Attending College: The Right Choices
In the fall of 2015, an estimated 20.2 million students were expected to attend college in the United States (“Fast Facts”). Many of these students made an important life choice, but according to author Charles Murray, who wrote an article titled “Are Too Many People Going To College?” some may have chosen too soon. Too many students are attending college according to Murray, and he has suggested some possible reasons why and introduced a change that needs to be made. Murray discusses several ideas centered around attending college such as better paying jobs for college graduates, misguided messages sent to students, and liberal arts being a waste of time.
First, Murray encourages students to attend college in order to obtain a higher paying job, but this is not the only way he suggests obtaining a higher salary. Murray states, “The income for the top people in a wide variety of occupations that do not require a college degree is higher than the average income for many occupations that require a B.A.” (235). For the truth is, that some of the best paying occupations come from vocational degrees or skilled labor. However, the average person with a B.A. makes more money than one without one(234). The degree gives the student a chance to obtain a higher salary that others cannot obtain. In conclusion, Murray feels that college is not the only path to earning a higher paying job, but he feels it should at least be an option. Furthermore, Murray expresses his opinion on what ideas and feelings about attending college are being transferred to students. Murray himself writes, “The problem begins with the message being sent to young people that they should aspire to college no matter what” (239). He believes that too many people are pushing students to attend college at all costs. According to Murray, many of the students are being encouraged to attend college by guidance counselors and politicians (239). The counselors and politicians are pushing students towards attending college even though it may not be the best choice. In summary, there are many opinions being encouraged onto students insisting that college is the only way to have a successful life. |
Finally, Murray agrees that attending college is a good route, but not the best course of action for everyone. He implies that college degrees are wasting students’ time by teaching liberal arts to those who do not need them. Murray states, “Employers do not value what the student has learned, just that the student has a degree” (233). He explains that most employers look for a bachelor's degree before conducting an interview. In addition, Murray expresses that it makes sense for a lawyer to have a deep liberal arts background in order to make informed decisions but states that engineers do not require this because their jobs need skills that take years to acquire through hands on material, not liberal arts studies (233). Although Murray believes that it is not important for all majors to study liberal arts, he strongly believes that more of the liberal arts that are taught in college need to be taught in grades K-12 (224). Murray’s reason being that this information can be taught at a lower level and not in college. All in all, Charles Murray’s article “Are Too Many People Going to College?” provides students with plenty of information regarding the ideas of whether college is the best choice for them. Murray expresses the importance of college and raises some important questions about the choices students are making about college. Murray addresses the misunderstandings that are centered around college; he explains that some students believe that attending college is the only way to a good paying job, being successful through misguided messages, and is also wasting students’ time teaching them unnecessary courses. Works Cited Murray, Charles. “Are Too Many People Going to College?" They Say I Say With Readings. By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Ed. Russel Durst. 2E ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 179-189. Print "Fast Facts." Fast Facts. U.S. Department of Education. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372>. |