Should Everyone Go to College?

Society encourages young students to receive a college education. They are taught without proper schooling or a college degree one will not have a stable life. It is important to let students decide for themselves on either to attend school or head straight to work. Students should be informed about the different options they have other than college after graduating high school. Unfortunately, even today students hear continuous lectures about staying in school. Many students may not be attending for themselves but to meet society’s standard of having a degree.

College may not always be an option for people who have different goals in life. An individual has their way of reaching their goal and it may not be through school. In the article, “Is College the Best Option?” they use a college student blogger named Hannah Fouks. She states, “It frustrates me to no end that instead of educating students on all of their options, teachers make students focus on plans to attend college.

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This sends the message that to be successful they need to go to college” (316). What Fouks may be trying to say is students are not being presented different options to pursue a career. Meaning, with countless opportunities to discover students are being closed off by lectures to have the mindset that college is and only the best option for a successful life. For example, one does not need to attend college; determination and talent could be main factors that lead someone far in life. One could have a knack for business, invent and sell.

A person may possibly be proficient in mechanics and open their own shop. With today’s technology and ease to promote talent, a college degree can be a waste of time. What I have observed since I have graduated high school and to my first year of college is that some people are pressured into achieving a degree, while others are forced to work because of their socio-economic status. During the observation within my own family I have witnessed the success through my aunt Lucy. She had no college education and has been a successful marketing consultant for seven years to major companies such as, Entravision Communication, CBS Radio Los Angeles, and currently IHeart Media. As a young mother she had the determination to be a remodel her daughter. Without the proper guidance she needed to finish school life choices and circumstances put her in the position to decide between college or the work industry. Many people are faced with the same challenges as my aunt and are still indecisive if they want to follow the timeline society has placed for them. Which is grade school, college, marriage, and children. Life will present itself the way it wants too and it is up to the person on how they respond to it and take responsibility. An important decision a high school graduate or young adult face is whether to enter the workforce or proceed with school. However, many students that continue with school do not have the desire to learn. If the student is not eager to learn, then the importance of someone attending school if they do not care has no meaning. In the online article, “Don’t Be Peer Pressured into Going to College”, by Hailey Marie a college student. She states, “Four years of education or four years of hands-on work, at the point it’s just a game of pick-your-poison… of course, having an education means you can earn a higher salary or be favorable over someone who doesn’t, but that isn’t a guarantee. Some employers favor experience over education and vice versa. You just have to take a step back and look at your life as if you were 20 years older. Would you regret not going to college? Do you see yourself needing college to achieve your goals?” (par 10). Meaning, everyone must work continuously in order to be successful. School or work, any choice, will lead someone to their goal there is no right or wrong path to follow. A strong stigma has become associated with not attending college. Society looks down on people who do not attend school or those who do not have a college degree. In the article, “Is College the Best Option?” Mike Rose, an educational scholar says, “People in blue-collar occupations who never attend college nonetheless develop sophisticated knowledge of how to do their work” (317). Rose explains, is that attending school is not the only way to become educated in the workforce. For example, my father is a conscientious man. He did not attend school but went straight to the work. Learning special skills from each job he had, he gained the knowledge of working with machinery people could not easily comprehend. Meaning a person in the workforce can gain the same knowledge as someone who has a degree. The only difference is someone having the work experience versus someone having the school experience. In the online article “College Isn’t for Everyone – and That’s OK,” by Bruno Beidacki he expresses, “College might not be for us, and that is ok… college is just another possible path for success” (par 10). We all gain knowledge differently, school is just another opportunity to achieve knowledge. For quite some time there has never been a right answer or any sense of conclusion to the topic “Should everyone go to college?” There have always been two different sides to an argument or topic. In the online article, “Background of the Issue – College Education.” it states, “People who argue that college is worth it contend that college graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates. They say college graduates also have better interpersonal skills, live longer, have healthier children, and have proven their ability to achieve a major milestone. People who argue that college is not worth it contend that the debt from college loans is too high and delays graduates from saving for retirement, buying a house, or getting married. They say many successful people never graduated from college and that many jobs, especially trades jobs, do not require college degrees” (par 3). This explains that many people have their own opinion/belief when it comes to school. Not all agree and believe that college is the best choice. While others do believe college is a great path to follow for success. College is seen as necessity but priced as a luxury and students faced with finical burdens. Although students apply for loans and scholarships it allows college to be such a high demand. Colleges react by driving the cost up, because the majority of society has viewed college as worth the cost. But, an example, in the article “Should Everyone Go to College?” by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill states, “The cost of college matters as well: the more someone has to pay to attend, the lower the net benefit of attending… students give up when he or she leaves or delays entering the workforce in order to attend school” (320). What they are trying to say is college is expensive and sometimes impossible for a student to attend. Meaning, students that struggle with minimum wage jobs might not be able to pay for tuition, books, and supplies when needing to maintain enough money for personal care. If a person does not see themselves attending college then the pressure to attend when they are not financially stable could hold them back. Telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, could be doing them disservice (319). Overall, society has been compelled to believe that all good jobs or financial situations come from a college education. College should not be pressured onto someone who wishes not to attend. School is just another opportunity a person has to be successful in life. An induvial is allowed to decide on the life they want. Whether they continue on their life through school or work it should not be made to please society but to meet their own standards and to achieve their goal.