Why College Education Is Important

Sage T. Sherman

Attorney Susan Maruca

English 1539

 9 December 2016

Why College Education is Important

Linda Lees argument in “The Case Against College” is that some kids like her own son are not ready for college fresh out of high school, because she does not believe that her son is ready to take on college (Lee 468). The students later find which can be very true but Lee later goes on to state that colleges are just not for some kids, and this is where I do not agree with the writer (468). Lee goes on to talk about how she made her son take a break from college because she did not want him to waste anymore of her money if he was not getting $1,000 a week worth of knowledge (Lee 468). I believe that college is for everyone because a lot of the jobs out in the world require some sort of college education. Also with a college degree according to Hansen you will leave a better legacy for your children in the future, get paid more money, you will also have better quality of life, longer life span, better access to health care, and you will have a better chance at achieving the American dream. My web source that I have chosen to support my argument is “A College Education Is a Necessity in Today's World” written by Katherine Hansen. This web source gives examples of many benefits that come with a college degree that help support why I think college is for everyone is able to go to college. Some of those examples are people who make money usually get paid more so why would you not want to go to college everyone loves money, another example is college graduates have a better quality of life longer life span, better access to health care the list goes on. But one that I believe is the most important is you have a far greater chance at achieving the American dream that everyone is after. After all is that not what everyone American tries so hard to achieve with a college degree comes better jobs that pay more than jobs without a degree giving people a better shot at their dream. You can also leave a legacy for your children in the future, research shows that children with parents that have attending a university are healthier, perform better academically, and are more likely to attend college themselves than children that have parents of lower education.

        Linda tries to argue that you can succeed without a college degree and in some cases that can be true but in most cases you can have better success with a college degree than without one. For example, in college you go to get education on what you are going to be doing for what you hope the rest of your life yes there are jobs out there that pay decent money and do not require a degree, but most of those jobs are disappearing and the ones that are not are starting to look for applicants that have received a college degree. I will never forget what my father told me when I said I wanted to get a job at the steel mill that her works at he said “sage, in twenty years these steel mills probably will not be running, they are slowing down and laying a ton of people off, also my father could not get any more promotions do to the fact that he had not received a college degree. Now I know that there are other jobs out there other than working in steel mill that do not require college degrees but how long until almost all jobs require a degree to apply for? Also if a college degree was not so important than why do two-thirds of college graduates go on to the next level of education (Lee 468). Yes, I see how some of those students are just going for the college experience that everyone talks about, but for most of those students that college experience is pulling all-nighters studying to make sure they pass their next exam.

Now I know that Lee believes that you can succeed without a college degree but the lifetime income of families with parents with a college degree is about $1.6 million more than the income of families with a high school diploma being their highest education (Hansen). $1.6 million a is lot of money which leads me to believe that the college degree can only do you good. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 1999 the average income of a 25-year-old male with a college degree was about $61,000, while on the other hand a 25-year-old male without a college degree only makes about $31,000 the difference is about $29,000 more annually that is a huge difference (Hansen). Hansen goes on to later say in her essay that college may be expensive, but the only thing more expensive than getting a college education is not getting one. There are far more benefits that come with a college degree than without a college degree, for example a college degree sets you apart from other employees you might be competing with for a job or a promotion which is a big deal. A college degree really makes you a legitimate candidate for a job, if I was a business owner and I had to choose between someone with a high school diploma and someone with a college degree I am going to go with the candidate with the college diploma, because they are more likely to succeed due to the fact that they have more potential in that particular field.