of college graduates in the present day is more than those who do not have formal college education. College education does provide more opportunities to the graduates and makes them more matured and intelligent. The money spent for college education is completely worth the cost as it provides job security and higher payment. “Every dollar spent on a young man’s college education produces $34.85 in increased lifetime income.” (Hansen para.4). In the modern world where competition is getting tighter each day, specialization is the key word to make one self more employable and it can be obtained only through formal college education.
Works Cited
Education: Case against College. Time: Partners with CNN. 1975. Web.
Hansen, Katharine. What Good is a College Education Anyway? The Value of a College Education. Quintessential Careers. 2009. Web.
Kathleen, Porter. The Value of a College Degree. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education Washington DC. 2002. Web.
Plan for College. The College Board. 2009. Web.