Synthesis Essay: College Is Not Worth The Cost

There is quantitative data on both sides of the debate about whether or not college is worth it, but it’s hard to measure some of the pros of a college education in numbers. Most agree, however, that college enriches people’s life in some way that isn’t just financial. Through encountering different perspective and getting a liberal arts education, people become better citizens of the world. Or so the argument goes. In his essay, "Colleges Prepare People for Life", Freeman Hrabowski argues that everyone should attend college, not just for the financial benefits down the line, but to enrich their worldview and prepare them to become better citizens in the 'real world '. While I agree with his view that college is one path to becoming a

College is a place of higher learning and somewhere dreams can be made into reality. Whether it’s getting a degree to do your dream job, find someone to marry, become a better person overall, the possibilities are endless, and these possibilities are facilitated by how we are taught by our professors and the choices we make. However, are we learning everything we need to know for our post college careers? We are learning exactly what we need for our field or chosen career, but there are some skills that we need for the more “real world” aspect of life. There are several lessons a university can provide to aid graduates in the real world and there are specific skills and education that should be provided in a college education to help us prepare for the real world.

More people than ever before are attending college due to the endless opportunities that it provides. Louis Menand, a college professor and the author of “Live and Learn: Why We Have College,” explains the meaning of college through three theories that have been developed. Theory 1 supports the idea of the sorting-out process that separates the highly intelligent from the less intelligent. Menand’s second theory explains that college provides opportunities for developmental growth, personal growth, and teaches individuals about the world around us. These are valuable lessons that will not be learned anywhere else. Theory three supports the idea of people attending college to specialize in a specific vocation. I

One implication of college is that it’s the only route you can take to be successful. Charles Murray’s article “Are Too Many People Going to College” disagrees and believes that college really just prepares you for life. With still good focus towards a career but, there are many circumstances where individuals can get equal experiences going straight into the workforce. Murray uses the quote from John Stuart Mill who in 1867 told his students at St.Andrews that “Universities are not intended to teach the knowledge required to fit men for some special mode of gaining their livelihood” to help promote his argument. He claims that college is mainly preparing you for life, and I feel that there is still a heavy stress on the topic and learning the material. On the other hand I agree that kids that go straight to work out of high school be equally successful if done right, and do so without paying thousands of dollars a year on college. Do not fall into the illusion that college is the only option, look at everything there is to offer.

The cost of college and how to pay for it is an ongoing struggle and problem for many people around the nation. There are so many aspects of the adventures of college that cost thousands of dollars and leave a big hole in all parts of the financial life. Although getting an education is very expensive, it is essential in most cases to living a successful life and providing for yourself and a family. There are many people willing to help individuals keep track and focus on how to manage money and spend it wisely like Mr. Renzetta, and there are also people making a huge effort and raising awareness to reduce the price of college dramatically in hopes of what they believe is saving our great nation.

It carries on to things that will happen later in life and even after retirement. College allows students to be creative when making decisions in stressful situations. College graduates seem to be more sound in their work and they focus more on “intellectual growth...not all college students [focus] on career preparation” (Is College Worth it?). It is said that students will “grow personally and intellectually”(Is College Worth it?) throughout college. Critical thinking is gained and students learn great resources for more learning and for making choices in life or work. Students who are able to rely on education in their life rather than being ready for their career on “day one” proves to be more effective (Roth).College education not only makes career possible, it helps students find what they love and gives them the ability to keep learning and growing(Roth). Textbook knowledge is just a little piece of college, there is so much more to be learned from the experience then what people think. Most believe it is just textbook learning , hours of work , and struggle to pay tuition and books.College is not easy and is a struggle for many , but for those who are willing to push through it are grateful as well as successful. Those who go and experience college will understand there so much more to it then textbook work and financial struggles. Graduates leave with knowledge that will help them

Four-year University cost nearly $42,500 per year, while state schools cost at average $19,000 per year. Students face increasing prices for a college degree that raise at a much faster rate than both inflation and income levels. Students should not face a life of debt to earn the chance to graduate with an education that might lead them to a fulfilling career. The more a student holds off their education to work at a part-time job increases their costs even higher and takes away their potential, hands-on career experience by graduating on time. It certainly is more expensive than ever to earn a college degree and the job market is still recovering from a crippled economy from the recent recession. Underemployment for college graduates is at 15 percent—despite that percentage—it fairs much better than the 37 percent of underemployment faced by high school graduates, according to the article. Nothing is more discouraging and unrewarding than working at a minimum wage job while having a college degree. In this job market, those that obtained a degree fair a lot better than those without a

College can be looked at as a life investment. It is an investment for the future of your life in hopes that it will pay off later in life. College is expensive, but can be affordable for all of those who try. In 2008, Students who applied to attend a four-year college received an estimated average of $5,400 in financial aid and state grants (“Trends in College Pricing”). With this estimated $5,400, this can reduce any students’ price of college to around $1,000 to $3,000 per year! This is an

For years adults have been questioning whether or not college is worth its cost. Over time the price for college has increased drastically and the potential income of a college graduate is barely following that trend. As colleges become more wealthy and powerful, they’re too pricy for someone to afford without help and debt.

An article by HO, J.D says, “the National Center for education statistics reports an average tuition of 25,409 for the 2014-15 academic year at four-year colleges and universities.” It’s amazing how costly is to get an education. Where many questions, Should the amount of wealth you make determine whether you attend college or not.? Many students going college are in college debt College expenses are getting higher, every individual that is thinking of going college goes through the financial struggle. As many think of a question of how much income they need to pay college tuition.? In regrade to making their college life, usually, student tend to go school and work. although, going school and working becomes the habit but the student will have a dangerous effect on their study. They would have less time to study and take a rest. Education has given many an opportunity to change the world and taught people to saves other people lives. Now our world has doctors, pilots, engineers, scientist and much more that people are not seeing. The life cycle of humans is amazing where we lose another and get even smarter and betters. In this cycle, many have not have gotten an opportunity to show the talent because of college tuitions rising every year. There have been different college grants and some help on college fee if you are under poverty level. Education should not be compared with the price, we can buy a nice dress with a good price but we cannot buy an education at a price

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been questioned about your dream career, or what you want to achieve as an adult, or even now. Chances are you have, but, did you ever take the time to really think about that question and finally distinguish that you want to be an Astronaut or a Surgeon or maybe even a Scientist? Well, if you did then there’s almost no doubt that you’ll need to attend college to acquire the certain level of skills you need to become that person that you dream to be. Obtaining a college degree will almost guarantee that more and more opportunities will come knocking on your door because a college degree is a stepping stone to success and companies and businesses are very much aware of that. Success is what people are looking for and a degree verifies that you qualify to achieve great things. Oh, and did I forget to mention that that vast majority of people with a college degree make a lot more money than people with just a High School diploma or being a High School drop out for that matter. However, aside from qualifying for an immeasurable amount of career options, a College education has shown to help with communicating with others, which might not just help with job benefits, but also with relationships on another level.

While it may be true that it is expensive, it is worth it. According to College Power Bulletin, people with a Bachelor’s degree make, on average, almost twice as much as a highschool graduate. The average high school graduate makes about $1,531,400 in their life, while someone with a Bachelor’s degree would make approximately $2,742,160. If one has a college degree, they can pay off the fee later in their life. A person could also help their family with the extra money made from getting a degree. Another thing Journal News has said is that while jobs that do not require degrees may be more common, the fact that someone did not have a college degree will be reflected in their annual wage. This shows that one who does not have a college degree will not have as much of an annual wage as those who went to college. It is worth paying a little extra money to get a college degree.

With the rise in minimum wage nationwide, things cost a lot more. That doesn't mean you have $42,500 to pay for college yearly,(CNBC 2015). That's a lot of money if you're not working. Even state colleges are charging $19,000(CNBC 2015). And considering you're going to need a loan, That's going to add to our nationwide student loan debt of 1.2Trillion,(CNBC 2015). But due to the fact that you could earn enough money to pay back all that debt, it is still appealing to most people. The thing is going to college is a lot like gambling. You go hoping that you can get your degree, and earn more later on. But like gambling, you can lose everything.

Colleges and Universities are windows of knowledge that many people try to break, in doing so, people are ready for the next stage of their life. But not many have the option to go the world where knowledge is everything, and end being a simple worker all his life. People would judge a person for not having a degree, bachelor and many more. But do they ever think that colleges or universities are really preparing you for any jobs, does a piece of paper worth a lot now a days. Freeman Hrabowski wrote an article responding to people that think educations is a waste of time, and it is called “College Prepare People for life” (Hrabowski). In the article he mentions many positive thing about going to college and what is the outcome of going to college. But I believe that, he hasn’t done a very good job to explain why college is a good place to go prepare yourself for the real world. I believe that college is very important for our life, but not many of us know if we are really learning something while being in college. I feel like colleges or universities has become a place where we go just to go or try to earn a degree in any field. Therefore, I believe that colleges doesn’t enhance our basic skills, doesn’t give us a certainty of us getting a good job, doesn’t give us the hardships of the real world and it isn’t a place where everyone gets treated it equally.

The past has shown time and again that one who has been well educated succeeds in life. If a person attends college limitless doors will open for him or her because one has multiple possibilities in the career field. Since one has the qualifications, particular career options will continue to provide themselves. One will most likely be paid more money because one has a large wealth of knowledge, and have been professionally trained in certain areas of expertise. Financial success, excessive knowledge, and endless career possibilities are a few basic effects of a college education. If one has been trained correctly, life will provide a great deal of optimism, and one will most likely live an additionally comfortable monetarily savvy life.