Education Is the Key

Alexis Jackson

Ms. Sadeem ElNahhas

English 1020 06N

March 25, 2015

Education is the Key

Everyone has heard the question what do you want to be when you grow up at some point in their childhood. At the time, they probably had thoughts of being a singer, actor, or even a superhero. Eventually, these ideas change, reality sinks in, and we realize that we have the decision to seek higher education or immediately start working after graduating high school to survive in this world. Education plays a critical role in the life that a person desire to live. However, in the article “Degree of Influence” by William D. Cohan, he questions whether education at the nation’s elite colleges and universities even worth it anymore. Cohan has not proven his assertion because his reasoning relies on biased information.

One cannot deny that the cost of education has sky rocket over the last years. Cohan points out, “This year, tuition and fees at Harvard are close to 52,000, including room and board, a price that has increased at about 5 percent annually during the past 20 years...” As it turns out, in recent years we have been alarmed about the student loan debt that has risen in the United States. According to CNN news, student loan debt is at its peak of 1.2 trillion, and tuition increases continued at nearly triple the rate of inflation. At this rate, people are unable to buy homes, cars, or live a happy life without struggling because of the never-ending weight of student loan debt. As a result, people question whether education is worth the investment. Although everyone agrees that education is expensive, some evidence that Cohan provides has flaws in reasoning (Rossi).

Cohan provides weak evidence because his reasoning relies on bias information. He ignored the common reasons for dropping out of college and instead focuses on successful entrepreneurial as evidence. Cohan states, “Bill Gates, one of the two founders of Microsoft and now the world’s second-richest person, famously dropped out of Harvard after about two years.” To assert that a person can be successful if they drop out of college and have a chance to become another Bill Gates is absurd. Just because someone is lucky enough to become successful without completing college doesn’t disprove the monetary value of education.  It’s illogical to say that entrepreneurial success has anything to do with whether a person graduated college. Furthermore, Cohan's strategy of anecdotal evidence isn't very persuasive. He handpicked a few noteworthy men such as Bill Gates - who is from a successful middle-class family and was intelligent enough to get to Harvard. However, there weren’t anecdotes of college dropouts who went on to lives of failure. There also weren’t any non-white female examples to help support his claim. The examples that Cohan provides show that it isn’t necessary to finish at an elite school. What all these men have in common is that they dropped out of college because they have gained enough knowledge to move on and build their companies without fully completing a degree.

Although college is expensive and may put a person in jeopardy of being in debt, college graduates make more money than high school graduates. Research shows that on average a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree earned $30,000 more per year than a high school graduate, or about $500,000 more over a lifetime, as of April 2013. Cohan states, “…In order to pay for Harvard’s tuition, someone would have to earn more than $100,000 in annual pre-tax compensation…” There is an old saying that you have to spend money to make money.  Higher education requires both time and money, but the outcome of earning a college degree is a rewarding decision. College graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates.  For instance, think about how much time it takes to put into being a doctor. A doctor on average leaves college with about $166,750 in medical school debt. Although this may sound alarming, doctors are the most respected well-paid careers in America. What some people forget is that you have your whole life to pay back student loans. When a person has a degree, they have job security. Without it, a person always has that constant fear of being laid off or unemployed. A degree is a golden ticket to a more financially fulfilling life (ProCon.org).