With the
development of the world, more and more skillful and creative elites are needed
in the society. This situation leads to the phenomenon that more and more high
school graduates prefer to go to college. At the same time, the cost of a
college education has been raised to a high level. It seems everything is
fitted and only one question is remaining: Is the college education worth it?
Of course not, because it is expensive, meaningless and unnecessary.
The average price of all goods and
services has risen about 50 percent. But the price for a college education has
nearly doubled in that time. Is the education that today’s students are getting
twice as good? Are the new workers twice as handy, or effective? Have they
become, somehow, that expensive to educate? At the same time, the student loan
debt in the United States, outpaced credit card debt in 2010 and will top $1
trillion in 2011. 《Stephens,38》Yes, a trillion dollars. Maybe it is not a big
deal for a rich family to decide whether they would like to send their children
to a college or not, but for the majority, it is a real problem.
Generally speaking, parents count on
college education and hope that their children can earn more than others and
live a happy life. It has been an open secret that college education is just a
big joke, but at least it may offer graduates with a job. For Brian Morris, who
got a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of California,
Berkley, he was unable to find a decent-paying job, and he had to be a truck
driver. 《Nemko, 32》Yes, a truck driver, with this example we can easily find
how weak the college degree is.
Of course, the common sense, and colleges
themselves, say that college education should not be all about the money. The
college life can enrich one’s eyesight and teach you how to think. But is it
really needed for a Chemistry student to learn German and a Phycology student
to learn Chinese history, or Calculus? In Naomi Riley’s article, he pointed out
that” at Northwestern, the math requirement can be fulfilled with’ Slavonic
Linguistics’”《Riley 40》 This is ridiculous since the college students are
learning courses with have totally nothing to do with each other.Before the
classes, students dream that they would learn a lot, have a lot of fun, and can
co-op with others, or find their interests from communicating with their
professors. But the thing is, the students are not working together but
competing, they learn such hard but useless staff and they find that their
professors can’t help! Additionally, college education prices self-learning as
one of the most important skills which is required. If the students are
learning all by themselves, why should they even enter a college? What’s more,
according to the U.S. Department of Education, if you graduated in the bottom
40% of your high school class and went to college, 76 of 100 won’t earn a
diploma, even if given 8.5 years. 《Nemko,32》 Which means it’s an obvious unfair
trade——8.5years and thousands
of dollars for nothing but some confusing formulas and Chinese history.
Let’s say that the students successfully
passed their college education, but the hiring managers will tell them that
creative intelligence and an ability to communicate if much more important in
the long term. Sadly our college education doesn’t teach creative thinking or
communicating. Yes students may be dissatisfied with higher-leveled job
requirements, but despite that, do they learn? A 2006 study funded by the Pew
Charitable Trusts found that 50% of college seniors failed a test that required
them to do such basic tasks as interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure,
understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, or compare credit card
offers. 《Nemko, 32》The truth is the whole system of college education is
telling students that a college education is such a good investment and once
you finished the college, you are almost automatically promoted to the middle
class. But in fact, they are not even guaranteeing anything, however, for
millions of graduates, it turned out to be an automatic ticket to student loan
hell.
Some people may argue that countless
elites or successful entrepreneurs have a college degree. It is absolutely
true, but the point is, though they have a college degree, is it the main
reason why they are successful and outstanding? If the answer is “Yes”， why the
other graduates are suffering from boring jobs and low pay? Why other super big
bosses like Bill Gates or Walt Disney don’t have a college degree? People are
now overestimating college education and underestimating themselves,
challenging self-learning might actually be more rewarding than college courses
were, and the students who learn by themselves might actually enjoy their
learning experience more.
Finishing college students are finding it
hard to summarize what they really learnt from this 4 years great sacrifice,
while the entering college students are expecting an amazing new life. If you
go to college with the purpose of getting more knowledge and skills, they will
tell you to learn after class, and if you just want to get a certificate and a
gold bowl, it won’t. What’s more, always remember there are 40% who can never
get that certificate paper, even for 8.5 years. And never forget the college
debt, it sucks!
Works
cited
1: Dale
Stephens, “College is a waste of time” Practical Argument. Ed. Laurie G.
Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston.
Bedford St. Martins. 2014. Print
2: Marty Nemko. “We
send too many students to college” Practical Argument. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner
and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston. Bedford
St. Martins. 2014 .Print
3: Naomi
Schaefer Riley, “What is a college education really worth?” Practical Argument.
Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell.
Boston. Bedford St. Martins. 2014. Print